The World Today

The tobacco giant Philip Morris has been ordered to pay Australia's legal costs after it unsuccessfully challenged the nation's tobacco plain packaging laws. The amount is being kept confidential but is estimated to be about $50 million.

The company building Australia's National Broadband Network says the project has officially passed the halfway mark. But the roll-out has not been problem-free, with concerns about slow speeds, installation delays and blame-shifting between retailers and the NBN company. The World Today speaks to NBN's Chief Network Engineering Officer, Peter Ryan.

Tesla's announcement to build the world's largest lithium ion battery in South Australia, has made waves in the renewable energy industry. Zen Energy headed up by is reconsidering plans for a battery storage facility in the state's mid north. But Zen Chairman and climate economist Ross Garnaut fears there won't be enough room in the market for both.

A child protection worker in Tasmania says some children aren't getting the help they need because of government-imposed priorities. The Department of Health and Human Services has countered her claims, saying it's not true that staff have been encouraged to produce fewer case notes. But the Opposition is calling for the Minister for Child Protection Jacquie Petrusma to resign.

GPs are prescribing antibiotics at a massive rate, many for conditions that don't require drugs at all. The five-year study found Australian doctors are writing scripts for patients with acute respiratory infections that can't be treated by antibiotics. Those who find themselves taking drugs they don't need are helping build a global resistance to antibiotics.

The Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull has again called on China to lead efforts to curb the nuclear ambitions of the North Korean regime. Mr Turnbull is in Hamburg for the G20 summit, where the rogue regime's intercontinental ballistic missile test is expected to feature heavily in discussions. The US President, Donald Trump says he's considering some 'pretty severe things' in response, but Mr Turnbull wouldn't be drawn on what that might mean.

There are growing concerns about the long-term implications of the ongoing cricket pay dispute. Yesterday the Australia A team announced it was boycotting its tour of South Africa, but there's also a major seven match tour of India just a few months away for the Australian cricket team. The World Today understands if a pay deal isn't reached soon, there could be disastrous consequences for the international game.

National Sports Editor, David Mark discusses the tumult facing Australian cricket, with neither side giving ground in Cricket Australia's pay dispute. And what does the future hold for 24-year-old Australian tennis play Bernard Tomic, being fined $15,000 USD ($20,000 AUD) for unsportsmanlike behaviour at Wimbledon.

The average Australian farmer is a 56-year-old man, and Queensland is Australia's most agricultural state. Those stats and plenty of others have just been revealed, as part of the Bureau of Statistics Agricultural Census for 2015-16. The census is a snapshot of who's growing what, where, and with how much water.

Australia's high house and land prices have frustrated millions looking to get a foot in the property market, and now the Commonwealth's own infrastructure body is warning those prices could also affect long-discussed plans for high speed rail. Infrastructure Australia is warning any future train line down the east coast will be much more expensive if the land for the project isn't purchased now. The Federal Infrastructure Minister Darren Chester says buying up land is primarily a state concern, and any high speed train is 'a long way off in the future'. Mr Chester's shadow, Anthony Albanese, says the Coalition 'must act now', although he isn't committing Labor to buy up the land just yet either.