In Putin's Russia, fruits of power not shared
IN THE old Soviet election joke, a trader is standing on Red Square
with a single watermelon under his arm.
Scientists link night shiftwork to increased risk of cancer
It was once scientific heresy to suggest that smoking contributed to lung cancer. Now, another idea initially dismissed as far-fetched is gaining acceptance: the graveyard shift might increase your cancer risk.
Defence silent on civilian deaths
THE Australian Defence Force has refused to provide any details about the killing of two women and a child during a special forces attack on a compound in Afghanistan last week, but the international coalition is conducting its own investigation.
Musharraf to lift emergency rule but curbs remain
PAKISTAN'S Pervez Musharraf launched his civilian presidency yesterday, facing an opposition split over his promise to lift emergency rule and arguing about whether to boycott planned elections.
Up in the trees, the boss hangs on for a miracle
THE boss drapes across a branch, languidly extending a massive
bronze-fringed arm to bend a 15-metre-tall tree close and stuff a
handful of leaves in his mouth.
- Photos: Orang-utans in danger
PM sinks deeper in fund-raising scandal
LONDON: The deputy leader of Britain's ruling Labour Party has been forced to implicate the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, deeper in a party fund-raising scandal as Scotland Yard was called in to investigate the affair.
Close Olmert case: police
JERUSALEM: Israeli authorities have recommended closing a corruption case against the Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, that was linked to the shopping centre magnate Frank Lowy.
Murdoch backs old adversary Clinton
RUPERT MURDOCH'S Fox News network might lean to the right and its
commentators be harsh critics of the Democratic frontrunner Hillary
Clinton, but it seems its boss has paid to support her campaign -
as have many News Corp executives.
Beijing plans to flood canals, but cost is huge
BEIJING'S "dark and stinky" canals will be flowing with pristine water in time for the Olympic Games next year, a Beijing water official says.
Vengeful junta shuts down monastery in Rangoon
IN AN unprecedented move, Burma's military junta has shut down a Rangoon monastery linked to the recent uprising and warned other temples not to offer sanctuary to its monks, according to local sources.
Rodney King hurt in shotgun attack
LOS ANGELES: Rodney King, whose videotaped beating by Los Angeles
police officers sparked devastating riots in Los Angeles 15 years
ago, has been shot and wounded.
Crisis grows as 'teddy' teacher jailed in Sudan
A BRITISH teacher arrested after her class called a teddy bear Muhammad was found guilty of insulting Islam and has been sentenced to 15 days in jail and deportation.
On a lovestruck mission to learn English
WHEN she left Japan, Motoko Ono was qualified to be a Shinto priestess. But a lifetime of spiritual training could not prepare the 22-year-old for her first kiss, with "an Aussie man at the pub the other week".
For better or worse, couple go ahead with 'shotgun' wedding
MANILA: When about 30 rebel soldiers stormed through the doors of
the Peninsula Hotel in Manila, brandishing weapons and aiming to
foment a popular uprising, 30-year-old Maria-Stella Magtayo was
preparing for her wedding.
Frail egos caught in killer net
A 13-year-old's suicide highlights the risks to teens of predatory behaviour online, writes Ian Munro.
All talk, empty promises
Annapolis takes the Israel problem no closer to a solution, Ed O'Loughlin writes.
Trumped: fisherman with a knockout punch
IN ONE corner, a world-famous property developer with serious
dollars to spend and some of the most prestigious real estate in
places such as New York, Chicago and Dubai. In the other, a ragtag
of staunch Scottish conservationists and a salmon fisherman who has
become a local celebrity by refusing to sell his unkempt nine
hectares to make way for "the world's greatest golf course".
Gene block could stop the clock
SCIENTISTS believe they have unlocked the secret of younger-looking skin in a development which raises the prospect of an elixir of youth.