The World Today

UK police are responding to what they're calling a 'major incident' near a mosque in north London. Police say a van has struck a group of worshippers leaving a mosque in Finsbury Park after evening services.

Forest fires are still burning in central Portugal, where at least 61 people have been killed. It's the worst blaze in Portugal for decades - and the death toll is likely to rise. Portugal's President has declared three days of national mourning.

There are warnings that Victoria's greyhound racing industry could be on the ropes if a new code of practice is adopted. Trainers are calling the draft document unworkable and expensive and they believe it's an attempt to punish them after the live-baiting scandal.

Ten years ago this week the Northern Territory intervention was launched by the then Howard government in response to reports of social dysfunction and allegations of endemic abuse of women and children in remote communities. Since then, the policy has continued under governments of both persuasions. But 10 years on critics of the Intervention say it's fixed nothing. Pat Turner is currently CEO of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation. She says the Intervention is a violation of the human rights of Aboriginal people and has achieved nothing for Aboriginal people.

Hearings of the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory have turned solely to examining the child protection system. This morning an expert witness told the inquiry that in the 10 years since the intervention, notifications of alleged child abuse to the Department of Territory Families has risen dramatically. But in contrast to the allegations that sparked the intervention, data shows there isn't heightened sexual abuse of children in remote Aboriginal communities.

In Syria, a United States warplane has shot down a Syrian Air Force fighter jet. It's the first time US forces have downed one of the Assad regime's planes, in a move that's seen as new escalation of the protracted conflict. It comes as Iran has launched a missile attack on an area of Syria where it claims Islamic State forces are massed, in apparent retaliation for the recent terror attack on its parliament and a shrine by what it says were IS militants. Dr Anthony Billingsley, Lecturer in International Relations at the University of New South Wales, said the attack is part of a pattern of increasing violence as Syrians test US forces; and factions jostle for power as Islamic State declines.

A decisive victory by Emmannuel Macron and his En Marche party gives him the power to enact massive change to labour laws and workplace regulation. He's facing few checks and balances from the traditional major parties, who've found themselves on the outer after decades of sharing power.

The boss of TAFE New South Wales says the Government's new loans scheme is driving students away from TAFE and into universities. Jon Black warns diploma enrolments have halved this year, and he's blaming what he calls Federal Government 'bias' in its policies. For their part, universities say the tertiary education sector shouldn't be fighting an internal battle.

Australia's consumer watchdog, the ACCC, is calling for volunteers to sign up for a broadband speed testing program. The ACCC has resisted opposition from some providers and is rolling out its speed test program to about 2,000 homes in the first year. It's hoping to expose the 'real world speeds' being provided to households and businesses connecting to the National Broadband Network.

A report published today by University of Queensland researchers shows nearly 300,000 hectares of land is cleared in the state every year, up from 75,000 hectares about three years ago. The authors of the report say that's putting at risk the habitat for 95 threatened animal species and about a dozen plant species. But the state's farming lobby says the report doesn't take into account regeneration and regrowth.