In a far cry from the steamy jungles of Rwanda or the icy waters of the Arctic, British naturalist Sir David Attenborough has donned a necktie and met with US president Barack Obama to discuss climate change and the future of the planet.

The Australian government will partner with private companies such as Coca-Cola to distribute medical aid, foreign minister Julie Bishop has said.

Apparently, Naomie Klein has been hired to advise the Pope and his cardinals on the subjects of Global Warming (including world economy). 

The Supreme Court has ruled the US Constitution provides same-sex couples the right to marry in a historic triumph for the American gay rights movement.

As "terrorism" is spreading like an ebola infection in the "extended" Western World, (presently in Tunisia-38 dead, France-one decapitated and Kuwait-27 dead), one has to ask where it's coming from. Because let's face it, according to the press, such as the glorious merde-och press, "Evil Rocks World" and of course IS (ISIS or ISIL) is blamed fair and square. Okay. No argument.

In less than two years in office, the Abbott government has added almost $100bn to the level of Commonwealth government debt. This is a 35% increase from the $273bn level of gross government debt at the time of the September 2013 election. This increase flies in the face of the Coalition’s pledge prior to the election – and occasionally since – of reducing debt and at some stage, paying it off.

Few American Christians let their faith get in the way of their politics. They simply ignore church teachings or find creative ways to interpret biblical passages to justify their political views. That is why I don’t expect the new encyclical from Pope Francis to cause much of a shift in people’s opinions about climate change.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has labelled as "wrong" and in "poor taste" a Liberal Party email linking national security to party fundraising.

Richard Dawkins gets attacked quite regularly for attacking religion. Fair enough. Tit for tat... One could do worse. Dawkins "belief" in evolution is denigrated of course by our own Ham of the Noah's Ark Reconstruction and by other religious figures with doctorates in godology because they have studied godology with studious belief in godology. 

Mr Obama spoke to Mr Hollande following reports on the Wikileaks website that the US National Security Agency (NSA) spied on successive French presidents.

The White House said after the two leaders' phone call "we are not targeting and will not target" Mr Hollande's communications.

French intelligence officials are due to travel to Washington for more talks.

Wikileaks reported that the NSA had intercepted communications from President Francois Hollande and former leaders Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac between 2006-12.

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The ABC’s managing director, Mark Scott, ordered the flagship current affairs radio program PM not to broadcast an interview the show had recorded with the former terrorism suspect Zaky Mallah after his appearance on Q&A.

If all you care about is making more stuff, capitalism may be the best system ever. But if you want to save the planet from environmental catastrophe our current economic system is a dead end.

I remember in my socialist youth often being told: “Your ideas sound good but that’s just not how things work in real life.”