STATE POLITICS Public servants to feel mini-budget chill
The state's 300,000-strong public service - including Sydney Water workers and staff in at least three departments earmarked for merger - are likely to be hardest hit by the Treasurer, Michael Egan's first mini-budget to be unveiled today. more
PRICE WAR Drop moves to open pharmacy trade: Howard
The Prime Minister has ignored criticism by Woolworths that his Government is protecting high medicine prices and called on NSW to drop legislation permitting more competition in the $9 billion medicines market. more
INDONESIA Disillusioned little people desert Megawati
President Megawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Party of Struggle (PDI-P) won the support of "little people" five years ago, but as the country voted again yesterday there were plenty of signs those people had moved on. more
SWIMMING Thorpe says he won't take race off Stevens
Ian Thorpe will not accept the position on the Australian Olympic team in the 400 metres freestyle if Craig Stevens is pressured into surrendering the spot to him for the Athens Games. more
A movie depicting a Buddhist monk-turned-stripper with a gift for divining people's fates was a big winner at the Hong Kong Film Awards, among the most prestigious on the Chinese-language cinema circuit. more
TELECOMMUNICATIONS Kaz takeover talk bad for Telstra
Telstra shares slumped to their lowest levels since July last year, after the telecom company confirmed it was in discussions to acquire information technology services firm Kaz Group - further diminishing the prospect of a special dividend this year. more
ALAN KOHLER Super funds refuse to envisage future
As expected, Australia's super funds can't agree how to tell customers what they're being charged, so the Government is going to have to make the decision (which is a damn nuisance, but that's life). more
NET GAIN At last advertisers are moving online
The online advertising market grew by more than 40 per cent last year, outstripping the broader ad industry and giving rise to claims that the medium has finally landed a permanent place on the advertiser's schedule. more
Little piggies race to market
In Australia, we will race anything from cockroaches to cane toads, and cows to camels. But if you really want to see pork barrelling along in an election year, check out the racing pigs at the Easter Show.
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Film aces give SBS the flick
Two of the highest profile stars on SBS TV, The Movie Show hosts Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton, have quit the network for the ABC.
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Aussie hoopster wows US
Luke Schenscher woke up on Sunday in the strange position of being virtually unknown in Australia but a star in the US.
Too much TV spells ADHD
Every hour a toddler spends watching television each day could increase the risk of attention problems in later childhood, US research suggests.
A free kick for pay TV
Television viewers may soon have to pay to watch overseas cricket, rugby union and league matches, and preliminary rounds of tennis tournaments.
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What the gossip mags say
Celebrity "victims of plastic surgery" feature this week. Kylie Minogue's lips are bigger, Pamela Anderson's front patio has had an extension and has Paris Hilton had a boob job?
The man with no clothes
A long-haired teenage boy in south-eastern Cambodia has insisted on living nude since he was a toddler, according to local media.
Strange but True
Why is Latham alarming?
After the barrenness of a seemingly endless Howard, we have our rising star, and the difference in his play was always going to alarm some of us, writes Webdiarist Robert Bosler.
One from the sleepy heart
Things are done a little differently in the centre of Australia, as Tony Davis discovers.
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