The World Today

More than $20 billion has been wiped off the value of local stocks this morning following a plunge in the oil price overnight. Analysts say there is now an official bear market for oil, with the commodity diving more than 20 per cent from its high earlier this year.

Under Australia's national gun amnesty that starts on the 1st of July people can either hand in unregistered firearms to be destroyed, or register the guns, or sell them. Gun Control Australia says it's appalling that the guns can be sold.

The Federal Government declared last month's global ransomware attack a 'wake-up call' for Australian businesses. While only a small number were affected by the WannaCry virus, a report out today shows just how costly even a single data breach can be. Experts are warning it's not only criminal attacks business should be wary off; insider attacks can be just as dangerous.

It's a sight we've all seen in Australia's urban centres - a person sleeping rough outside a city business. In Melbourne, many business owners are grappling with how to deal with an increase in homeless people. Now they have access to a new training program, that is delivered by people who once lived on the streets themselves.

Australian scientists have revolutionised a technique to tackle one of the most aggressive forms of cancer. Pancreatic cancer has a life expectancy of up to nine months, and only 5 per cent of people survive the illness after a few years. But by using a new method to take tumour samples, researchers will be able to decode the disease and tackle it with specific drugs.

A police raid in Argentina has uncovered the biggest collection of Nazi artefacts ever found in the country. A bust of Adolf Hitler and medical instruments used for racial identification are among the 75 objects. They're being donated to a Holocaust Museum in Buenos Aires. But the resident historian at Sydney's Jewish Museum argues the items shouldn't go anywhere near an institution like that.

International marine scientists say the mass bleaching of the world's coral reefs over the last three years has finally ended. About three-quarters of the world's delicate reef systems have been damaged or killed over that time in an event the scientists have described as the largest coral catastrophe ever recorded. Dr Mark Eakin is the coral reef watch coordinator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He says some of the coral now has an opportunity to recover before the next event occurs.

Hopes are high in Ireland as the International Cricket Council debates whether the country is ready for full membership. The council will meet tomorrow to decide whether to admit Ireland and Afghanistan. Cricket has a long history in Ireland. If the ICC gives its approval, Ireland and Afghanistan will be the first additions to the list of Full Members since Bangladesh in 2000.

A new study lead by a Victorian University involving several countries including Australia has looked at how Muslims view their faith. The Alfred Deakin Institute For Citizenship And Globalisation led the research which looked at public commentary of Muslims.

The Federal Government is clinging to hope it can rescue its education package and pass the legislation through Parliament this week. But before that can happen, it's continuing negotiations in a bid to gather enough numbers in the Senate to support the bill. A deal with the Greens is looking uncertain, though others on the Senate crossbench are sounding more positive about the future of the package.