PM

On Thursday's program: The Banking Royal commission shone its inquiring light onto mortgage brokers today; and Australia is under pressure to emulate the US and Canada and introduce a so-called Magnitsky Act - tough visa sanctions and financial bans aimed at those who commit gross human rights abuses.

It's not often you'll hear of farmers and environmentalists asking the government to help out a mining company. But that's what's happening in central Queensland, as a resources project at one of the state's biggest abandoned gold mine hangs in the balance.

Cambodian Australians are pushing ahead with plans to stage protests against the imminent visit of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. Hun Sen has threatened to chase down to their homes and beat anyone who protests against his presence in Australia for a special ASEAN summit.

The world has lost the celebrated astrophysicist Stephen Hawking. He worked on the really big stuff - the origins of the universe, the prospect of time travel, the dangers of marrying humans and machines. That he lived to the age of 76 was extraordinary.

The committal hearing of Australia's most senior Catholic George Pell is again open to the public now that the complainants have finished giving their evidence. The Cardinal is facing multiple charges of historical sexual offences against multiple complainants.

So how does Australia see this abrupt dumping of Rex Tillerson? The Foreign Minister Julie Bishop tells PM that Australia worked productively with Rex Tillerson, but she looks forward to forging a new working relationship with Mike Pompeo.

Donald Trump says it came down to personal chemistry - after 14 months, the President just couldn't gel with his chief diplomat, Rex Tillerson. Donald Trump announced he'd fired Mr Tillerson on Twitter while the Secretary of State was flying back from Africa.

The world has lost one of its greatest scientific thinkers. The British physicist, Professor Stephen Hawking, has died at his home in Cambridge, aged 76. In life, Professor Hawking was perhaps as well known for his physical incapacity as his towering intellectual ability.

On tonight's program: One of the world's greatest scientific thinkers, British physicist Professor Stephen Hawking, has died at his home in Cambridge aged 76; And US President Donald Trump announced he had fired Rex Tillerson on Twitter while the Secretary of State was flying back from Africa.

Pregnant women locked up in Australian jails sometimes don't get to hold their babies after they're born. It's one of the reasons the Law Council of Australia's calling for urgent reforms. It wants changes that'd give disadvantaged people fairer justice.