AFTER 20 years together, 17 of them with the current line-up, Powderfinger have been struggling to keep it fresh. At times they've felt less like one of Australia's biggest rock bands than a tribute act.

AT THE very least it's unconventional. Yet Powderfinger, Australia's most locally successful rock band of the past 20 years, appears unafraid to break with tradition.

UAE has gone where US and Euro banks declined to tread, writes David Hirst.

From musical balloons to Samuel Beckett, there's more than enough to satisfy even the most hungry culture vulture.

"WE HAVE the amazing spectacle of huge migratory balances of liquid purchasing power, swooping like vulture from capital to capital to fatten where they may. Not inaptly have the results been termed 'an anarchy of purchasing power'." (Roland Wilson, 1934, who was later to become Commonwealth statistician, economic adviser to..read more