australia

online.wsj.com — Australia will launch this week a new initiative to attract more visitors from China, as the usual tourists from the U.S. and Japan stay put in the face of uncertain economies and the strong Aussie dollar.

www.nytimes.com — “The Chinese have a strong culinary tradition in using wild foods, not just meat, but a wide range of wild foods called yaemei in Cantonese and yewei in Mandarin,” said Mr. Kelly, executive director of the Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia, a lobbying group. “Kangaroo will to a large extent just slot right into that existing tradition in much the same way it has in the European markets.”

www.businessweek.com — The Chinese aluminum company Chinalco owns about 9 percent of Rio Tinto, which has been transformed by China's demand for iron ore into the second-largest miner in the world. Rio Tinto, which had a net income of $1.4 billion in 2003, now earns more than $10 billion a year, and 70 percent of those profits are from iron ore.

www.geelongadvertiser.com.au — A BELMONT teenager and his dad have told of their amazement at finding a message in a bottle on a remote beach southwest of Lorne on Sunday afternoon.

The Easter miracle find was made even more astounding when Michael Lawrence and son Pete discovered the message was from someone in rural China, more than 11,000km away from Lorne.

search.japantimes.co.jp — The high profile case of Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu closed with the three-judge court sentencing the Australian citizen to 10 years in prison. Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith termed the sentence harsh and pointed out that part of the trial was held behind closed doors, with no Australian official present, despite a Sino-Australian consular agreement that provides for such presence.