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THEY'VE conquered the United States and now Australia's most successful skivvy-wearing entertainment export, pre-school band The Wiggles, is poised to dance and sing its way into Africa. The group is in the final stages of lucrative negotiations with a cable television company to screen two of its television series across 35 African countries, the band's general manager Mike Conway told an accountants' Congress in Melbourne today. After the conference, Mr Conway said the expansion would also open a door into South Africa, which is excluded from the new deal. "That gives us the opportunity to probably leverage into South Africa,''...

A LIFE-LONG heart condition has forced yellow Wiggle Greg Page to hang up his skivvy from the much-loved children's group. Page, 34, revealed he was quitting the Wiggles because of a chronic condition called orthostatic intolerance, which is caused by low blood pressure and leaves sufferers feeling dizzy, short of breath and nauseated when they stand up.

Wiggles named top Australian export Four men in colourful T-shirts and a backup cast that includes a spotted dinosaur called Dorothy have been named Australia's Exporter of the Year. Last year the Wiggles sold more than 17 million DVDs and videos and five million CDs around the world. The children's entertainers beat banks, airlines and mining multinationals to take the top honour in the government-sponsored annual award ceremony. The Wiggles' Exporter of the Year award was one of 10 business gongs presented at the 42nd Australian Export Awards. The Wiggles' export business now includes television rights, franchises and a licence...

<p>BAGHDAD, Iraq — Life for the children of Iraq hasn't always been full of fun and games. Forty percent of the Iraqi population is under 18, children who were born under the oppressive rule of Saddam Hussein.</p> <p>The dictator's priorities were clearly not focused on children. The schools are dilapidated and ill-equipped.</p>

Call Him WigglesIn a story in last week's Newsweek online about Iraqi reconstruction, there was a glancing mention of an important grassroots effort to reach out to Iraqi children. The article talks about safety improvements in parts of Baghdad: "There are motor pools, and Internet cafes, cafeterias and video lounges." And in an almost dismissive manner, it continues: "There's even a blog from inside the Green Zone, put out by someone who says he's a military intelligence soldier using the pseudonym Chief Wiggles (http://chiefwiggles.blog-city.com). Lately the boosterish Chief Wiggles has been using his blog to find donors to give...

Chief Wiggle's, a 30+ year veteran of the guard, is furious at the reports from Amnesty International and the Red Cross. He has decided to set them straight, and this is a guy in the know considering he is a Chief Interrogator for the US Army! A quote from what he says: "This is a prisoner of war camp, now transitioning over to being a prison. If you were to look at a list of why these men are being detained you would see that most of them are here because they have either committed some violent crime or have...