Winter Sonata Drama Tour in Seoul

CHINA Investment Corporation, the $US200billion ($243bn) state-run sovereign wealth fund, is planning to invest in several Western and Asian media funds.

The investments could give the Chinese government a direct stake in a rich variety of media content -- from South Korean television dramas and Japanese game shows to Hollywood blockbusters and globally franchised animation series.

Each of these flavours of English has its own local properties. If you know something about the pronunciation of the languages of these countries, you can often identify the speakers' nationality by their English.

These Englishes can show a variety of errors of grammar and vocabulary. Sometimes this is caused by interference from the homeland language. Sometimes it is just a feature of the local English that has become established

does it really matter? After all, the Australians, the British and the Americans routinely announce "all trains cancelled".

QANTAS may pursue Malaysia Airlines following the demise of the Australian carrier's $8 billion merger plans with British Airways.

Qantas had wanted majority ownership in the deal, reflecting its bigger market value, but BA was not prepared to become a junior partner.

faced a number of significant hurdles

WORLD Health Organization chief Margaret Chan today urged governments to prepare for a likely second wave of swine flu cases, cautioning they will face tough decisions on how to dispense vaccines.

We need to be prepared for whatever surprises this capricious new virus delivers next... constant random mutation is the survival mechanism of the microbial world

AUSTRALIA is likely to abandon its $1 million attempt to take Japan to the international court over whaling after New Zealand gave up its plans to use legal action to stop the annual cull.

using aircraft and ships to gather evidence against Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean.

But the New Zealand Government has since discovered "significant difficulties" with taking Japan to the international court and has abandoned the tactic.

The sister city relationship with Osaka was the first that Melbourne established.

A strong and beneficial sister port relationship already existed (established in 1974) between the Port of Osaka and the Port of Melbourne.

However, the sister city relationship was not formally established until 24 April 1978 at a ceremony in Osaka attended by the Lord Mayor. The stated aim at the time was to establish 'a people-to-people relationship with the aim of developing mutual friendships and a lasting and understanding relationship'.

A Chinese man suspected of stealing a prototype for the fourth generation iPhone has committed suicide.

"We require our suppliers to treat all workers with dignity and respect," Jill Tan, an Apple spokeswoman in Hong Kong, told reporters. 'Humiliating'

On 13 July, Sun reported that he was missing one of the 16 units in his possession.

WHAT do most Australians know about Indonesian art? What role do the arts play in the picture they present of contemporary Indonesia? Not much, perhaps.

We heard from a young Indonesian filmmaker about thriving, youthful film communities across Indonesia and among Indonesian students in Melbourne; we shared some of the songs, stories and images collected by an Australian artist from northern Australian and eastern Indonesian communities once linked by ocean trade; we saw gigantic puppets created by young earthquake survivors near Yogyakarta, performing a zany new version of the Ramayana legend under the inspired leadership of Ian Pidd and the Snuff Puppet group.

how do we foster a sense of community for international students in the short time they are here? And in turn, how do we bridge the often unintentional divide that underpins their experiences?

High-density housing is deliberately geared towards the international student market, at the expense of a broader mix. Orientation programs for international students and local students often run at different times. International students pay the full cost for transport, while domestic students get half-price concessions. And at some institutions, separate queues and counters even exist.

With their proximity to Melbourne and RMIT, they give students few opportunities to venture out of their comfort zone, explore the rest of the city, and perhaps build new connections. Some have few communal spaces - not exactly conducive to interacting with life beyond the campus zone.