Sydney Mardi Gras went out with a bang, as some of the biggest names in popular music came out to support of one of the world’s largest gay parties. More than 18,000 partygoers danced the night away to extravagant acts.

Thousands of people lavishly decorated in various states of undress danced and partied their way through Sydney’s streets, in Australia’s annual Mardi Gras Parade. Derek Henkle covered the parade and filed this report.

It’s carnival time of year and after Rio and Venice, its Sydney’s turn to take centre stage this weekend. The event brings out hundreds of thousands of onlookers and generates some twenty seven million US dollars in business for the city. Derek Henkle is in Sydney and filed this report.

In the first full test of its anti-terrorism laws, an Australian court sentenced five men accused of the country’s largest terror plot to lengthy prison terms. Derek Henkle is in Sydney and filed this report.

Nearly a year after the peak of the global financial crisis, an economic stimulus program that Australia says was key in abating its recession, is getting attention and praise. Derek Henkle is in Sydney, Australia and filed this report.

Obama pledges to let gays and lesbians serve openly in US military. This as thousands march on the US capitol demanding equal rights. VOA NEWS has comprehensive coverage, produced and shot by Derek Henkle, reported by Elizabeth Lee, with additional video from Brian Allen.

In an exclusive interview, Erykah Badu opens up to Derek Henkle about her new album, her past as a teacher, and her rise to stardom.

June Scobee Rodgers lost her husband as the Challenger space shuttle met disaster in 1986. Since then, she works to keep his memory alive by opening science education centers for kids across America.

Local boys done good: The Wizards return to their former stomping ground to insure the next generation of high school athletes have nice facilities to play in.

With more than 30,000 now protesting in Kiev, Derek Henkle takes an in-depth look at the crisis, and how it got that way. Including the views of local Ukrainians on the East/West divide and relations between Ukraine and Russia.