Politics

The government of New South Wales is offering money to people to move away from Australia's most popular city. What's the reason for this, and why is the government hopeful that its plan will work?

Canada is preparing to vote for a new parliament. But rather than watch a debate between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the leaders of other parties, many Canadians preferred to do something that was more important to them. What do you think it was?

Voters punished the ruling Fianna Fáil party, in power since 1987, for its role in, and handling of, Ireland's massive financial crisis. Talking about the election, Irish politicians used interesting allegories, expressions and idioms. Let's look at some of them. 

Los Angeles says the $7 million it spends each year to clean graffiti is money well spent. Although deep cuts must be made to the budget, it appears this won't be one of them. The city is afraid of sending the wrong message by leaving other messages in place.

There was "a genuine belief ... that if we liberalized our laws, we would suddenly develop a responsible drinking culture like France or Spain," said Gerard Vaughan of New Zealand's Alcohol Advisory Council. Parliament is now considering tougher laws on alcohol sales.

As the US gets ready for tomorrow's midterm elections, all eyes are on California, where Meg Whitman's campaign to become governor has broken all records. At $140 million, it is the most expensive non-presidential campaign in American history.

Aristotle Onassis hated Bobby more than he hated the rest of the Kennedy clan. He knew that Bobby was trying to stop him marrying Jackie so he had him shot. Well, that's the theory of "Onassis" at the Novello Theatre in London.

The idea of healthy living is built into The New York Times' offices and the Cooper Union School of Art and Architecture. Both Manhattan buildings have extensive staircase networks that are popular with fitness-conscious journalists and students.

Benedict XVI is a magnet for British anti-Catholic, anti-German prejudice, says Andreas Campomar of the publishers Constable & Robinson. The Pope is "fatally Germanic" in his precision and not "simpatico" in his personality, argues Campomar.