The federal government is being urged to subsidize stomach lap band surgery in pubilc hospitals. It's proposed that the procedure be used in extreme cases, where people are classified as morbidly obesed. According to the latest figures from Australian Bureau of Statistics, one in two Australians are over weight or obese. - Featured in story - Michael Moore, Chief Executive Officer of the Public Health Association - Melanie McRice, Practicing dietitian and member of the Dietitian's Association of Australia

After violent attacks on Indian students, the Victorian Attorney General has vowed to implement harsher prosecutions for "hate crimes" by the end of the year. Featured in story" Amit Menghani - President of the Federation of Indian Students Australia and Greg Adkins - Executive Director of the Anti-Violence Project Victoria Inc.

Department store David Jones is being criticized for commissioning an ad campaign that presented young children in a sexual manner. Documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws reveal that the girls in the ad aged 10-12 were to be posed ‘slightly more adult and sexy.’ But David Jones and the adverting agency Saatchi and Saatchi have denied any wrong doing and insist that a freelance photographer had suggested the idea. Julie Gale, Director of Kids Free 2B Kids, fought for two years to access the related documents. The Wire’s Anne von Fehrn asked her what in particular made the ad provocative. Also featured in this story: Paul Fishlock, Executive Creative Director from the advertising agency The Campaign Palace

Sex workers are using International Whore's Day, to highlight discrimination against their profession.

President Obama has back tracked on a promise to show all evidence of torture to the American public. Photos that are alleged to show American soldiers and CIA personel torturing prisoners in Iraq are among the suppressed documentation. One lawyer, Amrit Singh, who’s fighting to have the photos released, says it’s important for the American population to see the extent of torture used in Iraq. Featured in story: Professor Darius Rejali- Chair of Political Science at Reed College, US.