The World Today

With the UK election just three days away, both the conservative and Labour leaders are putting their spin on the recent terror attacks. Richard Barrett was a former director of global counter terrorism at Britain's spy service, MI6. The ABC's chief foreign correspondent Philip Williams asked him whether authorities can do anything to prevent attackers armed with nothing more than a car and knife.

The veteran football broadcaster Les Murray says Qatar should be stripped of its right to hold the 2022 World Cup. Six Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt have cut diplomatic ties with Qatar. Regional tensions are bad news for the upcoming football competition, but also for airline passengers who are likely to face delays as airspace is closed to Qatari planes.

The social justice commissioner says too many Aboriginal elders are dying before they see their ancestral land returned. In a keynote speech at the National Native Title Conference, Dr June Oscar says land rights legislation has been watered down. But she says there's hope that a new generation of leaders will take up the fight to protect their land and sea.

The World Today's Eleanor Hall speaks with entrepreneur and technology author Steve Sammartino about this week's major technology stories. Technology-driven healthcare is on the rise, with 25 per cent of US citizens wearing medical devices that track some form of health and 60 per cent already willing to share personal health data with internet giants. Tech giant Apple announces it's entering the rapidly growing market for voice-controlled software at home with its HomePod music system. And the development of lab-grown meat has progressed in leaps and bounds, with predictions that it may be commercially competitive by as early as 2020.

Pregnant women are being warned that even the occasional drink can change their baby's face. New research indicates that consuming small amounts of alcohol can subtly affect how a baby's face is formed in the womb.

In London, authorities are warning that Saturday's terrorist attack could inspire copycat killings. Three attackers killed seven people and injured almost 50 more when they ploughed a van into pedestrians on London Bridge, and stabbed people in the Borough Market. Police killed the assailants and are now carrying out raids in the hunt for those who helped them.

Police in London responded to the attacks very quickly. Australia's former Ambassador to the United States, Kim Beazley, says he isn't sure that Australian police could have responded as fast to a similar incident here; while former prime minister Tony Abbott says specialist military commando units should lead domestic counter terrorism operations. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has also announced that there are now concerns for two further Australian citizens, making a total of four, involved in the London attack.

The terrorist attack that killed seven and wounded 21 in London on Saturday looked like the work of 'determined amateurs', according to the former director general of the Royal United Services Institute. Professor Michael Clarke told Europe correspondent Lisa Millar that more attacks are likely, although the attacks are unlikely to be related to each other.

The latest terrorist attacks in London have hit Britain only days before Thursday's election and it's unclear how they will affect voter behaviour. Dr Ben Wellings, the deputy director of the European and EU Centre at Monash University, says security issues tend to favour the incumbent but that the public seems to be warming to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

As parts of London remain shut down, Manchester has responded to its terrorist attack two weeks ago with a massive outdoor party. The singer Ariana Grande has put on a show to commemorate the 22 lives lost when a suicide bomb was detonated at the end of her