The Fortescue boom SUMMARY: Fortescue mining, and its enigmatic CEO and founder Andrew Forrest, have ridden the commodities boom like perhaps no other business in the world. A few short years ago it was what you would politely call a junior explorer, just another penny dreadful among the scores of minor players that dot the landscape throughout Western Australia. Fast forward to the end of last week and this penny dreadful had evolved into a business worth 25 billion dollars, giving it a market capitalisation more than double that of Coles Myer. Yet, until a few days ago it hadn´t earned a single dollar in revenue, the entire value of the business has for the past 5 years been predicated on blue sky, on what might be. And that `might be´ has a lot to do with China and the global iron ore boom it´s currently driving. So where does the story go from here, now that the business is fully operational can it meet the markets long held expectations, or has the company been pushed too far on a very big promise? Dr Boutros Boutros-Ghali SUMMARY: Cyclone Nargis has devastated parts of Burma. Tens of thousands of people have died and more than a million people are homeless. Food supply is also a concern and perhaps this disaster will worsen the international food crisis. How can the world address the problem of food shortages? Generational Burden SUMMARY: The first budget of the new Rudd Labor government is almost upon is. As ever there will be a host of competing interests, some sectors of the community will be happy, others probably not so. The demographic commonly referred to as Generation X have in recent years done pretty well out of the welfare component of the budget, the baby bonus and the expansion of family tax benefits were all key features of Peter Costello´s later budgets. But beyond that largesse has Generation X been perhaps short changed by both fiscal and wider economic trends of recent years? Indeed is this generation being increasingly asked to carry the financial liabilities of both baby boomers, and the generation hot on their heels - Generation Y? Israel´s 60th anniversary - a Palestinian view SUMMARY: Next Wednesday marks the 60th anniversary of Israel declaring itself an independent state - three years after the end of World War II, and the death of six million Jews in the Holocaust. But Palestinians know the foundation day as al-Nakba, or "the Catastrophe". Talking Footy SUMMARY: Well this weekend is quite unusual for millions across this land and those who receive the spectacle via television in our region. Because there´ll only be one game of Australian Rules football played in the main competition, it´s at the MCG in Melbourne tonight. It´s the best Victoria can muster versus what´s called the "dream team", the best that everyone else who plays the game can field. Yet despite the anticipation, state of origin is very much the poor cousin to the club game. And in football, no club is king. That's how its been throughout the 150 years of its life, which is being acknowledged this weekend. It is a long time for one country´s code to not only survive but thrive, so why has it?

Russia - Georgia tensions SUMMARY: Next week is going to be tough for Russia´s incoming president, Dmitry Medvedev. Russia has increased its peacekeeping troops in the areas bordering Georgia´s breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, after the two regions called on international bodies to recognize their independence. Georgia has now accused Russia of preparing to invade Abkhazia. Getting it wrong - rating the rating agencies SUMMARY: Ratings agencies occupy a rarified place in the world of business and finance. Through the application of apparently simple labels, be it a C, B or AAA, they've become a barometer for financial risk. Those ratings have come to mean everything in terms of both perceived and actual risk in relation to a particular underlying corporate or government body or financial instrument. But do the rating agencies themselves now have questions to answer over ratings given to some financial products, especially those connected the sub prime meltdown? Riding the Boom SUMMARY: This week the Pilbara Area Consultative Committee, in north-western Western Australia, organised a conference called Riding The Boom. At issue? Can this town and region really hold together in the face of the phenomenal rates of mining and development? About 10,000 (mainly men) fly in and out of this region, temporarily boosting a Karatha population of around 12,000. They don't settle down here, even for a short time. So if places like Karratha aren't more 'normalised' can the boom be sustained into the future? Political Panel SUMMARY: Our regular commentators discuss development and employment in the Pilbara, and the upcoming federal Budget. A traveller's tale - Prague SUMMARY: When Rachel Weiss decided to abandon her life in Sydney and spend a year finding her bohemian roots, she had two plans. One was to write the next great Australian novel and the second was to meet the love of her life -- an exotic Czech man with high cheek bones -- in a smoky Prague bar. Film with Jason Di Rosso SUMMARY: Jason reviews Moliere, a French bodice ripper with Romain Duris, and Iron Man, a Marvel comic adaptation with Robert Downey Jr.

Aviation turbulence SUMMARY: The global aviation business is undergoing phenomenal change. In the first instance, it's an industry that is experiencing simultaneous growth and consolidation. In the second, spiralling oil prices are threatening to curtail global consumer demand for air travel. The business of flying has never been easy, although the past few years have been described by some pundits as a 'sweet spot' in an otherwise tough game. Has that sweet spot has turned sour? Where to now for the Australian economy? SUMMARY: For those in charge of shaping Australia´s economic policy, the resources boom is creating some significant challenges. For one thing, it has created a `two streamed´ economy; a phenomenon most starkly realised when comparing the current economic performance of NSW with that of Western Australia. It makes the Reserve Bank's job of setting monetary policy more difficult than it has ever been in the past. It also makes fiscal policy incredibly challenging for Kevin Rudd and his newly minted treasurer, Wayne Swan. Re-imagining Australia SUMMARY: What images and myths will define Australia in the future...surely it´ll have to be more than those that govern us now...or maybe not. James A Kelly SUMMARY: The Chinese authorities are saying something remarkable—that they intend to talk to the Dalai Lama...the very suggestion made to them several weeks ago. It´s yet to happen but it represents a pretty astonishing potential breakthrough. Reading the mind of China and the whole East Asian region right now calls for particularly good diplomatic and predictive skills. Dr John Shepherd SUMMARY: The Very Reverend Dr John Shepherd is one Australian lucky enough to be at the first Dawn Service ever to be held on the Western Front...and there for quite a special event, linking the communities of Villers-Bretonneux and Perth, Western Australia. Pompey Elliott SUMMARY: Pompey Elliott led the counter-attack at Villers-Brettoneux on 25 April 1918. It was a decisive moment in the drawn out war on the Western Front. Preventing the German forces from advancing further meant that the Australians really had an effect on the war's outcome. So why isn´t the battle at Villers-Brettoneux regarded with the same reverence as Gallipoli or Kokoda?

The Clinton Obama show SUMMARY: Almost four months into the nomination process, and both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are now appearing to fray at the edges. This is due in no small part to the pressure of a long campaign, but also because of some very public and very unfortunate comments both have made in recent days and weeks. Africa on the brink SUMMARY: The electoral limbo continues in Zimbabwe, and it's having ramifications beyond the border of that troubled African nation. South Africa's politicians are showing little apparent interest in intervening to force an outcome. Does this inaction on the part of Thabo Mbeki and others indicate a general indifference to democracy in what is supposed to be Africa's most stable nation? 2020 Forum: Ideas into action SUMMARY: This forum is a nod to the 2020 Summit in Canberra and we look at some good ideas that have turned into innovative action. We explore four areas nominated by the Summit: strengthening communities, sustainability of buildings, Australia's security and prosperity in our region, and optimal use of water. James O'Loghlin and Bernie Hobbes question our 'social capital inventors'.