Ten weeks ago the oil rig off the West Australian Coast was in the headlines. Since that time little attention has been paid to the continuous leaking of oil into the Timor Sea.. until now. Featured in story: Darren Kindleysides- Director of the Australian Marine Conservation Society.

Hamid Karzai’s Election rival Abdullah Abdullah has withdrawn from the Afghani run-off election. Karzai must now choose between two equally unwanted scenarios. If he opts to run, he will require security forces to risk their lives in a single candidate election. However the run-off is a constitutional requirement, so if he chooses not to run his government and Washington will have to defend themselves against claims of illegitimacy. Featured in this story: Dr Ken Macnab, President of the centre for peace and conflict studies at the university of Sydney.

The Chinese government is under fire today with green groups claiming massive pollution in the country's third longest river system. A new study by Greenpeace has found that the Pearl River Delta in the country’s south is being poisoned by industrial waste. The Delta accounts for nearly one third of China’s exports and 10 per cent of total GDP. Huge growth in the last 30 years has seen the number of factories in the area increase to thousands, and lack of government restrictions means they can pollute as they like.

While the latest progress report on the Northern Territory Intervention has found that increased policing is resulting in higher rates in domestic violence and alcohol related incidents the Government says that this only reflects the increased police presence on the ground. Professor Jon Altman from the Australian National University says that this assumption, and the report itself is flawed. Featured in story: Professor Jon Altman- Director of the Center for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research at the ANU and Barbara Shaw- Alice Springs town camp resident.

You might have had some ghostly encounters on the weekend, with trick-or-treaters out and about for Halloween. They weren’t real, and that’s also the premise of most academic research into paranormal sightings and experiences. But is this skepticism problematic? Featured in story: Tony Jinks – lecturer in the psychology of paranormal experience at the University of Western Sydney.