Elected to parliament in 1981 to a safe seat in the north-west Peloponnese, grandpa's birthplace, he spent several years twiddling his thumbs before his father gave him a junior ministerial post, as official link with Greece's large, mostly American and Australian, diaspora.

ECONOMIST: George Papandreou, flouting Greek tradition

Demand for Australian iron ore, coal and natural gas, mostly from Asia, has pushed up the Australian dollar, which remains above parity with its U.S. counterpart.

WSJ: Australian Rate Cut Signals Policy Shift

Twelve years ago the company relied on sales to foreign distributors, mostly British, American and Australian, for 94% of its income.

ECONOMIST: A flourishing Indian leather business

The Los Angeles Times ran a lengthy article on August 25th arguing that Mr Murdoch has almost ruined Australian rugby league by establishing his own competition mostly, it seems, out of desperation to lure subscribers to his new Australian cable channel.

ECONOMIST: The Murdoch pitch | The

Asian shares were mostly higher Monday in tepid trade with banks leading the Australian market's advance.

WSJ: Asian Shares Up; Banks Shine in Sydney

Asian shares were mostly up Monday in tepid trade with banks leading the Australian market higher.

WSJ: Asian Shares Mostly Up

The Australian maneuver had the effect of converting a mostly useless capital loss deduction into a valuable interest deduction.

FORBES: Your Portfolio Versus the IRS

Asian markets closed mostly higher as encouraging earnings reports out of Hong Kong and strength in the Australian mining sector provided support.

WSJ: U.S. Stocks Trim Losses