Feb 18th, 2010 · Australian snowboarder Torah Bright has won the gold medal in the Olympic women's halfpipe, defeating American Hannah Teter during a pressure-packed second run. American Kelly Clark won bronze.
Jan 30th, 2010 · Serena Williams won her second straight Australian Open championship, ending Justine Henin's hopes of a Grand Slam title in her return from retirement with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory Saturday.
Jan 8th, 2010 · Australian filmmakers Michael and Peter Spierig offer up an apocalyptic scenario in about a future earth dominated by a 90-percent vampire population. And it's no utopia: The energy crisis persists, and with humans in short supply, the bloodsuckers are looking at an unsustainable future.
Dec 31st, 2009 · A skateboarding park and school opened this week in the Afghan capital Kabul. It's the culmination of two years of effort, which started when two Australians taught the skill to some Afghan kids. They started out in a dried-up fountain. Now Afghans have received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations for an indoor facility.
Dec 21st, 2009 · The adventurous ensemble has been widely praised for its risk-taking attitude. Gathered around Bob Boilen's desk, a stripped-down incarnation of the group plays music by Ravel, then unpacks several Egyptian instruments for an original composition.
Dec 3rd, 2009 · The Oscar-nominated 1979 film My Brilliant Career stars Judy Davis, as a young woman growing up in rural Australia at the end of the 19th century. Film critic John Powers gives Davis credit for creating the template for the Australian screen actress: bravery, incandescence, and occasional cussedness.
Dec 1st, 2009 · When you think of Australian music, both "The Kookaburra Song" and Men at Work's "Down Under" probably come to mind. The songs now reside at the center of a fierce intellectual-property battle raging in the country. The copyright holder of "The Kookaburra Song" says it's unlawfully sampled in "Down Under."
Nov 15th, 2009 · About 7,000 British and Australian soldiers died in the muddy fields around the French village of Fromelles during the first World War. A mass grave of 250 of those killed in 1916 was recently found near the town. Experts are now trying to identify the bodies and prepare them for burial in a new war cemetery in the heart of Fromelles.