But, dig a little deeper, and the picture is in fact quite bleak for the Liberal Party with around 12 months to go before a national election. Within hours of the vote the obituaries for Turnbull's political career started to appear.

Two things arise from the leadership vote called by Turnbull as a
result of an internal Liberal Party revolt over climate policy.
First, the count itself. 48-35. This is hardly a vote of confidence in a leader. Second, who was it who managed to secure so many votes against Turnbull? A relative unknown in Kevin Andrews.

The Herald's Mark Davis writes "the stark reality of today's vote is that 35 Liberal MPs were so angry at Turnbull they stood ready today to install a plainly politically unviable candidate". Peter Hartcher in the Herald writes the vote backfired on Turnbull, serving only to highlight an "extraordinary mood of angry, irresponsible recklessness" within the Liberals. He derides what has become an
"angry rabble", a party out of control.

By the end of the Australian summer, pundits are predicting the
Liberals could have a new leader, the party's third in three
years. That leaves precious little time to turn around a party that only a couple of years ago had dominated Australian politics for over a decade.

This week, Kevin Rudd celebrated his second year in office. It looks like only a miracle for the Liberals will prevent him from celebrating a second term in office next year. As Shaun Carney writes in the Age, Rudd's good fortune is yet to run out.

The Senate will vote whether Australia will cut its carbon output through an emissions trading system, or ETS. The debate is being closely watched overseas, particularly in the United States where lawmakers are debating their own proposals. The carbon trading scheme was a key promise of Rudd’s 2007 election campaign and he wants the ETS laws passed before December’s global climate talks in Copenhagen.

As political commentator Peter Hartcher says, defeat for Rudd would mean his claim to be a leader “for the future” would face a serious challenge. Rudd is an internationalist, and sets his standards beyond the domestic realm. The former diplomat who speaks Mandarin has laid out a plan to win Australia a temporary seat at the U.N. Security Council, has secured Australia a position as a lead negotiator for a new climate pact at Copenhagen next month, and has been actively pursuing a deeper Australian role in Asian diplomatic circles with his push for an Asia Pacific community.

For Rudd, this week’s vote on the ETS is more than just domestic politics, this is something with global ramifications. And for a man seeking to burnish his internationalist image, this makes it personal.

With the Rudd Labor government now in power for just over a year, it’s worth looking what at has changed in the country’s foreign policy and its security implications for the region. Is the region, particularly Southeast Asia, ready for Australia’s new advances?

Howard’s pragmatism and ‘forward defence’ doctrine over the previous dozen years was unashamedly aimed at garnering an image of being a “considerable power and significant country” (Downer, 2006). Howard’s loyalty to the United States, no-matter-what, was also aimed at banking up some credit with Washington on the security front. Given the concerns of the time over terrorism (in particular the attack on Bali which killed dozens of Australians), one could argue his staunchly pro-American policy was well founded. Moreover, Downer was quite dismissive of past Labor policy on developing a closer relationship with its immediate neighbours. In 2006, he said of Labor: “In effect, they argue for a retreat to regionalism.”

Last week, Rudd spoke of Australia returning to this regionalism. He spoke of the “dawn of the Asia-Pacific century”, “regional engagement” and Australia’s interests in being pro-active about shaping the strategic environment in the Asia-Pacific. At the same time, the Sinologist Rudd is aware he must keep the China and India plates spinning, conscious of their strategic and financial importance to his commodity-driven economy.   

But for over a decade before Rudd’s election, Australia’s relations with its immediate neighbours were frosty. Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamad railed at Howard, and argued Australia was not “Asian” in any sense and therefore his attempts to become more involved in Asian affairs should be resisted by Asian countries. Ties with Indonesia were frayed over East Timor. There was friction with Singapore over human rights. And then there was Pauline Hanson, who shot to popularity on a populist policy of curbing Asian immigration to Australia.

So, is Southeast Asia ready for Australia’s renewed overtures? Or does their history prevent reconciliation?     

The biggest international sporting event Beijing and China hosted prior to the Olympics was the 1990 Asian Games. China dominated the medal count, winning almost twice as many as their nearest rival.

And Pan Pan, the game's Panda mascot, was everywhere. One of the official sponsors distributed Pan Pan decals to the media showing the official mascot in various XI Asiad sporting poses such as boxing, archery, wrestling, etc. With a little imagination, and a pair of scissors, people would remove Pan Pan's head and apply the mascot's sporting themes to their credential photo.

I took it one step further and placed Pan Pan's head right over my mugshot. I was fully expecting someone to ask me to remove it but to my surprise, officials found it rather amusing and I passed through security checkpoints without problem. In all fairness though, security did recognize me. Even Xinhua news agency asked me to pose for a picture and I was dubbed the "Panda Reporter" in the press. I'll be on the lookout for some Olympic Fuwa mascot stickers this August but something tells me that we won't be allowed to do the same.

By Peter Rutherford 

South Korean women have won every Olympic archery gold medal since 1984, and Beijing will probably be no different, but you might need a PhD in Genetics to explain this kind of dominance.

While the benefits of rigorous training, innovative coaching techniques and heavy financial investment are beyond question, there are some who believe Korean women have a genetic advantage - ultra sensitive fingers. The argument goes that this hereditary trait gives them an edge in sports where "feel" is crucial -- such as archery, golf, billiards etc. South Korea does seem to have a production line of ultra-talented female golfers, even though the sport is prohibitively expensive there, while Korean-American Jeanette Lee, aka The Black Widow, is one of the top billiards players in the world.

Yoon Ok-hee, a favourite for archery gold in Beijing, says South Korean women can count on their digits. "Our sensitive fingers, descended from our ancestors, and our spiritual strength and willingness to fight until the very end - they are the secrets," she told Reuters.

Picture: Yoon practices this week at a training session for the Beijing 2008 Olympics at the Korea National Training Centre in Seoul. Photo by Jo Yong-Hak

By Kitty Bu

For many of the tourists expected to descend on Beijing for next month's Olympics, an authentic Chinese home may be where the heart is. Beijing has recruited over 1,000 households to provide rooms during the Games. Like all other aspects of the Olympics, the "home stay" experience is regulated, with officials inspecting the ventilation, lighting, sanitary conditions, fire safety, bathroom facilities, location, transportation -- and even the family pets. Other requirements include the "Olympic families" dressing appropriately, having good manners and basic Olympic knowledge, as well as the willingness to act as tour guides.

The restrictions have not put off film critic Zhao Jing, who has decided to rent out her own bedroom to help visitors make the most of their China stay. And she's already got her tourist -- a German man. "Because of globalisation, young people's lifestyles are becoming more and more similar," Zhao reckons. "This friend is coming to China to experience the country's authentic culture. He wants to have a similar lifestyle to Chinese people. He wants to know how Chinese eat, drink. All I need to do is to show him how I live."

The 1,000 rooms with "Olympic families" are to supplement the city's 220,000 beds in 806 star-rated hotels, as, according to officials, supply may still fall short of demand, especially close to the sports venues. Tourism officials said homestay rooms will cost between $50 and $80 a night.

But retired school teacher Yuan Xiaoqing, who is offering rooms in her nine-bedroom apartment, is happy to charge just $15 for a place to stay, three meals a day and the chance to go on hiking tours with the family to the Great Wall and other sites. Yuan has hosted foreign visitors before, and said she liked the experiencing new cultures without leaving home. Even so, she's preparing herself for culture shock. "Foreign students like to stay out all night on the weekend. But in more intellectual and traditional Chinese households, there is no way the kids would go out like that."

Seeing an opportunity, many companies have set up websites to match families with prospective visitors, who then pay them a day's rent for their services. Jake Cooke, who runs chinahomestay, says many companies are pushing up prices to unrealistic levels which he says are unlikely to last. "I think even the hotels that have tried to raise the rates, they're just not having the bookings that they expected to. People of course can raise the rates a bit, but 500 percent is extremely unreasonable. They're just not going to be able to sell those rooms," he reckons.

Pix from top:  A man walks in his courtyard garden inside a traditional alleyway, or hutong, in central Beijing. A man stands at the entrance of his house in central Beijing )snaps by Jason Lee). Tourists at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing (by Claro Cortes IV).

The background is: Alex Puskitas is a fictional, underdog athlete that incorporates all we want to express with the "Best of Us" campaign. He is capable of overcoming the odds and ‘bringing out his best' in order to achieve his goals. He symbolizes the spirit of the athlete - the participation and striving to be your best.  Take a look..

Our team are on their way back down, slowly of course, after the events of yesterday. Our comms have not been great, so we're reproducing our main story for your pleasure.... 

   By Nick Mulvenney

   EVEREST BASE CAMP, China, May 8 (Reuters) - A Tibetan woman took the Olympic torch the last steps to the top of Everest on Thursday, realising "a dream of all Chinese people", but Tibetan exiles criticised Beijing for politicising the Games.
    "Long live Tibet!" and "Long live Beijing!", the climbers, all wearing red, shouted joyously into a TV camera after unfurling the Chinese national flag, the Olympic flag and a flag bearing the Beijing Olympic logo.
    The ambitious project to take the torch to the Himalayan peak was cast as the highlight of the relay ahead of the Games, which start in exactly three months' time, and followed weeks of protests against Beijing's rule in Tibet.
    "We have realised a promise to the world and a dream of all the Chinese people," base camp commander Li Zhixin told reporters after being mobbed by jubilant friends and colleagues.
    Communist China has spent billions of dollars on staging the Olympics, eager to project the image of a modern and vibrant country. But protests during the international leg of the torch relay have bruised Chinese pride and provoked a surge of nationalist sentiment.
    Exiled Tibetan officials and rights groups said the Everest flame was in bad taste and not in keeping with the spirit of the Games.
    "During these times when the situation in Tibet is very grave and grim we felt it is very provocative to take the Olympic torch to the Tibetan side of the mountain," said Thubten Samphel, secretary of the exiled government's information department in the Indian hill town of Dharamsala.
    "The Chinese are suppressing the Tibetan people ... it is not in harmony with the spirit of the Olympics," he told Reuters.
    Tenzin Dorjee, deputy director of Students for a Free Tibet, said in a statement e-mailed from New York: "Beijing's conquest of Everest is a political move meant to reassert China's control of Tibet."
    Chinese troops marched into Tibet in 1950, and nine years later the Dalai Lama fled to India after a failed uprising against communist rule. He is branded a "separatist" by China, but says he only wants greater autonomy for the region.

    "AGREED TO DISAGREE"
    Anti-Chinese protesters caused serious disruption to some legs of the main torch relay on its journey around the world after deadly riots in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, on March 14 and subsequent unrest in other Tibetan areas of China.
   Tibetan groups said they planned prayer vigils around the world later on Thursday to mourn those killed in protests in Tibet.
    China says a "Dalai Lama clique" was responsible for the disturbances in Tibet and protests over the Olympic torch.
   The Chinese state-run media this week accused the Tibetan spiritual leader of trying to blacken China's name and prevent its rise, days after the two sides held a rare round of talks.
    However, an envoy to the Dalai Lama said Chinese negotiators had shown a willingness to engage with the Tibetan side during recent talks, despite major differences on important issues.
    "We agreed on few and disagreed on many ... We agreed to disagree," the envoy, Lodi Gyari, told reporters in Dharamsala. "These views were expressed in a frank and candid manner."
    Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said his government's attitude towards dialogue was "sincere".
    "We also hope the Dalai Lama can show sincerity by taking concerted actions to truly stop separatist activities, stop plotting and provoking violent actions and stop disrupting the Beijing Olympics," Qin told a regular news conference.

    EMOTIONS RUN HIGH
    On Thursday morning, five climbers, two of them women, staged the torch relay just shy of the world's highest peak amid strong winds and minus-30-degree temperatures.
    "Beijing welcomes you!" and "tashi delek", the climbers said -- using a Tibetan greeting meaning "may everything be well" -- after escorting the flame in a mini-relay to the 8,848-metre (29,030-foot) peak at the end of a six-hour climb.
    Beijing student Huang Chungui passed the flame to ethnic Tibetan woman Ciren Wangmu, who trudged the final steps unaided by oxygen to hold the torch aloft.
    That prompted jubilation among the reserve climbers, officials and a small team of journalists who had endured thin air at high altitude, sub-freezing temperatures and basic sanitation for nearly two weeks as they waited for the final ascent.
    The tent to which the live pictures were relayed from the summit was rent with cheers and tears, and several renditions of the Chinese national anthem echoed out across the Himalayas.
    The Everest climbing team, which included 22 Tibetans, eight Han Chinese and one man from the Tujia minority, had been on the mountain for more than a week preparing the route along the north-east ridge.
    Concerned that protesters would try to disrupt the assault on Everest, which sits astride the border of the Chinese region of Tibet and Nepal, China had effectively closed off the region and released only limited information to the media.
    The flame that crested Everest's peak was taken from the main Olympic torch when it arrived in Beijing in March.
    The Beijing organisers paused the main torch relay, scheduled to pass through the southern city of Shenzhen on Thursday, while the final push for the summit was taking place.
    The Everest flame will be reunited with the main flame later in the relay, possibly when it passes through Lhasa in mid-June.

Pix from top: Members of the support crew for the Olympic torch relay team celebrate at Everest Base Camp. A replica Olympic torch is held by a member of the support crew. (Photos by David Gray). And, shoppers and residents watch the live coverage of the Olympic torch ascent to Everest shown on a huge television screen in Beijing. Photo by Claro Cortes IV.

Ed: We hope you've enjoyed our coverage. Certainly the boys had fun up there, although they are now exhausted and are looking forward to a good rest. 

The Beijing Olympic torch is held aloft at the top of Mount Everest on Thursday in this image taken from television footage.

Three months to the day before the Games open, members of a 31-strong team reached the top of the 8,848-metre (29,030-ft) peak carrying the Olympic flame in a lantern before lighting the torch.

The climbing team, which included 22 Tibetans, eight Han Chinese and one man from the Tujia minority, had been on the mountain for more than a week preparing the route along the north-east ridge.

Take a look at Nick's story about the moment so many Chinese have been waiting for.

But the trip is more than just another stopover on the Olympic torch's journey around the world, read about the controversy and the deep symbolism surrounding the project.

Our Reuters team of Nick, Dave and Mark will be in touch with a us soon to give a personal account of today's achievement.

You can also catch all the latest Olympics news at our website .

Pix: REUTERS/CCTV via Reuters TV.

    Climbers taking a special Olympic torch up Mount Everest were held up at advanced base camp on Thursday, awaiting better weather to reclaim glory at the top of the world after a calamitous round-the-world relay.
    Anxious to avoid a repeat of the anti-China protests that marred torch's five-continent relay and preserve a moment of national pride ahead of Beijing's August Games, China has kept the logistics and timing of the climb under wraps.
    Sun Bin, Everest project manager at the organising committee for Games, confirmed, however, that the climbers had reached the advanced base camp on the Chinese side of the mountain at around 6,500 metres (21,300 feet).
    He added that the wind would have to die down before an attempt was made to scale the final icy slopes up to the 8,848-metre (29,030-foot) Himalayan peak.
    "Normally there is a three to four day window of good weather in the first week of May," said the former national climbing champion. "We want to try to catch this window to try and summit.
    "Strong winds are the worst conditions," he added. "Last year, when I was at 7,500 metres the wind was so strong I could not move one step in half an hour. Beyond 8,000 metres, the wind will decide whether you can summit or not."
    Despite the hope invested in the endeavour, Sun's colleague, Liu Jian, did not think expedition leader Wang Yong Fung would take any chances with his team.
    "I think he will obey the rules of mountaineering," said Liu, who with Wang and three others became the first Chinese to climb the highest mountain on all seven continents and reach the North and South Poles.
    The head of the meteorological office said on Wednesday that conditions would not be appropriate to summit until the weekend at the earliest.

    "IT'S NOT A JOKE"
    Sun, who said it usually takes four days to summit from 6,500 metres, successfully battled winds and temperatures of -60 degrees Celsius (-76 degrees Fahrenheit) to conquer Everest last year as part of a test run for the attempt with the Olympic flame.
    His own experience illustrates that the upper reaches of the world's highest mountain are still an extremely hostile environment, with the threat of frostbite particularly acute.
    "For anyone getting to the top of Everest would be very exciting, but the reality is that it's pretty painful," he said.
    "I lost the feeling in my feet, I was really worried about it. I just wanted to run down so in the end I just spent about five minutes at the top."
    Another reminder of how hostile Everest can be is a memorial park at base camp where mounds of rocks and plaques remember climbers who have died. Most of the bodies remain on the slopes.
    "To climb this mountain, you need to take it seriously. It's not a joke," said Sun, who said he had seen seven corpses above 8,300 metres.
    Sun, who has spent two years preparing the torch climb, said measures had been taken to alleviate the risks.
    "The north-east route is the most popular route on the Chinese side and it's very familiar to the climbers," he said. "They will have fixed ropes up the mountain, they will have the best logistic and information support. All the food and equipment will be carried by the sherpas."
    Sun said the team was likely to summit around dawn.
    "If we can get the Olympic flame to the top, this would be my happiest time," he said. "I'm praying for good luck for the climbers, for the Olympic torch relay and the Olympic Games, to have a great success."

Picture: This is what it's all about ... the specially designed Olympic flame lantern that climbers will carry the Olympic flame to the summit of Mount Everest, also known as Qomolangma, is displayed at a news conference at Everest Base Camp in the Tibet Autonomous Region April 30, 2008. REUTERS/David Gray (CHINA)