PM

US President-elect Donald Trump will announce his pick for secretary of state, the most important job in US foreign policy, later tonight Australian time. Most major media outlets believe that he has already chosen the chief executive of ExxonMobil, Rex Tillerson, for the job - a man, like Trump, with no experience in public office. James Fallows is a veteran writer on politics, foreign policy and aviation for the Atlantic Monthly. Speaking with PM's Mark Colvin, he says that ExxonMobil has been pursuing a US$500 billion contract that has been prohibited by US sanctions - sanctions that the next secretary of state will have to review. Other Trump appointments have already caused controversy because of close connections to Russia.

Australia has chosen a time of international upheaval to get the ball rolling on a new foreign policy white paper, the first for almost 14 years. The Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, argues it's precisely because of such major changes that Australia needs to reassess priorities and where it stands in the world. The white paper has been welcomed by Labor - and foreign policy experts say it's better late than never.

The blasphemy trial of Jakarta's Governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, has begun in the North Jakarta District Court. In the seven-page indictment read to the court's five judges, prosecutors argued that the Christian and ethnic Chinese Governor, known as Ahok, deliberately committed an action that was 'hateful, abusive and blasphemous'. The blasphemy charges against Ahok relate to comments he made about verse 51 of the Koran, which some Muslims argue states that Muslims are not permitted to vote for non-Muslims.

The harrowing rate of overdose deaths in Victoria has prompted calls for a change in regulations around the overdose 'antidote', Naloxone. Naloxone is used to reverse the effects of opioids like heroin and oxycodone, but under Australian law it can only be dispensed over the counter by a doctor or a pharmacist. The stigma can mean some users avoid asking for the drug, despite the enormous rate of overdose deaths in Victoria every year, particularly in rural or regional areas.

Queensland has become the latest state to consider introducing a register of domestic violence offenders, but critics say the money could be better spent on struggling front-line services. Queensland's Law Reform Commission has released a consultation paper on a disclosure scheme, which could list a person's history of violent criminal offences. New South Wales is already running a trial of such a register - while Western Australia and Victoria have already rejected the idea, with Victoria raising concerns that such registers might offer people a false sense of security.

One of the world's leading experts on the economics of human development, Nobel Prize winner James Heckman, has released new research showing the economic benefit of pre-schooling for children from infancy. Heckman has found the lives of poor children can be vastly improved with early childhood education programs that begin when children are just eight weeks old. Experts in Australia says the research is just further evidence about the need to invest in high-quality teaching in childcare centres.

A Perth technology start-up has developed software that it likens to a Bloomberg terminal for lawyers. Jurimetrics says its platform will use data analytics to perform some of the tedious research work usually done by junior lawyers and paralegals. At least one top-tier law firm expects that it won't replace humans, but believes it will cut costs.

Venezuela is facing a worsening economic crisis. The country's President, Nicolas Maduro, has just announced he'll close the border with Colombia for 72 hours to prevent the smuggling of bank notes. Earlier in the week, the President said the withdrawal of the bill from circulation - worth just two US cents on the black market - was needed to reduce contraband of the bank notes on the border. It's yet another move by a desperate administration to save the economy from spiralling into an economic disaster.

The Northern Territory Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children today heard evidence from a youth worker who spent years trying to help former Don Dale detainee, Dylan Voller. Voller told the commissioners yesterday his treatment in Territory detention centres included being starved of food and water as punishment. Youth worker Antoinette Carol says Voller's experiences with youth justice officers taught him to be violent.

Australian motorists are being warned to fill-up at the pump before petrol prices spike in the week leading up to Christmas. For the first time in 15 years, both OPEC non-OPEC countries agreed on production cuts over the weekend, sending the price of crude oil soaring. Prices at the pump are already elevated following recent OPEC production cuts, but one petrol price forecaster says prices will rise another five cents a litre just before Christmas.