The UK, which recently said it could launch a preemptive nuclear strike “in the most extreme circumstances,” runs the risk of being “wiped off the face of the Earth,” the deputy head of a Russian upper house committee said

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison wants Australians to think of the country's debt as either "good debt" or "bad debt", and will change the way it is reported in the budget.

Mr Morrison will use a speech to the Australian Business Economists to make the case for distinguishing between the types of government spending.

Greens senator Nick McKim will use a trip to Manus Island next week to "get to the bottom" of what sparked a shooting at the Manus Island detention centre on Good Friday.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will meet US President Donald Trump on board an aircraft carrier in New York next week, in the pair's first face-to-face encounter.

We humans tend to believe that our cognitive skills are unique, not only in degree, but also in kind. The more closely we look at other species, however, the clearer it becomes that the difference is one of degree. Krupenye et al. show that three different species of apes are able to anticipate that others may have mistaken beliefs about a situation (see the Perspective by de Waal). The apes appear to understand that individuals have different perceptions about the world, thus overturning the human-only paradigm of the theory of mind.

Tougher citizenship rules announced by the Prime Minister today will require applicants to prove their allegiance to Australia and its values and demonstrate stronger English language skills.

Mr Turnbull says his government is doing migrants a big favour by raising the required English language standard. But the Greens argue a harder test will exclude people who would otherwise make good citizens.

Labor's given initial backing to the Government's proposals. But it says the Government is only making the changes because of divisions within the coalition. 

The Trump administration and its allies will "deal" with North Korea if China does not force the rogue state to abandon its nuclear weapons program, US Vice-President Mike Pence declared following talks with Malcolm Turnbull at Sydney's Admiralty House.

French voters will go to the polls on Sunday to vote for a new president. The election will have profound reverberations around the world. Will France take a nationalist turn to the right? Will it seek to withdraw from the European Union and restrict immigration? Will a young candidate with a pro-Europe, pro-immigration message convince enough of his voters to actually show up? Will the "French Bernie Sanders" upset the establishment and convince voters that his left-wing populism is the way to go?

Malcolm Turnbull is finally trying to answer the lingering question of what he stands for.

It is no trivial matter because the hollowness at the core of his Government has been its fatal flaw.

History is repeating itself. Medicare was created by the Whitlam government because of the abject failure of private health insurance or, as it was then called, voluntary health insurance.

As a result of the growth of private health insurance since 1999 under the Howard government, Medicare is now seriously threatened. Government subsidies for private health insurance will take us back to the pre-Whitlam and pre-Medicare era.