Alcohol abuse and suicide rates are increasing among Australia's neglected aboriginal communities in the country's northwest.In the first of a two part series on Australia's indigenous communities, Tony Birtley examines the challenges facing Aborigines.

Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska and Republican vice-presidential candidate, has been one of the most divisive figures to emerge in the 2008 election campaign.Her hometown, Wasilla, has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1972.However, as Al Jazeera's Nick Spicer reports, Barack Obama has given Wasilla's Democrats new hope.