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| UpdatedAs property prices soar on the east coast, there's fresh evidence that millennials are diving into the sharemarket, and buying up international stocks, such as Google and Facebook. But while they may know more about these companies, experts warn that international share trading is fraught with risks.
Topics: stockmarket, markets, population-and-demographics, australia
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| UpdatedA lawyer for one of Australia's top China academics says it's not clear how long Chinese authorities will continue to force his client to remain in China. Professor Feng Chongyi from the University of Technology in Sydney was visiting China for research. He was detained by state security agents before he could return home on the weekend as planned.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, defence-and-national-security, china, australia
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| UpdatedA former manager at the Don Dale youth detention centre says he wasn't told that a guard filmed a detainee eating faeces, despite the incident occurring on his watch. James Sizeland has given evidence at the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory today. He also told the inquiry he didn't accept claims Don Dale had a 'macho' culture.
Topics: royal-commissions, community-and-society, youth, law-crime-and-justice, prisons-and-punishment, nt, australia
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| UpdatedIn our a fast paced world of shopping, it's easy to forget about the people who have made the clothes you're buying. Bangladesh now has the second largest garment industry in the world second to China, and one of the most prominent garment worker activists in Bangladesh is in Sydney to receive a Human Rights Watch award. She's also here to remind shoppers and clothing companies that garment workers in her country need fair wages.
Topics: manufacturing, community-and-society, rights, work, bangladesh, australia
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| UpdatedFrom April, an Indigenous animated kids' TV series will be on our screens - in a first for Australia. The program's called Little J and Big Cuz, and is targeted towards Indigenous children under six years of age. The voices of Deborah Mailman and Miranda Tapsell star in the new show on NITV.
Topics: television, animation, community-and-society, family-and-children, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, children, australia
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| UpdatedThe child sexual abuse Royal Commission chairman Peter McClellan has announced the inquiry's 57th case study public hearing will be its last. Justice McClellan said even though public hearings couldn't be held into all the institutions where abuse is alleged to have occurred, he believes all the types of institutions have been examined. The commission heard today that 64 per cent of the 6,500 Australians who have attended a private session at the commission were men.
Topics: royal-commissions, community-and-society, child-abuse, law-crime-and-justice, australia
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| UpdatedThis afternoon, the Government passed its bill to cut business taxes to 25 per cent through the Lower House. But there's still no sign that it's got enough support from the Senate crossbench for it to become law. Meanwhile, as the Prime Minister tries to keep attention on the Government's efforts to rein in electricity prices, the Opposition has used Question Time to probe whether the Treasurer Scott Morrison still has the support from his colleagues.
Topics: federal-government, electricity-energy-and-utilities, government-and-politics, tax, parliament-house-2600, australia, act
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| UpdatedThe rain has started pouring down, as Tropical Cyclone Debbie looms closer to the North Queensland coast. Reporter Annie Guest has the latest from the town of Bowen.
Topics: cyclones, bowen-4805, australia, qld
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| UpdatedFrom Townsville down to Mackay, residents are bunkering down in preparation of what's tipped to be the worst cyclone to hit north Queensland since Yasi in 2011. But as tropical cyclone Debbie charts its way further south, authorities have just issued a fresh warning and evacuation orders for residents of Mackay. Debbie, now a category three cyclone, is now tipped to cross the coast as a category four between Bowen and Mackay. It's due to hit in the morning, coinciding with a tidal surge.
Topics: cyclones, townsville-4810, australia, qld
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| UpdatedYouth underemployment is at its highest level since records began 40 years ago. Analysis from the Brotherhood of St Laurence shows that 18 per cent of Australians aged between 15 and 24 are underemployed, compared with 13.5 per cent who are unemployed.
Topics: unemployment, youth, australia
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| UpdatedThe Federal Agriculture Minister has urged the Victorian Government not to destroy the forestry sector by saving the country's biggest hardwood sawmill. The Heyfield Mill is slated for closure next year unless a buyer can be secured, and the Victorian Government has vowed to step in if a sale falls through. But the conservation of the lead-beater remains a contentious issue as the industry tries to balance a sustainable future with animal protection.
Topics: timber, conservation, forestry, heyfield-3858
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| UpdatedA world first trial of a multi-species malaria vaccine has proven to be safe in humans in initial testing. The small clinical trial has been carried out on the Gold Coast, in Queensland. While more studies will be needed before the vaccine can be made commercially available, early results show promising signs. Malaria is one of the world's deadliest diseases, killing around 500,000 people each year, mostly children.
Topics: malaria, medical-research, vaccines-and-immunity, qld
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| UpdatedA Benedictine monk who has dedicated almost two decades to recording and preserving Christian manuscripts has now turned his focus to Islamic materials. Father Columba Stewart is the director of the non-profit Hill Museum and Manuscript Library in Minnesota, which works to digitise some of the world's most precious and endangered pieces of history. He says studying the interactions of major religions in the past through ancient documents may help us find a way to improve relations today.
Topics: islam, history, christianity, united-states
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Russian police have arrested hundreds of people in nationwide anti-corruption protests, including a key opposition leader. Russia hasn't seen protests this large since President Vladimir Putin was returned to the Kremlin in 2012. Another presidential election is scheduled for next year. But the weekend's protest suggests that he might have a bigger battle on his hands than he assumed.
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, world-politics, corruption, russian-federation
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In a surprising development just days after the failed bill to repeal Obamacare, the Trump Government has signalled that it is open to doing deals with the Democrats. The Republican majority in Congress splintered last week forcing a massive defeat on the President over his promise to repeal Barack Obama's health insurance scheme.
Topics: health-policy, world-politics, healthcare-facilities, health-insurance, obama-barack, united-states
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| UpdatedBritish police have arrested another man in connection with last week's Westminster terrorist attack, which killed four people. The UK Government is insisting that technology companies give intelligence services access to encrypted material during terrorism investigations, as it's understood the attacker used the encrypted WhatsApp messaging service two minutes before he went on his rampage.
Topics: terrorism, murder-and-manslaughter, united-kingdom
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| UpdatedIn the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal, when some of the company's cars were found to be cheating emissions tests, the Australian Automobile Association decided to test 17 of the nation's most common cars. What it found was that all but one of the cars performed worse in emissions tests than their manufacturers claimed. The Association is calling for the Government to test cars in the 'real world' and not in labs - and to properly police the results.
Topics: automotive, air-pollution, australia
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The chairman of the child sexual abuse Royal Commission, Peter McClellan, has announced the inquiry's 57th public hearing will be its last. Justice McClellan said he is confident the Commission has established why so many organisations failed to protect children and even though public hearings couldn't be held into all the institutions where abuse is alleged to have occurred he believes all the types of institutions have been examined.
Topics: royal-commissions, child-abuse, sexual-offences, australia
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| UpdatedBusinesses owners are sceptical as to whether an inquiry into electricity prices will help cut costs. They say high power costs are making it tough to stay in business.
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| UpdatedThe Federal Government's latest plan to combat rising power prices has been met with ridicule from a key crossbench Senator. Nick Xenophon says another inquiry will do nothing to help Australians cope with their rising electricity bills. The Government is also grappling with how to deal with a demand from Senator Pauline Hanson about how to end the Queensland sugar dispute.
Topics: federal-parliament, australia
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| UpdatedTropical Cyclone Debbie is expected to hit Queensland hardest further south of Townsville, with the coastal towns of Ayr and Bowen in the firing line. Some residents in low-lying areas there have already started evacuating, but the remainder are being urged to get out now, before it's too late.
Topics: cyclone, qld, bowen-4805
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| UpdatedNorth Queenslanders are leaving their homes ahead as a destructive cyclone looms closer. Cyclone Debbie is predicted to hit south of Townsville tomorrow morning.
Topics: cyclone, qld, proserpine-4800, townsville-4810
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| UpdatedJunior football clubs are seeing a surge in young girls wanting to pull on a jersey and have a kick on the back of the success of the AFL Women's league. The AFL is forecasting up to 400 new girls teams at the start of this junior football season. Some clubs, including the Fitzroy Junior Football Club in Melbourne's inner north, have seen a doubling of girl players.
Topics: wafl, australian-football-league, women, australia
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| UpdatedFor younger Australians, it's no surprise that our nation is rapidly heading towards being a cashless society. Cash for them is often one folded-twenty dollar note in the back of a wallet or purse for backup, in case their cards or smartphones aren't working. An increasing number of businesses aren't accepting cash and the use of ATMs is dropping on a monthly basis. The trend is set to speed up later this year, when the Reserve Bank introduces new technology to make it even easier to pay without cash.
Topics: money-and-monetary-policy, australia
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| UpdatedOne of the biggest providers of disability services in Australia, Lifestyle Solutions, is under investigation by the NSW Ombudsman following at least four deaths of clients in its care. The organisation has now also had a contract terminated by the Victorian government following concerns there about its care.
Topics: disabilities, community-and-society, carers, australia