Background Briefing

With so many new communities in Australia coming from countries where there have been brutal wars, the likelihood of some people having suspicious backgrounds is high. Australia has no laws to deal with allegations concerning anyone who arrived before 2002. This leads to anxiety and unrest. Reporter, Hagar Cohen

Out of the Fitzgerald Inquiry, the National Integrity System was born, and is now used by governments and authorities in most countries around the world. The latest is Kurdistan. Corruption, like death and taxes, is inevitable. Ian Townsend explores ways in which it can be managed and minimised. Cartoon by Nicholson from The Australian newspaper: www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au.

It's a question no one has really been able to answer, though many try. A new fight for the answer is breaking out all over the place because readers are getting what they want on the internet, and copying stuff is really easy. Reporter Stan Correy.

Feral deer numbers have exploded in many parts of Australia, and they're chewing through farms and bushland. Farmers and environmentalists want them declared a pest and professionally culled. But in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania deer are protected for hunters wanting some sport. Tensions are rising. Reporter, Di Martin

From Africa and India to Indonesia, government leaders face the reality of a resurgent AIDS epidemic: Men do have sex with men and pass it on to women, and people do inject drugs. But there's cultural change in law and leadership - not about being nice, but because the treatment tap may turn off, and prevention is better than cure. Reporting from Bali, Stephen Crittenden.

In this BBC documentary, reporter Nick Rankin explores the impact of gold on people's lives. From brokers to miners and athletes the allure of gold has lasted throughout the millennia but the price of gold can be measured in many ways. Note that there will be no podcast or transcript of this program.

Searching for their own identity in a changing world, young Muslims in Australia face a plethora of backyard imams and internet sheikhs. Many are turning to simplistic and conservative interpretations. The emphasis can be on small rituals rather than the complex and subtle spirituality of Islam. It's a phenomenon known in many religions. Reporter: Hagar Cohen.

Suicide rates around the world are rising, and rising fastest in rural areas. India, England, Wales, Canada, America and Australia all have alarming statistics. In despairing India, farmers are drinking the pesticides the new monoculture crops are dependent on. Many strategies are being tried to mitigate the phenomenon, and most say help must be at the community level. Reporter Michael Condon.

Forty years ago an Australian shearer from Grenfell, gripped by religious mania, set fire to one of the most holy sites in Islam—the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Using new material and exclusive interviews, we show how Denis Rohan's actions started a global Islamic political movement. In the Middle East, Rohan's burning of the Mosque still sparks conspiracy theories and deep anger. Research, Anna Whitfeld. Reporter, Stan Correy.

Writer and traveller Christopher Hitchens gives, with both gravity and humour, his take on the 'Axis of Evil'. He talks about why he underwent waterboarding, about what the parrot in North Korea says, about the world's best whisky, and about the country he will next explore (Poland). The talk is from the Commonwealth Club, Silicon Valley.