The World Today

Three-time world surfing champion Mick Fanning has ticked off a huge bucket list item; one that has nothing to do with competition points. The Aussie surfer has had a spectacular surf session, taking to the waves under the mesmerising green aurora of the Northern Lights in Norway. The project was years in the making, thanks to local photographers Emil Sollie and Mats Grimsaeth. Fanning is currently on hiatus from competitive surfing.

The United Nations has dumped the cartoon character Wonder Woman as its ambassador for the empowerment of women and girls. The appointment generated outcry and protests by UN staff. Feminist and former ad executive Jane Caro says the decision to dump Wonder Woman is a relief, but it's tarnished the role of ambassador. She says empowerment is about having actual women speaking for themselves, not a scripted cartoon character.

Australian jobs, along with multi-million dollar defence contracts, may be lost if the US President-elect follows through on his latest defence policy suggestion. Donald Trump says he will cut defence spending when he takes office and has singled out Lockheed-Martin's F-35 project as having 'out-of-control' costs. The company's share price has plummeted in response, but the impact won't just be felt in the US. Many Australian companies are involved with building the Joint Strike Fighters and there is concern that jobs and defence contracts could be lost if the program is downsized.

NAPLAN results out today confirm previous studies showing the performance of children tested has plateaued - and in some areas, become worse. But for the Federal Government, Indigenous children are the 'glimmer of light' in this year's NAPLAN test results. They have improved their results in reading, numeracy, spelling, and grammar and punctuation.

Associate Professor Vincent Geiger from the Australian Catholic University has been working in maths education for more than two decades and he says a 10 year plan and consistency in funding for training projects would improve standards.

A new survey points to a sharp drop in consumer confidence in the lead-up to Christmas. And a separate, private survey shows business conditions have deteriorated. It follows last week's official figures showing the national economy actually contracted in the third quarter of the year.

China's government appears to be taking Donald Trump's threats about recognising Taiwan increasingly seriously. Beijing has warned that any major cooperation with the US would be out of the question if a Trump administration were to abandon the One China policy.

Researchers in Melbourne say they're excited by the results of a trial of a drug to treat dementia. In some cases, patients were able to return to hobbies like creating music or art. Around 360,000 Australians suffer from some form of dementia, with the number of cases predicted to almost triple within 35 years.

The Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory has heard evidence from the youth worker who was assigned to former Don Dale detainee Dylan Voller. Voller, whose story featured in the Four Corners program which sparked the royal commission, gave evidence yesterday that he was denied food, water and a toilet when he was in youth detention centres in Darwin and Alice Springs. His youth worker at the time, Antoinette Carol, has today said that there was a lack of coordination in Voller's journey through the criminal justice system, and that an 18-month sentence imposed by a judge for a series of minor offenses had a 'devastating' effect on the young Dylan.

The battle for Aleppo is all but over. The Syrian army says it's in the final stages of recapturing the city after pushing rebels to the brink of collapse. The Russian Defence Ministry says that more than 2,200 rebels have surrendered since the battle began, while more than 100,000 civilians have fled. But the rebels have vowed to fight on.