PM

The Royal Commission on institutional child sexual abuse has heard a licensing system for clergy and religious would make institutions like the Catholic Church safer for children. It's one of the proposals the Commission is considering as it works towards delivering its final report at the end of the year.

A judge in the United States rejected a request from Indigenous tribes to block drilling of the Dakota Access pipeline. It was another blow for the tribes that have collectively formed the Sacred Stone Camp. President Donald Trump also signed executive orders to fast-track final permits for the last phase of construction. The protestors have been fighting the oil companies since April last year.

Despite a decade of concerted effort, the gap between Indigenous and other Australians remains stubbornly wide. A report measuring the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders shows that little progress has been made on six out of seven factors measured by Close the Gap. It's the ninth consecutive year that targets haven't been met. And the Prime Minister wants some targets to be redesigned and community driven.

The ABC'S Indigenous Affairs Editor Stan Grant says the closing the gap report tells only part of the story and overlooks the green shoots of success and progress in the lives of thousands of individuals in the indigenous community.

While the Closing the Gap report card shows a disappointing lack of progress in literacy and numeracy skills, many Aboriginal communities are driving educational change in their own backyards. The Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council on the New South Wales Central Coast is doing just that, and succeeding beyond its own expectations.

President Trump's embattled national security adviser Michael Flynn resigns after reports he discussed lifting the US sanctions with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. The departure comes less than one month into the Trump administration's term presenting an early shake-up in President Trump's senior team of advisers.

Relations between the federal nationals and their WA colleagues are under further strain this evening. This time it's over the WA Nationals decision to preference the Greens ahead of the Liberals in some seats for the upcoming state election. The Nationals Leader Barnaby Joyce says it's a bad move and is clearly in retaliation to the Liberals preference deal with One Nation.

A Franciscan monk has told the Royal Commission that the Catholic Church should focus on the ability of an aspiring priest to show compassion not his sexuality. The Commission has heard seminary applicants are subject to psychological testing and if they are found to have 'deep-seated' homosexual tendencies they are refused admission.

The price of Australia's biggest export, iron ore, has now broken through $US90 a tonne. It's the first time the price of the commodity used to make steel has topped that price since August 2014. It's already provided the Australian economy with a big cash injection, but there's also evidence it's being driven by Chinese mums and dads speculating in the market for iron ore. Experts are worried it's fuelling a bubble in the market for what is Australia's most important export.

Among the Closing the Gap targets that remain well off-track is Indigenous employment. The unemployment rate for Indigenous people across the country last year was almost four times the non-Indigenous rate.

And there are doubts that the Federal Government's target to halve Indigenous unemployment by next year can really be achieved.