PM

In the thick of the offensive on Mosul, a Kurdish Peshmerga military commander is asking what's happened to the coalition air support his troops need. Mansour Barzani is the Commander of Peshmerga Special Forces - as well as being the son of the Kurdish regional President Masoud Barzani. As his men fight and die in the effort to push towards Mosul, he wants to know why his appeals for air cover from coalition warplanes have been going unheeded.

The French owner of Australia's highest-polluting power station has denied reports it has decided to shut the plant. Local leaders in Gippsland say ongoing rumours about the Hazelwood plant are difficult to deal with.

The number of cases of Zika virus detected in Australia is now up to 76. The latest figures from the Federal Health Department show travellers arriving from countries including Fiji, Tonga and Mexico have tested positive to the virus. There's now been at least seven cases in far north Queensland, where local mosquito populations have the potential to spread the illness. Despite this, health authorities say there's been no recorded cases of it spreading between people in Australia.

Australia's second highest law officer, Solicitor-General Justin Gleeson, is resigning after his very public stoush with the Federal Attorney-General George Brandis. The two high-flying lawyers clashed over Senator Brandis' direction that all requests for the Solicitor-General's advice go through him first. Mr Gleeson fired a parting shot in his resignation letter, rejecting 'every attack and insinuation' from the Government against him and saying the pair's relationship was 'irretrievably broken'.

Australia has been asked to send 150 troops and helicopter gunships back to southern Afghanistan. The Governor of Oruzgan province says he made the request in a meeting with the Australian Ambassador last month after the provincial capital Tarin Kowt almost fell under Taliban control. The Washington Post is reporting that the Obama Administration believes the war in Afghanistan is tipping in the Taliban's favour.

The attack on the so-called Islamic State occupiers of the Iraqi city of Mosul appears to be moving a little faster than the pessimists expected. Iraqi government forces and Kurdish Peshmerga troops are saying they've met little in the way of real resistance in their advance towards the outskirts of the city. But that may soon change. There are already fears that IS will use civilians as 'human shields' in a bid to slow the assault on the city. Now US defence officials have begun warning they expect the Islamic fundamentalists will also unleash chemical weapons as the noose closes on them.

The Government's position on the ban of importation of the Adler shotgun remains unclear, with some Coalition members saying describing it as ,temporary', while former Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he considers it 'permanent., He says allowing its importation would risk a major terrorist attack, while the Nationals argue it's a tool farmers use to control feral pests.

Farmers and pest animal experts are dubious about claims a lever-action shot gun like the Adler should be allowed into Australia, to help them better manage wild pigs and dogs. The Nationals argue the Adler gun would be useful for controlling feral animals, but the PM is holding firm on changes to the gun laws.

Official figures show the world's second largest economy grew 1.8 per cent in the three months to September, and 6.7 per cent over the year. But leading international academics have described the data set produced by China as a 'black box'. It has them quite worried considering how much Australia, and the world, rely on accurate data from China.

Confusion remains this evening about who is the most senior Federal Government minister with responsibility for Defence. When Marise Payne was chosen as Australia's first female Defence Minister, Defence Industry was taken out of her portfolio and awarded to long serving cabinet Minister Christopher Pyne. Some within defence have spoken to the ABC of a 'turf war' between the pair - and it's yet to be officially specified who is responsible for what.