The World Today

The candidate who lost the presidential election to Donald Trump has been mulling over what cost her the top job. Hillary Clinton pointed to interference from Russian hackers and the FBI director James Comey as tipping the balance against her in the final days of the campaign. During a rare public interview, the former US secretary of state also questioned Donald Trump's foreign policies.

The British Prime Minister, Theresa May, has played up her newly conferred credentials as a 'bloody difficult woman', after a German newspaper published leaked reports of a fractious working dinner last week with the European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker. Mrs May has dismissed the account as 'Brussels gossip' but it hasn't stopped her using it to shore up her credentials as the country's best option to handle the complicated Brexit negotiations, ahead of next month's general election.

Scores of people have been killed in an Islamic State attack near Syria's north-eastern border with Iraq. Some militants reportedly blew themselves up at a Kurdish checkpoint while others attacked civilians in a camp sheltering hundreds of displaced people. A US-backed rebel alliance has engaged in heavy clashes with IS in the aftermath of the attack.

Turkey has gained itself the dubious distinction of becoming the nation with the greatest number of journalists in detention as its government cracks down on its critics. Since the failed coup attempt in July last year 156 media outlets have been shut down and an estimated 2,500 journalists and other media workers have lost their jobs. Amnesty International is calling for the country's detained journalists to be released immediately.

People who allege Queensland Police mistreated their entire community over a decade ago are optimistic of winning tens of millions of dollars in compensation. More than 300 Palm Islanders have now joined a class action over an allegedly racist police response to an infamous death in custody and resulting riots. It follows a successful test case in the Federal Court which ordered the Queensland Government to pay one family $220,000.

Seeing a physiotherapist or podiatrist may sound like a luxury, but, for the homeless, it could resolve some long term physical problems. A free clinic opening in Adelaide today is set to give those most vulnerable a chance to literally get back on their feet. The clinic will be staffed by final year university students, to help them improve their clinical skills and develop a sense of social justice.

The Federal Government has decided taxpayers will foot the bill for Sydney's second airport, now that a private operator has knocked back its chance to build it. The Sydney Airport Group this morning turned down the offer to build and operate the site, saying the project did not meet its investment criteria. The Urban Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher is hoping work will start by the end of 2018, with the airport operational by 2026. The Opposition says infrastructure needs to be put in place first.

The independent statutory body that advises the Federal Government on investment in projects, Infrastructure Australia, says there's 'a very strong economic and strategic' business case for a Western Sydney airport and Badgery's Creek is 'absolutely the appropriate site'. Executive director Adrian Dwyer says Sydney Airport's decision reflects their commercial interest, and that's different to the economic case for the project.

The announcement follows a decision from the city's existing airport operator to knock back the opportunity to develop and operate the new facility. The Federal Government had offered Sydney Airport Group first right-right-of-refusal to run the new airport in Western Sydney, but after examining the cost, risk profile and likely returns it's concluded the project would not be in the best interests of its investors. Critics of the project say it demonstrates that a second airport won't be viable and shouldn't be built.

Universities are pushing back against the Government's higher education cuts while acknowledging that the changes are not as drastic as proposed in 2014. The Federal Government's making $2.8 billion of savings from higher education including asking graduates to start paying back their student loans much earlier. While asking students to pay more sooner, it will also cut university budgets over the next two years.