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Scientists say the world is closer to catastrophe than at any time since the height of the Cold War. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has moved the hands of its symbolic Doomsday Clock forward by thirty seconds overnight, citing nuclear weapons, climate change and the election of US president Donald Trump as reasons for the move. It's the closest the clock has come to midnight in 64 years.
Topics: nuclear-issues, unrest-conflict-and-war, united-states
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| UpdatedIt's inspired by the mating rituals of the Australian Red Back Spider. In her first live action short film, Archibald Prize winner Del Kathryn Barton, celebrates female power like never before.
Topics: film-movies, adelaide-5000
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| UpdatedAn Indonesian couple who lived in Australia for several years will today undergo another day of questioning about their links to the terrorist group, Islamic State. The couple were deported from Turkey this week to Bali. Their three children include an eight-year-old boy who was born in South Australia.
Topics: immigration, terrorism, indonesia, australia, turkey
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| UpdatedNew South Wales Health Minister Jillian Skinner has quit politics, after refusing a demotion from her portfolio. Her decision means that the state will soon have a second by-election, following on from the resignation last week of premier Mike Baird. Skinner, a long-serving Coalition MP, has been health minister since 2011 and has had to contend with several major scandals within the state's health system, including cases of chemotherapy under-dosing, the gassing death of a newborn baby and the mistaken cremation of still-born babies at Royal North Shore Hospital. Election analyst Antony Green speaks with The World Today's Emily Bourke and analyses the two electorates at stake.
Topics: states-and-territories, health-policy, nsw
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There are mounting calls from the RSL New South Wales rank and file for the state council to stand down, amid a police investigation into alleged financial misconduct. Vice-president Peter Stephenson stood down last week and urged his fellow councillors to do the same. The entire council could be expelled from the League if internal disciplinary charges, levelled by the RSL's national board, are proven at a hearing next week. It comes as police step up their investigation into the RSL, amid allegations of financial misconduct.
Topics: veterans, fraud-and-corporate-crime, community-organisations, nsw
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| UpdatedThe Prime Minister is calling for the installation of more bollards in areas like the Bourke Street mall, after the deadly car attack there. One security expert says the Prime Minister is right, but bollards are not the only way of improving security.
Topics: defence-and-national-security, crime, melbourne-3000, australia
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| UpdatedDonald Trump's impulsive and unpredictable style of leadership means Australia will have to negotiate an increasingly complicated global landscape. In his first week in office, the new President has withdrawn from a major trade deal, endorsed torture and threatened a big new tax on its Mexican neighbour. But Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull insists that the new US administration won't change Australia's relationship with America, and that he trusts the President to remain a strong presence in the Asia Pacific. Meanwhile, on the home front the PM is also facing pressure from his backbench to find a solution to the increasing cost of housing.
Topics: government-and-politics, australia
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| UpdatedThe Trump administration has indicated that it will substantially change US policy direction in the Middle East. There are suggestions that President Trump will move the American embassy to Jerusalem and recognise it as the capital of Israel, and that he will take a more benign view towards Israeli settlements. Former US ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer opposes the nomination of David Friedman as the new ambassador, saying his pro-settlement stance and vilification of pro-peace Jewish activists will do the United States no favours.
Topics: world-politics, israel, palestinian-territory-occupied, united-states
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| UpdatedDonald Trump this week spoke encouragingly of particular practices which are now outlawed, saying they're 'effective' for collecting intelligence. The US President has described waterboarding as an effective intelligence-gathering tool and says the practice would need Cabinet approval if it were to be re-introduced. The International Commission of Jurists believes President Trump's comments set a concerning precedent.
Topics: crime, united-states
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| UpdatedThe US President Donald Trump has flagged the possibility of a hefty tax on Mexican imports to pay for a 3000 kilometre border wall. The proposal is the latest salvo in an escalating war of words between the US and Mexico. Already the Mexican President has snubbed Donald Trump by cancelling a scheduled meeting in Washington.
Topics: agreements-and-treaties, united-states, mexico
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Across Asia, hundreds of millions of people are on the move ahead of Chinese New Year, preparing to welcome the Year of the Rooster. More than 350 million people are taking trains, while another 60 million are flying to cities and towns around the country. But while racing to get home for the annual holiday, many people are also rushing to get a hair cut - due to a curious superstition.
Topics: community-and-society, china
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Scientists have created the first human-pig hybrid embryo, which contains genetic information from both species. The results, published in the journal Cell, show that it may be possible to grow human organs inside other animals for use in transplants.
Topics: genetics, united-states
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| UpdatedPizza Hut is the latest franchise found to be underpaying its workers by the Fair Work ombudsman. The ombudsman has found 24 of the 26 franchisees it has investigated so far were breaking the law. Most of the workers were young and some were from overseas.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, australia
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Music is renowned as a vehicle for political statements and activism. That was reflected in this year's Triple J hottest 100 countdown, with hip hop group A B Original's song 'January 26' making the elusive top 20. The popular vote could be seen to reflect the changing tide of views about the change of date debate.
Topics: music, radio-broadcasting, national-days, australia
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| UpdatedNobel Peace Prize laureate and former president of Timor-Leste, Jose Ramos-Horta, has confirmed he will not be running in the country's upcoming presidential elections. Mr Ramos-Horta says he strongly believes it's time for the next generation to take on the responsibility. But Mr Ramos-Horta says he will be watching closely from the sidelines and is keen to assist whoever wins government after the parliamentary elections in July.
Topics: world-politics, east-timor
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Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has cancelled plans to meet his US counterpart, Donald Trump. The diplomatic spat erupted after President Trump sent a series of tweets about his plans to build a wall along the Mexico-US border. Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Theresa May will soon be the first foreign leader to meet the new US President, who has been addressing congressional Republicans in Philadelphia about his domestic policy plans - including a 20 per cent tax on Mexican imports.
Topics: world-politics, agreements-and-treaties, united-states
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UK Prime Minister Theresa May is under pressure to confront US President Donald Trump over his comments on torture, as she begins her first visit to the White House. In his first television interview as President, Mr Trump endorsed waterboarding as an interrogation technique. His remarks have been condemned by UK MPs on both sides of the House of Commons.
Topics: crime, human, united-states, united-kingdom
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| UpdatedThe sweeping orders signed yesterday by US President Donald Trump to crack down on illegal immigration have been applauded by many of the nation's border agents. For years they have criticized former president Obama for being too soft on America's population of 11 million undocumented immigrants and on the hundreds who cross the southern border each day, looking for a new life in the United States. However a number of local leaders, including California Governor Jerry Brown, have vowed to stand by undocumented residents.
Topics: immigration, united-states, mexico
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| UpdatedVictoria's former commissioner for children and young people has blamed a 'lazy, inadequate' court system for the state's youth justice crisis. A riot and breakout at the Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre this week is just the latest in a string of episodes that suggest the system is failing. The Victorian Government has announced a wide-ranging review in response, but the Opposition is calling for the Minister, Jenny Mikakos, to resign.
Topics: crime, youth, law-crime-and-justice, prisons-and-punishment, malmsbury-3446, vic
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Warren Mundine, who's a prominent supporter of the campaign to change the date of Australia Day, says violence won't help win over those who want to maintain January 26 as the date for Australia Day. The comments follow charges being laid against a 20-year-old man in Sydney for assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and malicious property damage.
Topics: national-days, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, community-and-multicultural-festivals, australia
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Promising to negotiate new trade deals and build a wall on the border with Mexico, US President Donald Trump has outlined his policy plans at a meeting of congressional Republicans in Philadelphia. As Mr Trump outlines his domestic agenda, the UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, will soon be the first foreign leader to meet the new President, but Mexico's President has just cancelled his visit to the US.
Topics: world-politics, agreements-and-treaties, united-states
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A mass break out at central Victoria's Malmsbury Youth Detention Centre has put the Victorian Government under more pressure over its handling of the youth justice system. The Victorian Opposition is calling for the sacking of the Youth Affairs Minister Jenny Mikakos.
Topics: prisons-and-punishment, community-and-society, youth, government-and-politics, law-crime-and-justice, vic, australia
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Computer scientists have developed an artificial intelligence that's just as good at identifying skin cancers as fully trained dermatologists. Publishing their results in the journal Nature, the researchers say their system successfully picked out malignant carcinomas and melanomas. Dermatologists say AI in medicine is fascinating and exciting, but machines can still make mistakes.
Topics: robots-and-artificial-intelligence, health, cancer, science-and-technology, australia
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| UpdatedThe West Australian Police Force says it will investigate allegations officers stomped on the head of an Aboriginal man arrested in Perth earlier this month. Police allege Clifton Wayne Penny was in a stolen car when they arrested him on the second of January and have charged him with a string of offences. His family says he's been shaking uncontrollably since his arrest and are worried he's suffered permanent nerve damage. Police have confirmed he was tasered and say they'll investigate the claims he was stomped on.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, community-and-society, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, crime, police, perth-6000, australia, wa
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| UpdatedTreasurer Scott Morrison is celebrating Australia Day in Germany, where he's been attending a G20 conference on financial technology. He says the date for Australia Day should remain January 26, as Australia's colonial and settler history are part of our story as a nation. He says he believes all Australians can 'embrace all of our stories'.
Topics: australia-day, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, government-and-politics, australia