As the Olympic flame continues its tumultuous journey, the lives of two young Chinese women have taken centre stage in the black and white world of Chinese public opinion, which views one as an angel and the other as a traitor.
Sphere: Related ContentOnce on the fabled Silk Route and now the gateway to central Asian countries with which China has struck gas pipeline deals, Xinjiang has received heavy investment but the region’s indigenous Uygurs feel the Chinese are wiping out their culture.
Sphere: Related ContentThe addition to a welter of oafish indiscretions of sexist overtone by Western Australia’s opposition leader Troy Buswell says plenty about the Liberal Party there, and adds to a lingering suspicions about the place that despite marketing itself as the State of Excitement is too often too willing to conduct itself as the State of Excess.
Sphere: Related ContentNew South Wales Treasurer Michael Costa’s bully-boy tactics may have hurt Labor but not the Premier or the state government plan’s to sell-off its power industry.
Sphere: Related ContentAs she draws up detailed plans to reduce carbon emissions, Penny Wong, the Australian Climate Change Minister, faces fierce arguments from fossil fuel companies that are on a collision course with the latest scientific predictions on global warming.
Sphere: Related ContentThey have a saying in Burma that if the roof is not sound, the whole house is prone to leaks - and the recent cyclone has blown the country’s roof right off, a catastrophe that could reach even greater proportions if the ruling junta keeps resisting foreign help.
Sphere: Related ContentFrom women’s hospital nurse to wife of an Ethiopian clan leader, devoted aid worker Valerie Browning has published a memoir of her life, which she believes would have been no life at all without risk.
Sphere: Related ContentPremier John Brumby has a vision for Melbourne in a climate-changed age, but sustainability experts fear that it is too wedded to coal and cars to match the scale of the environmental problem.
Sphere: Related ContentThere’s a lot for the Wayne Swan to worry about, as getting his first budget right is vital for the Australian economy, crucial politically for the new Rudd Government and critical for the Treasurer personally.
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