PM

Efforts by the global ride-sharing giant Uber to reform a toxic corporate culture that tolerated sexual harassment and worker retaliation - have got off to a decidedly shaky start. Following a series of dismissals and departures just hours after Uber founder and CEO Travis Kalanick himself announced he'll take a leave of absence from the day-to-day running of the business, one of his top board members has now also fallen on his sword.

A report looking into Victoria's Magistrates court system has found it is near or at crisis point, with a backlog of cases, a big jump in self-representation, and inadequate court infrastructure. The report finds a combination of changes to Victorian Legal Aid and a big increase in frontline police has placed significant strain on the system.

22-year-old university student, who was arrested, charged, and sentenced to hard labour in North Korea has been returned home to the United States in a coma. Otto Warmbier went to North Korea on his university holidays in late 2015 and was caught trying to steal a poster from a wall in his hotel. The news of Otto Warmbier's comatose state - and the fact consular staff have been unable to get access to him, threatens to worsen tensions between North Korea and the United States.

On Business PM: Former Woolworths boss and Fairfax director Roger Corbett lays the blame for Channel Ten and media woes firmly at the feet of the Government; And Telstra confirms it will slash 1,400 jobs as part of cost-cutting initiatives aimed at improving customer service.

On Business PM: An interview with Andrew Cohen of Bellamy's Australia, the new CEO outlines the company's long awaited turnaround strategy after losing its place as market darling late last year.; And disgruntled shareholders have accused Brisbane-based firm 'LWP Technologies' of destroying millions in shareholder value without producing any income.

Most politicians agree Australia's energy market needs a policy overhaul but there was no sign of bipartisanship in a rowdy Question Time today. The Prime Minister attacked Labor's record while the Opposition pressured the Government over the Chief Scientist's report into the energy market. Both parties are still examining the recommendations from Dr Alan Finkel for a clean energy target to drive down emissions and power prices.

Queensland's Crime and Corruption Commission has heard how Logan City's mayor received envelopes of cash from a campaign donor, but didn't count the money and didn't keep records. Luke Smith raised more than $370,000 in contributions for last year's local election. He has told the commission he received tens of thousands of dollars from donors, including a Chinese company which had a development application before the Logan city council.

In Sri Lanka, the president has failed to appease protestors who've been staging a sit-in that's lasted nearly four months. The group of Tamil women want information on loved-ones who disappeared during the country's ethnic conflict.

French voters are again preparing to head to the polls, in what will be the fourth nation-wide vote in just eight weeks. The country's decades-old two-party system is in tatters, with parties on both the left and the right in disarray. As many question whether the French Socialist Party can survive at all, attention is shifting to how President Emmanuel Macron's thumping centrist majority will govern.

The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons says existing security staff are not stopping violence and threats to health workers. Safety measures are being ramped up at Victorian hospitals after an attack against a surgeon left him in a critical condition. There is also concern about a rise in verbal abuse from relatives of patients putting hospital workers under further stress.