In quake stricken Venezuela, people wonder who is actually in charge

Why decriminalisation of sex work is the unlikely response to Thai teen murder

A Thai family is grieving the loss of a teenage daughter, allegedly murdered by an Australian man in the tourist city of Pattaya - one of Southeast Asia’s most notorious sex tourism hubs. Should this trade, which supports millions of impoverished families, be decriminalised in Thailand? Sociologist and author of Sex Tourism in Thailand: Inside Asia’s Premier Erotic Playground, professor Ronald Weitzer says there are powerful forces at play in the industry. America’s once unconditional support for Israel is declining, with some politicians, including the nation’s Vice President openly hostile towards its leadership … is this a permanent rupture or just a spat between staunch allies? Israeli American pollster and political scientist Dahlia Scheindlin says Israelis are concerned but remain deeply divided over its warmongering leadership.  An allegation of inappropriate behaviour is made, without evidence, about a popular priest at a Catholic school. Is suspicion alone enough to condemn him? That’s the premise of the cult classic play Doubt: A Parable which is currently being staged at the Sydney Theatre Company, starring actors Pamela Rabe and Sam Reid.

How far can the Socceroos go this World Cup?

We're now half-way through the men's football World Cup, David Basheer, SBS Sports' lead commentator discusses the winners, the surprise losers and how far the Socceroos can go. Is Kim Ju Ae being groomed to become North Korea's first female Supreme Leader with Rachel Minyoung Lee, a senior fellow with the Korea Program and 38 North at the Stimson Centre And musician Xavier Rudd on his latest release, an homage to Dr Jane Goodall

Parliament rises after a turbulent six months

The Parliament has risen for its winter recess, leaving much unfinished business and a trail of broken promises. Press gallery journalists Clare Armstrong and Ashleigh Raper wrap up a long 6 months in federal politics.  Former Attorney General Mark Dreyfus is among those who’ve made deeply personal submissions to the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. He says he's been shocked at the growing abuse of Jewish Australians, particularly on social media.  After growing up in a family where a game of Mahjong was cutting loose, Jailing Cai chose a decidedly more daring career; photographing microscopic sea creatures in the open ocean in the dead of night. Now the award winning photographer travels all over the world mastering this dark art.

Are your meds doing you more harm than good?

Healthcare workers are embarking on a world first project to help people reduce their reliance on prescription drugs like sleeping pills and opioids amid growing evidence of dangerous side-effects. The project called SUPPORT-Meds is lead by Associate Professor Emily Reeve, at the Centre for Medicine Use and Safety at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences. As the Christian Brothers cry poor and appeal to the court for a stay on compensation payments to victims of historical child sexual abuse, attention is turning to the properties they transferred to Edmund Rice Education Australia for as a little as one dollar.  80 years ago today the USA detonated an atomic bomb over Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, the beginnings of a devastating nuclear testing program in the pacific. Dave Sweeney, co-founder of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Nobel peace prize winner and Samuel Barton, President of the Marshall Islands Student Association at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji are using the anniversary to appeal to the Government to finally ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Is Vladimir Putin a drowning man?

As Russian soldiers continue to die in appalling numbers and Ukrainian drones terrorise civilians in Moscow, fears are growing that a paranoid Russian president could escalate the war both at grave cost at home and abroad.   On the eve of the Dalai Lama’s 91st birthday his special representative is in Australia to sound an alarm about China’s new ethnic unity laws, which, they say, seeks to crush their culture and identity. It’s the food staple that nourishes half of humanity, but rice crops are particularly vulnerable to the ravages of an El Nino weather cycle. That’s forcing poor farmers across our region to roll the die with their crops in a bid to outrun the long hot dry.