In Sri Lanka, the main opposition leader has been arrested after the government accused him of trying to organize a military coup. Sri Lanka held its general election last month – the first since the end of the country’s lengthy civil war, in which Tamil insurgents were fighting for an independent state. Former military leader General Sarath Fonseca ran an unsuccessful electoral campaign against his former commander in chief, President Mahendra Rajapakse The arrest comes just hours after General Fonseca told reporters he’d be willing to give evidence about alleged war crimes during the conflict.

At Christmas time, heavy rainfall gave our ailing water systems a much needed boost. But not everyone is happy about it. The Agricultural Industry won’t be seeing as much of this extra water as it once did, because of allocation cuts. Now it’s questioning if the Government is doing too much to protect our rivers. PROFESSOR JEFF BENNET, from the Crawford School of Economics and Government, at the Australian National University, was speaking at the Agricultural and Resource Economists Society Conference, held in Adelaide. He believes the pendulum has swung too far in favour of our waterways. Featured in story: PROFESSOR JEFF BENNET, from the Crawford School of Economics and Government, at the Australian National University.

Kirkuk is an ancient city in the north of Iraq – it has archaeological treasures and ten percent of the world’s oil reserves but it’s neither rich or happy. Instead it’s a city ruined by war. Many Kirkuk residents now live like refugees in their own city. It’s where South Australian photographer Adnan Karkuki was born. In 2007 he returned to Kirkuk to document what the crisis in Iraq was doing to his home city. His exhibition Kirkuk, Ancient and Modern has been shown in Iraq and Germany and now begins an Australian tour in Adelaide. ***this script has been edited - apologies to anyone who took offence at the former one - the mistake in the former script in no way reflected what Adnan had said in the interview.

It's a dire situation in Iraq at the moment - food shortages, fuel shortages, little education and conflict. Many farmers working the land can't provide enough food for themselves, let alone sell thier produce to others who are starving. An Australian team of researchers are hoping to combat this problem as part of Australia's aid to Iraq and are helping farmers to improve the production of basic staple foods such as wheat, barley and legumes. In this story is Colin Piggin, who is part of a team of Australian researchers based in Syria and helping to improve agricultural production in Iraq.

Combos like Red Bull and vodka can help you party all night but questions are being raised about whether energy drinks make people drunker than they realise. A study released today found that people who drink alcohol mixes with energy drinks are more likely to underestimate their abilities and are more likely drive drunk. In this story are Mike Daube, Professor of Health Policy at Curtin University of Technology and Pharmacology Professor Jason White from University of Adelaide.