The head of Australia's Human Rights Commission, Professor Gillian Triggs, has shown defiance in the face of the latest attack on her by the Federal Government, standing by her criticisms of new laws that she says limit international diplomacy and harm democracy and liberties.

Defence Minister Kevin Andrews has appointed an expert advisory panel to oversee the so-called "competitive evaluation process" for the Navy's future submarine fleet.

Oops, he did it again: Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry is officially launching his second campaign for president today. He's expected to announce his bid flanked by combat veterans in the Dallas suburb of Addison. His entry to the race swells the growing GOP field to 10 official candidates.

Outgoing Fifa president Sepp Blatter says he is moving forward with a "comprehensive programme of reform" for world football's governing body.

It comes after a tumultuous nine days for his organisation, amid claims of "systemic and deep-rooted" corruption.

Seven Fifa officials were held in a dawn raid last week in Zurich as they gathered for a congress which saw Mr Blatter re-elected for a fifth term.

Four days later, Mr Blatter announced he would step down early from the post.

He said he would remain at work until Fifa had chosen his successor in the coming months.

Australia should hold fire on interest-rate cuts to avoid further inflaming property prices that are at risk of "a sharp correction," the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said.

"The net gains from further monetary expansion in the near term are finely balanced," the OECD said in Paris on Wednesday.

The longtime legislator is one of America's most hawkish politicians, and will be running almost solely on a foreign policy platform. The tenor of his campaign will be grim: "I'm running because I think the world is falling apart," he explained.

it is a quite ludicrous that in order to sell and validate religious beliefs, some Christians still try to claim sciences as their own, as if science was a daughter of Christianity — through "Christian" scientists. In fact, most of the work of scientific value was done by clever humans, despite the Church — as the reality of experiments and observations did not fit any of the religious teachings. 

a con-trick

First these pamphlets are sexist. They mention anyone can rid "himself"... "his" mental potential fully... Second the concept that we only use ten percent of our mental potential is bullshit. It's time that the Church of Scientology gave up this line — and gave up using Albert as a measuring stick to their neat "improvement" techniques of the self.

I am not disputing that the Church of Scientology can help some people develop some better mental ability, but this is not exclusive to this organisation — an organisation that could also suck you dry of your own will and implant a new willingness to part with some of your cash. Nothing new.

A specially appointed member of the Vatican's commission on child protection has accused Cardinal George Pell of being "almost sociopathic" in his treatment of victims.

Art is the supreme task, as Nietzsche would have it. How can we balance creativity with rationality? And what are the dangers of letting the Dionysian genie out of the bottle, especially in the public square? Dr Laura D’Olimpio, a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Notre Dame WA, appraises the value of a creative life.