Cats, Saints, Pies or Bulldogs for AFL Grand Final

Only four teams remain in the contest for the 2010 AFL Grand Final after a thrilling weekend of
finals footy.

Geelong (20.15.135) downed Fremantle (10.6.66) in an easy win at the MCG on Friday night. The
Bulldogs (11.11.77) eliminated the Sydney Swans (10.12.72) by a narrow margin in Saturday's
semi-final to reach their third consecutive preliminary final.

The Pies and Cats have fought out two preliminary finals in the past three seasons and will meet
again this Friday night at the MCG in a game which will be a sell out.

The Saints and the Bulldogs will meet in the second preliminary final at the MCG on Saturday at
7.20pm. The winners of these two finals will play off for the ultimate prize - the 2010 AFL
Premiership to be held on Saturday the 25th of September.

Tickets to the AFL Grand Final are still the most sought after ticket in Australia and last year
100,000 fans packed the MCG to witness a game where Geelong held off St Kilda by just 12 points
to secure their second premiership in three years.

Can the Cats take out a third premiership and go down as one of the greatest teams of all time,
or will St Kilda, Collingwood or the Western Bulldogs claim the trophy on the last Saturday in
September?

Hello, and welcome to Easynews. On today's bulletin:

The Prime Minister Julia Gillard unveils her new Cabinet,

*

Australians support the survivors of the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand,

*

Pakistani Muslims have taken part in low-key celebrations for the Eid al-Fitr festival,
*

the bones of Phar Lap come from NZ to Australia in time for the Melbourne Cup,
*

Collingwood to play Geelong and St Kilda to play the Bulldogs for a place in the AFL Grand
Final,
 *

and 163 couples in Taiwan are married in a mass ceremony in Taipei.

Mass wedding ceremony in Taiwan

163 couples in Taiwan were married in a mass ceremony last week.

The ceremony took place at 9.09am local time in Taipei, the nation's capital city.

It was on the ninth day of the ninth month of the 99th year since the founding of
Taiwan as a republic.

The word for nine in Chinese sounds exactly like the word for longevity.

For groom Ryan Chen, the ceremony to tie the knot with bride Chang Ya-chi, had
an even stronger meaning.

He's born on the 9th of September, and his wife was born on the same date in the
lunar calendar.

Picking this date, the couple hopes their marriage will last forever.

Phar Lap bones home for Melbourne Cup

Close

The skeleton of famed racehorse Phar Lap has left New Zealand this week for a
four-month visit to Melbourne, the first time since it arrived in New Zealand in
1933. 

The skeleton's has been brought to Australia as part of the celebrations for the
running of the 150th Melbourne Cup.  Phar Lap's skeleton will be displayed in an
exhibition due to open on September 16 at the Melbourne Museum, alongside his
mounted hide, which is permanently on display at the museum.   

The Museum of New Zealand earlier this year agreed to loan Phar Lap's skeleton
to the Melbourne Museum.  Victoria's Racing Minister Rob Hulls unsuccessfully
tried to get the National Museum of Australia in Canberra to loan Phar Lap's heart
for the exhibition. 

The skeleton will be returned to the Museum of New Zealand at the end of
January 2011 and will be back on display by March. 
Phar Lap was foaled in New Zealand and raced in Australia.  He's recognized as
Asia Pacific's most famous racehorse. 

He was born in 1926 and died in America in 1932 from a sudden mystery illness.
It was initially suspected that he may have been poisoned, although more
recently it's thought  he died of accidental arsenic poisoning. 

His owners decided to donate his hide and heart to Australia and the skeleton to
New Zealand. 

The Melbourne Spring Racing carnival gathers momentum in October with the
Caulfield Cup and reaches its climax in the first week of November with the
running of the Melbourne Cup on the 2nd of November .

Christchurch quake aftermath

Close

More than 500 buildings in Christchurch are damaged after a massive 7.1
magnitude earthquake hit the city last week. The quake cut water and power and
triggered large aftershocks causing billions of dollars of damage in the city of
340,000 in New Zealand's South Island.  

Christchurch streets are piled with rubble, cordoned off and under curfew after
the quake. The Christchurch City Council said that of the 500 damaged buildings,
more than 90 are in the central city area. 

Emergency centre staff are focusing on restoring the water supply which could
still force evacuations in worst-hit areas such as Brighton, Brooklands and parts
of Avonside.  Water supply has resumed for all but 15 to 20 per cent but there
are still more than 200 water leaks around the city.    

While there's been damage to minor bridges, major ones withstood the quake.
However, some roads have been washed away or closed due to flooding.  Power
is back to 90 per cent of the city, and will be restored in central Christchurch
when buildings are checked. 

The first of three Salvation Army teams from Australia has departed for
Christchurch to offer support to victims.  The team includes six chaplains and
pastoral care workers who all have experience in managing emergencies and in
counselling.
The New Zealand Red Cross says it's yet to find accommodation for about 200
people affected by the quake. Their houses were destroyed or made too unstable
to live in. 

A spokesman for the Red Cross, David Neal, says the survivors are still living at
the welfare centres that have been set up in Christchurch:

"The kids will go back to school next week. Those that can need to go back to
their jobs. Things need to get back to as much normal as possible and then those
that are still left with nowhere to live - we've got to find somewhere for them
that's going to be temporary, whether it be weeks or months. We can't just keep
on looking after them in welfare centres, so that's the big push at the moment."