The World Today

An Australian trial has proven for the first time that an antibiotic usually used to treat a rare lung disease can also cut the severity of asthma attacks. Researchers say azithromycin is already approved for use in Australia and they hope its registration will soon be extended to include the treatment of chronic asthma.

A survival of the fittest experiment has shown threatened species can adapt and survive when living with predators. Researchers enclosed the threatened burrowing bettong with feral cats and found the small native Australian mammal changed their behaviours and thrived. The study could inform conservationists on how to save other threatened Australian mammals.

How do humans interact with a place that not many people will even visit? That idea is being explored at an Antarctic arts conference in Hobart where artists say they complement science by communicating ideas through mediums such as photography and sound.

More than 700 women are involved in a class action against pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson, which has kicked off in Sydney today. They allege the company's vaginal mesh product has caused them chronic pain, other health complications, and even marriage breakdowns. Johnson and Johnson says the product is backed by clinical research. But lawyers representing the women will allege the product should never have been allowed on the market.

The Australian Federal Police is looking into claims that the Medicare details of every Australian are being put up for sale on the dark web. A journalist for the Guardian says he was able to purchase his Medicare card number for less than 30 dollars. The Minister for Human Services says the Government's taking the claims seriously. The information could be used by criminals to commit identity theft.

Labor says the Government has issued an 'incompetent' response to the Guardian's report of Medicare information being for sale on the dark web. The Shadow Health Minister Catherine King says the Government must say if it knew about the breach before it was told by the journalists, how many patient records have been affected and whether those patients have been informed.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has issued a special 4th of July message to the United States by launching another missile this morning. It's believed to be a ballistic missile and the Japanese government says it flew for 40 minutes before landing in the Sea of Japan, inside Japan's exclusive economic zone. There have been no reports of damage to vessels or planes. Last week, US President Donald Trump said his 'strategic patience' with North Korea was finished.

Qatar has delivered its response to a list of 13 demands from Arab states that have cut have ties with the country amid a mounting diplomatic crisis. The formal response is yet to be made public, but Qatar's rulers have already indicated they are unlikely to comply. Arab nations will meet tomorrow to discuss their next moves.

The looming deadline for Qatar comes as the battle against the Islamic State group in Syria gains momentum. US backed fighters are reportedly making progress in their efforts to re-take the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, and now observers are turning their attention to the next chapter of the conflict. Syrian author and journalist Hassan Hassan says it's hard to see Qatar complying with the demands and that the country's Arab neighbours want Qatar to 'feel the bite of the sanctions' for a while. Mr Hassan says the challenge in Syria is what happens in the vacuum created after ISIS is expelled from its stronghold in Raqqa.

A group of climate policy experts is warning Australia is likely to fall well short of its Paris emissions reductions targets. The Federal Government has said recently that the goal to reduce emissions by 26 to 28 per cent on 2005 levels, by the year 2030, is still achievable. But the report from Climate Transparency challenges that claim and says Australia is relying on creative climate accounting to support it.