SBS News In Depth

Australia’s economy grew 0.4 per cent in the June quarter, but Westpac senior economist Ryan Wells explains why weak productivity and inflationary labour costs could still bring another interest rate rise. Plus, Perpetual Head of Investment Strategy Matt Sherwood breaks down the Australian sharemarket’s 1 per cent fall as rising oil prices reignited global inflation concerns.

At the Pacific Islands Forum, the government announced a $600 million dollar package to fight fight trans-national drug trafficking in the Pacific. Political correspondent Naveen Razik speaks to leading crime expert from Honiara - Virginia Comolli about the situation on the ground and how it's caused in part by the huge market for illicit substances in Australia

As bird flu takes hold across Australia, experts are warning of widespread mortality in native species, based on how the virus has ripped through environments overseas. The disease rarely infects humans, but it could drive a rise in eco-anxiety, especially among communities that are closely connected with nature.

The United States and Iran are talking about diplomacy, while exchanging increasingly severe threats and attacks. Washington says its latest strikes are retaliation, Tehran says its response is not over, and countries across the Gulf are trying to stop the confrontation escalating further. But as the diplomatic language continues, so too does the human cost.

Was it just a matter of time before circumstances caused the flooding disaster in Nepal? Alton Byers is a mountain geographer and a faculty research scientist at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado in Boulder. He specializes in applied research, high altitude ecosystems, glacier hazards, and implementation of integrated conservation and development programs in the Himalayas, Andes, and East African Highlands. He's told the Associated Press that climate change is affecting the structure of mountain geology around the world.