Quake drama filmed across Chch

Hundreds of Cantabrians are reliving their earthquake experience as extras in a six-part television drama set in Christchurch. Scenes for the fictional Hope and Wire series were last night being shot on scaffolding erected on the side on a Worcester St building, near Cathedral Square.

Art: China’s Revamped National Museum

Spring flowers bloomed and soldiers could be seen goose-stepping across Tiananmen Square as I walked through the recently renovated National Museum in Beijing. A new exhibit, “The Road of Rejuvenation,” promised to highlight “the glorious history of China under the leadership of the Communist Party.” So what’s included in a permanent show that contains 2,220 “First-Rank Cultural Objects” and occupies roughly one-fifth of the massive museum’s exhibition space

Races: Revolt of the Mexicans

In the central square of Crystal City stands a statue of Popeye, a symbol of the town's claim that it is “the spinach capital of the world.” Otherwise, Crystal City is like a lot of other farm towns in South Texas. Mexican-Americans outnumber Anglo-Americans four to one, but the Anglos run the place.Last week, with Texas Rangers standing by to keep order, hundreds of Crystal City Mexicans gathered round the statue of Popeye