Passengers of cruise ships were evacuated weeks ago, but many of the crews remain on board. NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks to the Guardian's Patrick Greenfield, who has been investigating why.

Unpacking the political significance of Teck's Frontier Mine, why lack of supports might push people with disabilities towards medical assistance in dying, concern for refugees as COVID-19 spreads, the weird and wonderful moments of Major League Soccer in the 1990s, WIlson Cruz on playing Rickie Vasquez on My So-Called Life, the story of the first drag queen and more.

This week on Spark, we speak with Martin Rees, the U.K.’s astronomer royal and author of On The Future: Prospects for Humanity, about the challenges humanity will face in the future, and how we might harness technology to tackle them.

As societies, we are having to grapple with the question of whether some will be made to bear a disproportionate amount of the cost of our collective response to COVID-19.

Bad boy comes of age on bestselling new jack swing standout.

Alice Baxby wasn't around to enjoy (endure) the scrunchie hair trend of the 1980s and '90s, but she's selling hundreds of the hair ties to help drought-affected families.

The widow of a keen Indian cyclist killed on an Australian highway said her husband had been happy to settle here because he felt more confident about road safety.

Dane Greenstreet served for 17 years as a soldier. On discharge he faced a battle of isolation. That all changed when he joined his local RSL.

Industry figures say unstable weather, a lack of infrastructure investment and poor international prices are hampering sugar sector confidence as mills open for crushing.

Large numbers of Chinese tourists are flocking to the pink lake near Port Gregory in Western Australia, but has it become a victim of its own popularity?

A formal investigation begins over the actions of Noosa Shire Councillor Jess Glasgow as a contestant on reality TV dating program The Bachelorette, with comments he made on the dating show described as "crude" and "highly offensive".

In Central Australia, butterflies have only several weeks in certain months to pollinate flowering plants in the desert region, making their presence there crucial.

Indigenous children are about 10 times more likely to be in foster care than non-Indigenous children, so how can they stay connected to culture and country?

When the local RSL in Coonamble in central west New South Wales found itself in debt to the tune of $500,000, it was feared nothing could be done.

The Federal Government has handed Norfolk Island a lifeline to save its tourism industry, but locals have railed against their offering saying it could turn tourists away.

A Dubbo man is handed a community correction order and community service after pleading guilty to animal cruelty following his appearance in a video of an emu being plucked.

A magistrate who found a Nimbin Mardi Grass festival worker not guilty of drug driving has blasted the NSW Government's advice to motorists, saying it "lulls them into a false sense of security".

Given only weeks or months to live, Gail Baker's dying wish is for her sister to travel from New Zealand to care for her toward the end of her life. But red tape is preventing her from doing so.

Jim Hamilton, 68, a passenger on Ruby Princess, says a stint in intensive care with COVID-19 has left him musing about "the meaning of life and everything".

A self-described experienced horse breaker has been fined and sentenced to a community correction order for a "silly decision" to use a lasso to strangle a brumby.

Tasmania records six new cases of coronavirus, with four of those infected being passengers who returned to the state after disembarking the Ruby Princess cruise ship.

As Tasmanian health authorities say they are yet to learn how two people in the state's north-west contracted coronavirus, four new cases are confirmed.

Firefighters are battling to stop a large bushfire from destroying the tinder-dry Ramsar-protected Macquarie Marshes in western New South Wales.

Australia takes control of the Olympic football qualifier against Vietnam, as the Matildas cruise to a 5-0 win that puts them on the verge of qualification for Tokyo.

A ratepayers advocacy group says a damning report into the risk of corruption within local government in Victoria highlights the need for greater scrutiny of regional councils.

Police charge Melbourne Cup-winning horse trainer Darren Weir and two other men with animal cruelty offences following raids on Weir's stables near Ballarat and Warrnambool in January.

They've battled gale-force winds, cold winter nights, and drunks serenading them with Billy Joel classics at three in the morning. But two young medicos are determined to keep sleeping out in their scrubs to draw attention to the detention of asylum seekers.

The Australian Federal Police sanctions recruits and staff who breached coronavirus social-distancing rules but none, so far, has lost their job over the incident.

Hawthorn captain Ben Stratton will come under fire for repeatedly pinching his Essendon opponent, Orazio Fantasia, throughout their match.

As people look for new ways to cope with the isolation of the coronavirus lockdown, business is booming at adult retail stores around the country.

Wallaroo locals welcome news that a cruise ship will visit three times over summer, but wonder what happened to their ferry service that was suspended two years ago.

The Knights smash the Roosters in Newcastle, and the Titans knock over the Sea Eagles at Brookvale. Follow all the live scores, stats and commentary with our NRL ScoreCentre.

The Eels make a mess of the Broncos in Parramatta after the Storm ran roughshod over the Knights and the Panthers won a close one against the Rabbitohs.

New data shows dolphins, turtles and stingrays made up 94 per cent of the marine life caught by shark nets on some of New South Wales's most popular beaches.

It was a piece of rope in the middle of the ocean that ultimately led to their boat filling with water and sinking. But the three men, who all have 40 years of boating experience, say it hasn't stopped them from wanting to get back on the water.

A Federal Government investigation has found no evidence a whistleblower onboard the livestock carrier Awassi Express fabricated conditions on the boat by switching off fans and ventilation.

Cruise ships bring in millions of dollars to Tasmania each year, but tourism operators say if their schedules are not better managed they will continue to be both a "blessing and a curse".

The operators of a fast-food pizza shop in Hobart are fined $104,000 after a court finds they "deliberately" adopted a different payment system for foreign employees that saw the workers earn significantly less than their Australian counterparts.

An ancient lizard fossil found in north-west Queensland shows the ancestor of the modern skink had a crushing jaw, equipped with hard-rounded teeth, rather than the sharper teeth of today.

Footage from a Victorian poultry farm, released by animal activists, appears to show workers stretching the necks of chickens and throwing them onto a concrete floor.