Republican frontrunner Donald Trump used a Yiddish vulgarity to refer to Hillary Clinton on Monday, saying she was “schlonged” in her 2008 Democratic primary loss to Barack Obama.

So how will the Pentagon succeed where the State Department has apparently failed? No one really knows. "There's not a lot you can do to message against that kind of enemy," says Will McCants, a fellow at the Brookings Institution who researches Islamic extremist groups. "A big part of their recruiting pitch is that they've been successful in creating a state in Syria and Iraq, and until that disappears, they continue to have a big talking point that no amount of tweeting or Facebooking is going to refute."

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus has had a court victory over the current minister, George Brandis, with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal overturning Senator Brandis' refusal to release his ministerial diary.

Global warming is real. Global warming is anthropogenic. Coal contributes a great portion of anthropogenic global warming. It's long been time to phase coal mining out. Time to place a stop on all new coal mining. Come on Turnbull, stop the bullshit and do something about it. 

Either a repeat of the kabinet kitchen or a new weirdo episode with senator Xenophon as squeezed by Annabel/Marie-Antoinette. Not one to shy away from pranks, I offer you the image I gleaned from watching a bit over 20 seconds of the show. One could sense the politics "a la plancha" which is a hot barbecued way to grill bull's balls, other bits and seafood in Spain. Xenophon is an old lemon and knows how to stir, even the most twirly-coiffed kitchen-journalist. On tonight's menu he planched an octopus which strangely enough looked like Tony Abbott in my dreams.

Brazilian government holds the mining giants responsible for one of the nation’s worst ever environmental disasters, and is demanding $5bn

The ATO's recent 'Corporate Tax Transparency Report' is reason to be "screaming from the rooftops for the companies in this list to explain how they have been exploiting us for years", according to former Assistant Commissioner of Taxation, John Passant.

Memo to white men: Abbott's bigotry and inflammatory language not a free speech issue

from Crikey …

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has gone global with his Government's innovation agenda, telling an audience in Japan their country's commitment to technological advancement is inspiring.

Many of Putin's comments circled back to relations with the United States, including a bit of look-ahead musing on the White House race. Putin said Russia would work with "whomever the American voters choose," but singled out Trump.

He's a very lively man, talented without doubt," Putin said according to the Interfax news service after the three-hour news conference. He added that Trump is the "absolute leader in the presidential race".

"He's saying he wants to go to another level of relations, closer, deeper relations with Russia," Putin continued. "How can we not welcome that? Of course we welcome that."