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In Depth

Saturday May 3, 2008

Nixon's crooked confession

A new play and book on the downfall of Richard Nixon lay out the journalistic chess game that trapped the disgraced former president into finally admitting his wrongdoing.

Few doubt Malcolm Turnbull will replace Brendan Nelson as Coalition leader, but the heir apparent is curbing his impatience - for now. A crucial test for his tilt for the top job will be whether he lands any punches against his opposite number, Wayne Swan, when the Treasurer brings down his first budget.

A lifetime wait for change

News that Canberra is poised to amend laws that discriminate against same-sex couples was met with widespread celebration this week. But for many elderly gays, the announcement, although welcome, comes too late to make much difference.

A city on the edge

Labor's plan for preserving the city's feted liveability looks outdated, and the burden of rampant urban expansion has put 'Marvellous Melbourne' under assault.

Saturday April 26, 2008

The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth

A key ethical question for US President George Bush's successor is: should a president lie? In some circumstances, must he lie?

Fight to the death

No longer content with helping those in pain to die, this doctor is determined to provoke a change in the law.

How the system failed Joedan

Those following the inquest into Joedan Andrews' death have been left asking one plaintive question: why were so many alarm bells ignored?

Tuesday April 22, 2008

Playtime

Age is no barrier when it comes to play, or playgroups.

Sunday April 20, 2008

Children of war

They are the hidden casualties of war: the children left to suffer long after the guns have fallen silent.

Democrats' pain in the ass

As Americans head towards the Pennsylvania primary on Tuesday, neither Barack Obama nor Hillary Clinton have clinched the frontrunner position in the Democrats' battle for the working class vote.

Women rule, OK?

Quentin Bryce is the latest in a line of women to land a top job. Has the gender barrier been smashed, or is there still a long way to go?

Saturday April 19, 2008

2020 the Summit: a Kevin Rudd production

Twenty-five years ago, a newly minted PM gathered Australia's movers and shakers for a Canberra talkfest. Today, the Rudd revival takes centre stage — with 21st-century twists.

It's high noon in Pennsylvania

To clinch the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton must convince the party's super-delegates that her rival, Barack Obama, is unelectable among mainstream Americans. The primary vote in white, working-class Pennsylvania will either support or destroy her argument.

Building a home in LA, city of angels and AK-47s

In American cities with high rates of violent crime, urban designers are increasingly providing security where the police fail to.

Terror's new frontier: cyberspace

Technology is the latest theatre in the war on terror, with computer networks that control our vital infrastructure vulnerable to attack, say analysts.

The changing face of hunger

The actions of wealthy nations have caused severe food shortages in developing countries, with resultant instability already affecting Egypt, Mexico and Haiti. But with such complex causes, a solution is far from clear.

Millions of bright sparks

Prime Minister Rudd's national summit has inspired scores of ordinary people to spruik their big idea in the hope that it just might become government policy.

Shooting the messenger

People in Australia are still unlikely to blow the whistle on wrongdoings within an organisation, a study has found, because of the persistence of a workplace culture that punishes those who "dob in" their colleagues.

The female stripped bare

From the hidden significance of refusing to shake a woman's hand to the penchant of female artists' to paint themselves in the best light, a fundamental paradox in male-female asymmetry is revealed.