Correspondent's Notebook

Archive for August, 2008

Meeting East Timor’s prime minister

29 August 2008

This week, East Timor’s prime minister visited Australia to hold talks with his counter-part, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Xanana Gusmao then came to Melbourne, where he agreed to an interview with the host of Radio Australia’s Asia Pacific program, Linda Lopresti.

Amnesty for South Korean business leaders

22 August 2008

South Korea’s president has made a powerful statement at a time of slowing economic growth and falling government popularity – he’s announced that he’s going to pardon some of the biggest corporate criminals in the country.

In what he called a traditional gesture to mark Liberation Day, amnesties were granted for 340,000 people, many for minor offences, but as Radio Australia’s Finance and Business Correspondent, Karon Snowdon reports, among them were 74 leading business people.

The view from Beijing

15 August 2008

With the world’s attention on Beijing this week, the headlines have focused on the spectacle, the drama, the controversies and the haze – and yes, the sport too.

Radio Australia’s Sports reporter, Tanya O’Shea, is in Beijing and filed this week’s Notebook on the first week of competition – the sport, the issues, the media and the government as Beijing hosts the 2008 Olympic Games.

The sinking of HMAS Canberra

8 August 2008

This weekend marks a significant anniversary in Australian and Pacific military history.

Pacific Beat reporter Bruce Hill looks back at the early hours of August 9, 1942, 66 years ago, when the Australian heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra was crippled in a fierce naval engagement off Guadalcanal, in Solomon islands, in what is now called the Battle of Savo island.