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On Friday's program: The Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull today used aggressive and blunt language about killing Islamic militants, as he defended the Government's counter-terrorism laws. The recent hacking of an American toy manufacturer which made cloud-based toys has Australian security experts warning national data breach laws don't go far enough. And a men's group in the far west New South Wales town of Wilcannia is trying to tackle some of the town's urgent social issues like high crime, poor health, and high unemployment.
Topics: australia
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New South Wales has just experienced its hottest summer on record, and things are only going to get worse. Climate scientists say this kind of record-breaking summer is likely to happen once every five years. They're urging the state's building industry to prepare for sustained and intense heat, and decrease the reliance on air conditioning.
Topics: climate-change, architecture, environment, weather, australia
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An Australian-managed conservation survey of Myanmar forests isolated by civil war has found some of world's best hotspots for leopards and tigers. But the camera traps also snapped poachers, highlighting the risk to wildlife since a 2015 ceasefire has opened Karen State up to outsiders.
Topics: conservation, environment, forests, human-interest, animals, burma
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A men's group at Wilcannia in far west New South Wales has begun working on strategies to urgently address some of the town's social issues. The town's primarily-Indigenous population faces disadvantages like high crime, poor health, a high unemployment rate and little for young people to do. But tragedy has helped to motivate dozens of local men to work on solutions.
Topics: community-and-society, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, health, mental-health, wilcannia-2836, australia, nsw
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While all the focus is now on the Trump Administration's ties to Russia, our own relationship with that country is hardly in great health. Ever since the Russian annexation of Crimea, the shooting down of MH17, and the mutual economic sanctions that followed, Canberra to Moscow dialogue has been marked by acrimony and division. So what, if any, are the prospects for better days? PM speaks to Russian Ambassador to Australia, Grigory Logvinov, who denies that Russia is 'expansionist' or aggressive.
Topics: world-politics, government-and-politics, australia, russian-federation
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| UpdatedThe pictures from last weekend's barbecue, your grandmother's address, where tonight's dinner will be - the cloud has become home to all our most important information. But what happens when the virtual filing cabinet documenting your whole life is hacked? The recent hacking of an American toy manufacturer which made cloud-based toys has brought the issue of digital privacy back into sharp focus. Australian security experts are warning national data breach laws don't go far enough.
Topics: internet-culture, information-and-communication, science-and-technology, hacking, australia
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| UpdatedThere's a dispute brewing about who should be funding asbestos removal in remote communities across the Northern Territory. The land council representing traditional owners across Central Australia says $20 million is needed to dispose of legacy asbestos in the region. It's calling for the Federal Government to step in and approve funding for the clean-up, but the Indigenous Affairs Minister says it's the Territory Government's responsibility.
Topics: asbestos, community-and-society, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, government-and-politics, health, nt, australia
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| UpdatedFour more Australian World War Two veterans have been honoured with the Legion of Honour - France's highest military distinction. They are among 338 Australian veterans now decorated with the medal since 2014, for their role in the 1944 D-Day landings, which marked the beginning of the end of the war.
Topics: veterans, defence-and-national-security, world-war-2, australia, france
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| UpdatedA leading lawyer for victims of clerical sexual abuse says the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne has failed to show leadership by refusing to implement several recommendations of a report it commissioned into its own survivor compensation scheme, the Melbourne Response. A former federal court judge, Donnell Ryan, recommended the compensation scheme drop the requirement survivors sign a deed of release, expand the scheme to secondary victims and lift the cap on compensation to at least $150,000 but the Archdiocese is not accepting those recommendations.
Topics: child-abuse, community-and-society, catholic, melbourne-3000, australia
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| UpdatedThe Prime Minister says the Australian Defence Force has been given the power to 'kill and destroy' any Australians fighting for groups like Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Mr Turnbull adopted the aggressive language as he unveiled Australia's first two joint strike fighters at the Avalon air show. ASIO says one of the greatest terrorist threats to Australia is in South East Asia, because of the rising influence of ISIL, and the number of Australians who live or visit there.
Topics: federal-government, government-and-politics, terrorism, parliament-house-2600, australia
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| Updated'Are you living in the real world?' That was just one of a barrage of questions the chief executive of the National Australia Bank faced today as he fronted a parliamentary economic committee. It was revealed that the manager responsible for NAB's wealth division was given a bonus, even though that division has had to pay out millions of dollars in compensation to customers whose superannuation accounts were overcharged. Also exposed was an advisor who was sacked for giving poor advice, was also given a large payout to leave the bank.
Topics: banking, business-economics-and-finance, australia
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An animal rights organisation has embarked on the holy grail of PR campaigns. People for the Ethical Treatment Animals has written to the iconic Australian band, Hunters and Collectors, calling for it to change its name. PETA says the group's name glorifies hunting and has suggested some alternatives, like Hunters and Collectors of Antiques.
Topics: animal-welfare, music, human-interest, australia
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| UpdatedThe family of Albert Namatjira, one of Australia's greatest artists, is launching a campaign to gain control of the copyright of his paintings. The rights were sold by the Northern Territory public trustee in 1983, reportedly without consultation with the Namatjira family. It's a deal perceived by many as a serious cultural injustice, which has also deprived the artist's descendants of millions of dollars. Launched today, the Namatjira Legacy Trust aims to set up a lasting legacy for the family and help a new generation of Aboriginal artists.
Topics: indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, visual-art, painting, community-and-society, australia
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| UpdatedThe consumer watchdog has raised concerns that some hearing aid retailers may be exploiting vulnerable Australians and selling them expensive products they don't need. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is particularly concerned about companies working on commission and being given incentives to sell certain products.
Topics: consumer-protection, hearing, australia
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| UpdatedAs property prices in Australia cities continue to soar to new, eye-watering heights, a move by the Victorian Government to make regional houses more affordable has given first home-buyers some hope. The State Government is doubling the first home owners' grant for newly built homes in regional areas so that young people have a better chance of getting their foot in the property market door. But the Real Estate Institute of Victoria says the incentives don't go far enough and there is the risk of further fuelling property prices.
Topics: housing-industry, government-and-politics, housing, vic, australia
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The South-East Regional Hospital in the New South Wales town of Bega opened barely a year ago and has been the subject of rumblings about understaffing and complaints about management. In the past week the issues have spilled out into the open in spectacular fashion over the head of orthopaedic surgery, whose contract has not been renewed. Fellow surgeons have cancelled their surgery lists in support of their colleague.
Topics: healthcare-facilities, health, doctors-and-medical-professionals, bega-2550, nsw
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| UpdatedA Nepalese asylum-seeker who was 'involuntarily removed' from Australia's offshore detention centre on Manus Island three weeks ago and flown back to Nepal, says he's in hiding and fears for his life. His deportation has reportedly sparked a rise in the number of unsuccessful asylum-seekers who are accepting cash incentives to return to their countries of origin.
Topics: refugees, nepal, australia, papua-new-guinea
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| UpdatedPeter Feaver served in President George W Bush's National Security Council between 2005 and 2007. He's now a Professor of political science at Duke University in the United States. He says the questions around Russia's interference in the US election will not end until there is an independent commission investigating what happened, and that for Russia, the meddling was a 'tactical success, but a long term strategic blunder'.
Topics: united-states, russian-federation
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The US Attorney-General, Jeff Sessions, has stepped down from an FBI investigation into alleged Russian interference in the US presidential election. But Jeff Sessions denies he lied under oath when he told his Senate confirmation hearing that hadn't had any communication with Russians during the campaign. Democrats are not satisfied and have called on him to resign.
Topics: united-states, russian-federation
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| UpdatedMembers of the Federal Government's independent advisory council on redress are urging the states to sign up to the Commonwealth Redress Scheme. They say abuse survivors have been let down by governments for decades and that it's time to make amends.
Topics: child-abuse, government-and-politics, law-crime-and-justice, sexual-offences, royal-commissions, australia
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Amber Harrison's high-profile legal battle with Seven West Media, relating to her affair with chief executive Tim Worner, appears to have escalated. Ms Harrison is now considering a counter-claim against Seven for breach of contract, as the media organisation continues to count the financial and reputational cost of the scandal. Counsel for Seven West Media Sandy Dawson SC warned Ms Harrison's claim could contain 'scurrilous and scandalous material'.
Topics: courts-and-trials, media, sydney-2000
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The chief of the NAB, Andrew Thorburn, has faced a grilling in Canberra over why the bank doesn't want to report cases of staff misconduct publicly. Mr Thorburn also revealed that the manager responsible for NAB's wealth division was given a bonus, even though that division has had to pay out millions of dollars in compensation to customers whose superannuation accounts were overcharged.
Topics: banking, federal-parliament, canberra-2600
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Veterans' Affairs Minister Dan Tehan says that the legislation to share veterans' information is 'completely different' to the legislation under which Human Services Minister Alan Tudge shared a Centrelink client's personal details with a journalist. Speaking with The World Today's Tom Iggulden, he says that the legislation would only be used in very rare circumstances, that extensive bipartisan consultation took place in drafting the legislation, and that it will be introduced as a 'disallowable instrument' which could be revoked by the Parliament.
Topics: veterans, government-and-politics, canberra-2600
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| UpdatedA backlash is brewing to the Federal Government's planned new power that would allow it to release the personal information of war veterans, if it wanted to correct the record in media reports. The legislation giving the Government that power passed the House of Representatives yesterday. Labor's now asking for 'clarification' about how it'd work, while at least two crossbench Senators want the legislation to be scrapped.
Topics: government-and-politics, veterans, information-and-communication, canberra-2600
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The Snapchat app is best known for disappearing messages and quirky facial filters for selfies. Now the company that owns the Snapchat messaging service has been valued at $US24 billion, after selling all of the 200 million shares it offered to investors. It's the biggest Wall Street debut of a tech company since Facebook in 2012.
Topics: stockmarket, company-news, social-media, united-states