Background Briefing

Most people rate noise as a bigger problem than rats, drugs, or dog poo. It's highest on the list of citizen complaints, but it's listed low by councils and politicians. But noise can have cultural value too. Hagar Cohen reports.

Are you worried about the future of the environment, or war, or hordes of refugees? The solution is not to manipulate population growth. Past results have been tragic, and ineffectual. Historian Professor Matthew Connelly of Columbia University proposes some alternatives.

Google's Chrome, and others, offer easier, smoother, faster servers into their gated internet gardens, where all things are known. It's the Petabyte Age, and there be beasties. Reporter Stan Correy.

NSW is creating more space in jails for a growing number of young people. But many of them are only there waiting to go to trial. They may be there for something minor, or may even be innocent. Reporter, Erica Vowles.

Bats carry many of the nasty viruses, even SARS, Ebola, Nipah and Hendra. Scientists think bats may be using these deadly viruses in a war with other species, including horses and man. Reporter Ian Townsend.

American security laws based on where a person was born mean some Australians can't work in defence industries in Australia. It's against our laws - but it's like it or lump it. Reporter Lorena Allam.

A high number of people who get Australian permanent resident visas don't get the skilled jobs they are trained for. And there are scams aplenty in the world of international students looking for any way to stay here. Reporter, Hagar Cohen.

Three spin doctors—or political strategists—talk about media cynicism, handling their politicians, and getting the public to understand things their way. Lynton Crosby, Alistair Campbell and, from Uganda, John Nagenda argue with each other and with Owen Bennett-Jones. A BBC World Service program.

Prices at the shops may be rising because billions of Indians and Chinese are eating more, and using cars - and it could be that some well funded gamers are playing the commodities market like a casino in cyberspace. Take our quiz. Reporter Stan Correy

An astonishing six million hectares of Australia—something like the size of Tasmania—is now being privately protected for plants and animals. Hundreds of millions of dollars are involved as schemes spring up around the country. But private conservation faces big challenges. Reporter: Di Martin

There's a boom in funerals around the corner as the Boomers face mortality, but neither cemeteries nor crematoria are eco-friendly. The business of burials is beginning to adapt, and so are their future customers. Reporter Ian Townsend.

It's an ideological battle between those who want a fairer, better deal for the poor farmers in the developing world - and those who say the best way to get that is having a world wide free market. There are fault lines in both arguments. Reporter Jane Shields.

For years it's been one of the science community's great taboos but the idea of global climate control is starting to be openly discussed. Ideas like placing giant mirrors in space or firing sulphur particles into the stratosphere to cool the planet are no longer just in the domain of science fiction. Many scientists now believe the time for these ideas will come. Reporter, Wendy Carlisle (This pr...

As corporations collapse while executives are paid huge salary packages, shareholders are taking a greater interest in just how companies are run. But they face a wall of complexity, and legalistic and business jargon which is almost impenetrable. Reporter: Erica Vowles.

It's forty years since the massacre of an entire village in Vietnam and only now has the full story come out. The Peers Inquiry of l970 exposed it as one of the most shocking events in American military history, and it has reverberations today in how the US army conducts itself, and explains tensions over Guantanamo Bay. A BBC World Service production.

Is it slavery to keep someone working for nothing till they pay off their debt? There are women here kept in sex slavery, and there are also domestic servants, back room workers, and illegals forced into underground labour. The High Court will soon bring down a clarification about what the word "slavery" means, and that will help prosecutions in Australian law. Reporter Hagar Cohen.

Australia's sitting on some of the biggest natural gas fields in the world - and other energy-starved, ravenous nations are starting to bid for it. Australia will have to do some soul searching about how much we keep for ourselves and who to sell it to. Reporter, Ian Townsend.

The use of private military companies is now widespread, but now there are also private intelligence organisations working closely with government. Business is booming and the worlds biggest private equity company, Carlyle, has just bought part of the big intelligence company, Booz Allen Hamilton. They're active in Australia, too. Reporter Stan Correy.

Uranium is now a hot energy property, and there's big business in the nuclear trade. An investigation of the business of the bomb - from South Africa in the 80s to today - shows that nothing, it seems, is going to stop the worlds race to nuclear. American RadioWorks with the Center for Independent Reporting.

A new register of some of the biggest "third party" lobbyists and their clients will go some way to making public who has access to government in Canberra. But most lobbying and schmoozing will continue unchecked through old networks, secret meetings, and confidential discussions. Reporter, Erica Vowles.

Organised crime is said to be the biggest and most influential business in the world, and it got bigger and richer when the cold war ended. In some countries it is part of government, in others authorities are struggling against the tide. BBC World Service Documentaries.

Today's generation of farmers is experiencing unrelenting change - climate change, drought, globalisation and plummeting incomes. Many families are finding the pressures too much to bear. Reporter Di Martin grew up in sheep and wheat country, and tells the story of one of her cousins, as he puts his property on the market.

Allergies to everything from dust, to cats, to peanuts are hitting young children hard, and doctors don't really understand why or what to do. Long held theories are changing, and there's great confusion. Reporter Ian Townsend.

One hundred years ago this month, there was social ferment in Australia. Industrial unrest, crime and political changes were widespread giving the working class a new confidence. And in an astonishing series of events and people, football was changing forever. Rugby League was born. Reporter Stan Correy.

The Olmert government is dependent on the support of the extremist, ultra orthodox religious movement in Israel. They now make up 10 per cent of the population, and make no secret of their desire for Israel to become a religiously based state. Reporter Hagar Cohen