PM

The decision of the RSL New South Wales state council to stand aside while their conduct is investigated has sent shockwaves among the state's military veterans today. Many have welcomed it - others have been sceptical and even angry. The council voted to take the extraordinary step late last week, amid multiple investigations into a number of alleged financial scandals. Caretaker managers will step in in the meantime, although many in the rank and file say there's now an unacceptable amount of confusion around the whole situation.

In a remarkably frank exchange before a Standing Committee on Economics, Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe has taken aim at the tax incentives that are driving Australian real estate prices higher. Dr Lowe has said that altering negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions would take some heat out of the housing market. The central bank governor also gave his strongest indication yet that there would be no more official interest rate cuts in this easing cycle.

The evidence of five of Australia's Catholic Archbishops has revealed conflicting views of whether a priest can report child sexual abuse to police if the child has told them about it at confession. The bishops have agreed to seek clarification on the issue from the Vatican.

Depending on which government report you believe, the illegal business practice of phoenixing costs the economy between one and three billion dollars a year. A new report into phoenixing behaviour in Australia concludes that the practice is too easy, too cheap and too profitable and remains largely invisible to the general public and corporate regulators. The University of Melbourne report suggests a series of changes to help ASIC and the ATO better detect phoenixing and hold the directors responsible to account.

Dan Oakes reports.

We've heard a lot about cyber attacks and cyber security, but what exactly would constitute a cyber war? The United States intelligence community has said unequivocally that it believes the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and Clinton officials' emails was directed from the very top of the Russian Government. But was that run-of-the mill espionage, or an act of war? It's a question with big consequences, because a cyber war could lead to real guns and missiles being fired. PM speaks to Michael Schmitt, an expert on international law and cyber security and a Senior Fellow at the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.

In the last 30 years, half of the world's coral reefs have been destroyed, according to the Ocean Agency. Their new global initiative, called 50 Reefs, launched today and aims to save coral reefs worldwide. Scientists estimate if action isn't taken now, only 10 per cent of coral reefs will survive past 2050.

A new study indicates that back pain may not just be well, a pain, but could also be an indicator of death. Researchers examined the health and death records of thousands of older sets of twins in Denmark. They found that those who reported lower back pain had a significantly higher chance of dying.

The population of the endangered Carnaby's Black Cockatoo has been dwindling for decades, but there are now fears the number of remaining birds could be imminently halved. That's because of plans to clear a large pine plantation which has become a big source of food for the birds.

Australia's chief scientific research organisation has launched a fierce defence of plans to release a herpes virus into the nation's waterways to control feral carp, after claims that the project could lead to a 'catastrophic collapse of the ecosystem'. Two British scientists penned a letter to the editor of the scientific journal, Nature, claiming the virus can't be controlled in the wild. But one of the CSIRO's leading researchers into invasive species says the comments are a gross exaggeration of concerns that Australian scientists are already aware of.

Malaysian Police say the nerve agent VX was used to kill the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in last week's murder in a busy Kuala Lumpur airport. Kim Jong-nam died after being assaulted by two women who wiped the toxic chemical on his face as he prepared to board a flight to Macau. Police arrested the two women - one Vietnamese and the other Indonesian - and a North Korean man last week. They are also seeking seven other North Koreans wanted in connection with the case, including a diplomat at the embassy in Kuala Lumpur.