The Radio National Hour

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has opened the Office of Artificial Intelligence, tasked with creating new standards governing the technology. Johanna Weaver, executive director of the Tech Policy Design Institute, says its an important step towards determining what our AI future looks like and who gets to build it.The words discounts and diamonds don’t usually go together but the world’s largest miner De Beers is slashing prices for their precious gems as demand for cheaper, lab grown versions takes off. Diamond expert Edahn Golan says the decline in demand is a combination of shifting demographics and cost of living pressures. And Australia’s ‘sorceress of percussion’; the prodigiously talented, award winning percussionist Claire Edwards 

The US has vowed to dismantle the International Criminal Court, declaring it a rogue force that threatens every aspect of America’s political and legal systems. Former ICC special advisor and UTas Professor of law Tim McCormack says the Trump administration is completely misrepresenting the way the court operates. Australia sends more than 27 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste to landfill every year. Architect Alex Symes believes that has to change — and he's turning a 120 year old terrace into a working demonstration of how renovation can be done with less waste, fewer new materials and a smaller environmental footprint. Its dramatic. We’ll take a visit to his house to find out just what that looks like. The end of reading is here; that’s the stark claim in a new essay published by The Atlantic charting the decline in reading and comprehension and the profound impact it's already having on our brains, even the bestsellers have shorter sentences than they did 50 years ago. 

He was the New Zealand actor we claimed with pride; Sam Neill, star of film and television, has died at the age of 78 in Sydney. In a career spanning six decades he starred in the blockbuster Jurassic Park franchise, the Oscar winning film The Piano and played opposite Hollywood luminaries like Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. His good friend and fellow actor Heather Mitchell says he loved Australia, and he cherished and loved people.The US and Iran are sliding back into a state of all-out-war less than a month after a ceasefire and Memorandum of Understanding to progress peace talks was agreed. At issue is a disagreement over the passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran insisting they have the power to decide who comes and who goes. Dr Dania Thafer Executive Director of Gulf International Forum says Iran is seeking to become a regional hegemon. More than a decade after ISIS launched its genocidal campaign against the Yazidi people, thousands are still waiting for justice. Later this year a Community-Based Truth Commission will be convened in the German Bundestag in a bid to force countries and organisations to reckon with these atrocities and prosecute perpetrators. Aldo Zammit-Borda, Professor of Law at City St George's, University of London is among the experts running the commission. 

Telstra prides itself on connecting Australians but this week a software glitch caused the nation’s largest telecommunications network to crash - bringing trains and cabbies to a halt, shutting down businesses, and preventing hundreds of people from calling Triple Zero. Turns out it was all about the timing and Swinburne University Professor Allison Kealy warned the telco of this vulnerability in their system earlier this year.NAIDOC week is celebrating half a century, a movement forged in resistance, elevating and celebrating Indigenous culture, language and art. Zoe Cassim program Director at the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, and Joe Ross, author of the children's book Winthali and the CEO of the Bunuba Cultural Conservation Institute joined us to talk about how they're using technology is bringing Indigenous children’s books to remote communities and libraries across Australia.And the bass clarinet, long maligned as the grumpy cousin of the woodwind family, is the star attraction at a forthcoming show by The Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Alex Morris, principal bass clarinet performs for The Radio National Hour.   

A dedicated show to the debate that’s raging here and across the world over data centres, the vast digital warehouses that process, store and manage the information required to run our websites, apps, our google searches our cloud services and crucially Artificial Intelligence.The backlash to these digital factories in the US has prompted AI companies to look elsewhere, like Australia where there are more than 90 new facilities in the pipeline. Michael Bommarito is president of the non-profit research group -  Institute for the Advancement of Legal and Ethical AI and one of the leading researchers tracking this phenomenon. He's the author of Why Communities Fight Data Centers and has documented the rapid rise of opposition movements across the United States.Sasha Titchkosky is a member of the Lane Cove Responsible Planning Group, which has been fighting against a proposal for five data centres for the northern Sydney suburb.Dr Dylan McConnell is an energy systems researcher at the University of NSW and Dr Bronwyn Cumbo is a Lecturer in the Trans-disciplinary School at UTS where she’s focusing on sustainable AI futures.Belinda Dennett is the CEO of the peak body, Data Centres Australia.

Hamas has announced the dissolution of its governing body in Gaza, in an effort, it says, to advance Donald Trump's peace plan. But Israel insists it's all a ruse to avoid giving us its weapons.The billionaire class is booming and most of them are paying less tax than you or I, sometimes close to zero. In his new book We Need To Tax Billionaires acclaimed French economist Gabriel Zucman argues this legalised swindle is the greatest threat to democracy in the 21st century.  She first picked up the violin as a three year old, more than four decades on virtuoso Leila Josefowicz still finds her chosen instrument endlessly fascinating. 

When the Taliban took back control of Afghanistan in 2021 Hamida Samar thought her life was over. But now with the support of Rural Australians for Refugees and volunteer Marie Sellstrom she’s not only been given protection here, she's dedicated herself to helping other Afghan women.In 2021 Islamic Jihadists went on a rampage at a French gas project in Northern Mozambique, slaughtering more than 14 hundred people over four days. In his new book, Blood Will Flow, writer and journalist Alex Perry tells how the promise of striking it rich in a faraway African nation, blinded a multi-billion dollar French energy company to a catastrophe foretold.

A Thai family is grieving the loss of a teenage daughter, allegedly murdered by an Australian man in the tourist city of Pattaya - one of Southeast Asia’s most notorious sex tourism hubs. Should this trade, which supports millions of impoverished families, be decriminalised in Thailand? Sociologist and author of Sex Tourism in Thailand: Inside Asia’s Premier Erotic Playground, professor Ronald Weitzer says there are powerful forces at play in the industry.America’s once unconditional support for Israel is declining, with some politicians, including the nation’s Vice President openly hostile towards its leadership … is this a permanent rupture or just a spat between staunch allies? Israeli American pollster and political scientist Dahlia Scheindlin says Israelis are concerned but remain deeply divided over its warmongering leadership. An allegation of inappropriate behaviour is made, without evidence, about a popular priest at a Catholic school. Is suspicion alone enough to condemn him? That’s the premise of the cult classic play Doubt: A Parable which is currently being staged at the Sydney Theatre Company, starring actors Pamela Rabe and Sam Reid.

We're now half-way through the men's football World Cup, David Basheer, SBS Sports' lead commentator discusses the winners, the surprise losers and how far the Socceroos can go.Is Kim Ju Ae being groomed to become North Korea's first female Supreme Leader with Rachel Minyoung Lee, a senior fellow with the Korea Program and 38 North at the Stimson CentreAnd musician Xavier Rudd on his latest release, an homage to Dr Jane Goodall

The Parliament has risen for its winter recess, leaving much unfinished business and a trail of broken promises. Press gallery journalists Clare Armstrong and Ashleigh Raper wrap up a long 6 months in federal politics. Former Attorney General Mark Dreyfus is among those who’ve made deeply personal submissions to the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. He says he's been shocked at the growing abuse of Jewish Australians, particularly on social media. After growing up in a family where a game of Mahjong was cutting loose, Jailing Cai chose a decidedly more daring career; photographing microscopic sea creatures in the open ocean in the dead of night. Now the award winning photographer travels all over the world mastering this dark art.  

Healthcare workers are embarking on a world first project to help people reduce their reliance on prescription drugs like sleeping pills and opioids amid growing evidence of dangerous side-effects. The project called SUPPORT-Meds is lead by Associate Professor Emily Reeve, at the Centre for Medicine Use and Safety at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences.As the Christian Brothers cry poor and appeal to the court for a stay on compensation payments to victims of historical child sexual abuse, attention is turning to the properties they transferred to Edmund Rice Education Australia for as a little as one dollar. 80 years ago today the USA detonated an atomic bomb over Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, the beginnings of a devastating nuclear testing program in the pacific. Dave Sweeney, co-founder of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Nobel peace prize winner and Samuel Barton, President of the Marshall Islands Student Association at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji are using the anniversary to appeal to the Government to finally ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. 

As Russian soldiers continue to die in appalling numbers and Ukrainian drones terrorise civilians in Moscow, fears are growing that a paranoid Russian president could escalate the war both at grave cost at home and abroad.  On the eve of the Dalai Lama’s 91st birthday his special representative is in Australia to sound an alarm about China’s new ethnic unity laws, which, they say, seeks to crush their culture and identity.It’s the food staple that nourishes half of humanity, but rice crops are particularly vulnerable to the ravages of an El Nino weather cycle. That’s forcing poor farmers across our region to roll the die with their crops in a bid to outrun the long hot dry.  

In quake stricken Venezuela once bustling streets are silent but for the sound of crying, as citizens scrape through the rubble with their bare hands searching desperately for the missing. Freelance Venezuelan journalist Camilla Rodriguez Montilla says hopes are fading but anger at the slow official response is growing.  If it takes you by surprise chances are you’re more likely to remember it. Neuroscientists from the University of Sydney have looked inside our brains to understand how we respond to unexpected events, and how that primes our neural pathways for high performance and memory making. Dr Reuben Rideaux, is the lead researcher of this paper. Palestinians describe their presence as psychological warfare, but music teacher Ahmed Abu Amsha has found a way to drown out the menacing thrum of Israeli drones - with song.  

There was a lot of hustle and plenty of chances and in the end Australia got the job done in San Francisco with a scoreless draw against Paraguay delivering them a berth in the knockout round of 32. Freelance football writer and ESPN Australia contributor Joey Lynch says whilst many people were hoping for an outright win, the team is playing with more confidence every time they step onto the pitch. Somewhere in rural Paraguay Australian flags were flying over a small township during today's clash. Its Paraguayan residents go by the names of Smith, Kennedy, Adams and Murray; descendants of a failed 19th century utopian experiment dreamt up by a radical unionist from Brisbane. Writer and journalist Ben Stubbs visited Nueva Australia more than a decade ago and was surprised to meet some very Australian characters.    Did you ever rock out to The Shaggs back in the day? The trio of sisters in the sixties were challenging on the ears, but decades on this curious anti-musical outfit has achieved a cult status. And now a documentary in their name by filmmaker Ken Kwapis. 

The Christian Brothers Catholic order has announced plans to liquidate its remaining assets, admitting there’s not enough left in the coffers to pay the compensation claims of potentially hundreds of victims of clerical sexual abuse. Lawyer and longtime advocate for hundreds of survivors Dr Judy Courtin says the announcement has blindsided her clients.      Remember when seeing was believing? It’s a quaint idea in the AI age, when even the experts now say they can’t spot a fake. Digital forensics expert Hany Farid now uses code words with his colleagues and his wife to confirm he’s talking to a real person, and he warns humanity is at risk of losing its shared sense of reality.Sounds to warm the soul; musicians and story-tellers Mark Atkins and Erkki Veltheim perform their collaboration Mungangga Garlagula, (yarning by the fire). 

It’s becoming a running joke; you have a conversation or you Google something and suddenly your feeds are flooded with ads and offers on the very same subject..what are the chances? . But what if the information being tracked  and shared online is about your fertility, choice of contraception or mental health? It’s a practice the Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind is taking on in a first ever ruling of its kind. Debut Tasmanian author Konrad Muller has been shortlisted for the prestigious Miles Franklin Literary Award, but in the increasingly cut-throat world of publishing, stories like his are more likely to be fiction than fact. He joins editor and researcher Alice Grundy to explain how the industry has become so pressured and crowded. From cracking some of biology’s toughest problems to opening new frontiers in treatment, AI is already transforming medicine – opening up a world of possibility ly in the lab and in frontline treatment.

There’s growing fears a black swan event is unfolding in Western Australia - quite literally - with the arrival of the H5N1 strain of bird flu on our shores. Scientists are warning that creatures like the iconic black swan, which has no natural immunity to the virus, could be wiped out completely. Australia’s threatened species commissioner says Victoria has ended native forest logging, but a Four Corners investigation has found sawmills are now sourcing timber from Tasmania, with public money flowing to keep them afloat. It’s a situation raising serious questions, ANU ecologist Distinguished Professor David Lindenmayer says its time for royal commission into public funding of native logging.  A scandal has erupted within the Gold Coast artist community after a prize-winning artwork was exposed as a copy. Where is the line between inspiration and imitation and is it okay if you declare your intent?

The crowds of reporters outside No.10 Downing Street this morning could only mean one thing. Sir Keir Starmer has resigned as Prime Minister - the sixth to bow out in ten years. His most likely successor? The so-called King from the North, Andy Burnham. Sir Keir’s biographer Tom Baldwin says the revolving door is a sign of a political system in crisis.Negotiations between the US and Iran are already breaking down with walkouts,  military threats and regional tensions flaring – just as a fragile deal appeared within reach. But with the Gulf States potentially having to foot the bill for Donald Trump’s promised $300 billion dollar reconstruction offer for Iran, just how ready are they to actually go along with this plan?  A private member’s bill giving new meaning to the expression pushing up daisies. It’s called human composting, an ecological alternative to tradition burials. New South Wales Alex Greenwich is part of a group trying to bring this technology down under, so to speak. 

Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has won the Makerfield by-election paving the way for him to challenge UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for leadership of the Labour party and the nation. After a week of trash talk the countdown is on to tomorrow’s game between the Socceroos’ and team USA. The American mid-west is about as far from North Africa as you can get, but the community of Lawrence in Kansas have thrown open their doors for Algeria’s national football team, whom they’re hosting during the world cup. 

Fran Kelly brings you compelling conversations on issues that challenge,entertain and inspire us. 

Three decades after she first arrived in the federal Parliament, Pauline Hanson has finally fronted the national press club, with a clear message for the media, it’s time to take One Nation seriously.  And how do you tax a robot? As AI comes for our jobs and threatens to rob governments of their tax revenue, we look at some of the options being contemplated to ensure we all get a share of the wealth from this AI revolution.

A new report paints a picture of despair for Palestinians across the occupied territory. Under siege and constant attack by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and threatened with execution and torture by Hamas in Gaza. Australian human rights lawyer and UN commissioner Chris Sidoti says the Australian government should be doing more to hold Israel to account.    AI promises to transform our workplaces, unlocking productivity saving companies a fortune and freeing us from the drudgery of routine tasks. But already employers and employees are coming up against its limits and wondering what to do next?    Finally, some optimism about the future of the world’s coral reefs with scientists mapping vast underwater ecosystems that appear to be more resilient to climate change.  

President Donald Trump has celebrated his 80th birthday in style with a UFC fight on the White House lawns and a peace deal with Iran. But that’s already in peril as Israel continues its attacks in on Hezbollah. Will Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally yield to the USA? Former Israeli diplomat and Prime Ministerial advisor Alon Pinkas says a lot could happen between now and when the deal is supposed to be signed on Friday.   The horror of Saturday’s shark attack on a young mother at Sydney’s Coogee beach is already prompting calls for a shark cull. Could new technologies like drones and wearable devices do more to keep us safe? Shark behavioural expert Professor Charlie Huveneers says some devices have been shown to deter the predators.    Israel’s latest strikes in Lebanon have killed more than 3 thousand seven hundred people but they’ve also devastated an unknown number of ancient cultural sites. Lebanese cultural heritage researcher and human rights lawyer Sherine Al Shallah says that these places tell the story of the beginnings of civilisation.   

SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite business has come to market selling 86 billion dollars' worth of shares and overnight shattering previous IPO records. But not everyone is convinced of its value, so are investors buying a moonshot? Tim Fernholz, senior reporter at TechCrunch & author of Rocket Billionaires: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the New Space Race says - at least for now - SpaceX is selling a vision, with a big price tag. How do you put a price on human creativity? Around the world AI companies are being challenged over alleged violations of copyright laws and here in Australia artists and creators are holding the line. They say they’re ready to negotiate, but Big Tech just won’t pay to play. David Wroe, head of the AI and Security program at ASPI & Dean Ormston, CEO of music licensing firm APRA AMCOS explain what's at stake and how they think creative industries could be fairly compensatedIn Iran women are forbidden from playing music or even carrying a musical instrument in public so Tara Tiba broke free and followed her dreams to Australia. 

President Trump has said repeatedly that a ceasefire was just days away, now he’s learning the hard way, it’s much easier to start a war than to end one. After weeks of stalled negotiations the US is now resorting to military force but Iran says it will continue to hit back, targeting American bases across the region. The government is being accused of rushing it proposed reform of the NDIS and abandoning its original intent – to restore dignity to the lives of people living with a serious disability. Dr Stevie Lang Howson, an NDIS participant and an advocate with Disabled People Against Cuts says the changes could see funding supports based on government’s appetite, rather than people’s needs.And ‘just chill’, that’s Fifa president Gianni Infantino’s advice to football fans on the eve of tomorrow’s World Cup kick-off – but the controversies are piling up prompting some to ask who’s really in control of the beautiful game? ESPN football journalist Joey Lynch spoke to us from the sidelines of the Socceroos training camp. 

With AI tech companies looking to invest billions in data centres on Australian soil, and predictions that hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost to the technology, independent senator David Pocock is sounding the alarm and urging us not to let the profits escape offshore.Japanese authorities are on the hunt for a ‘very intelligent’ bear blamed for an attack on four people and then evading capture by escaping through a locked window. It comes amid thousands of reported sightings, as famished bears emerge from hibernation. Author and journalist Patrick Radden Keefe on cracking the infamous IRA code of silence 

Ivanka Trump and Jared’s Kushner’s plans to turn the nation’s only island & a pristine wilderness into a billionaire's playground has triggered a wave of protests. Politico Europe editor Alice Taylor explains why this particular development has stuck such a nerve. First Nation’s people have been dining out on bush tucker for millennia, but foods like warrigal greens, wattle seed and finger lime are still considered 'exotic' in fine dining establishments. Professor Henrietta Marrie from the UQ Training Centre for Uniquely Australian Foods & head of culinary services at Cairns Convention Centre, Ben Boudaud are on a quest to get more Australians cooking with ancient flavours.He was the leader of the 80s Bratpack, who gained fame with films like the Breakfast Club, St Elmo's Fire and Mighty Ducks. Now in his 60s, Emelio Estevez is all grown up and making more contemplative films, including a reboot of The Way starring his famous dad, Martin Sheen. 

He’s known as the world’s greatest living mathematician, but not so long ago he was just Tiny Terence, a whizz kid from Adelaide. Professor Terence Tao has today been made a Companion of the Order of Australia.What happens when three capable, intelligent young women, disillusioned with life and relationships in contemporary China turn to AI for comfort, support and romance? A new documentary, Replica, explores the allure of artificial intimacy.  

This week in the US the Trump administration was forced to dump plans for a slush fund to compensate MAGA loyalists, and not even an f-bomb directed at Israel’s Prime Minister could shift the dial on peace negotiations in the middle-east. Republican strategist John Feehery says Trump supporters have a high tolerance for the President's adventurism but that there's growing anxiety in the GOP as we head towards the mid-terms. More than 55 million people are living with some form of dementia worldwide, and here in Australia, the disease is now our leading cause of death. Anthropologist Teun Toobesh has been travelling the world to understand the best way to help sufferers. Together with Jonathan de Jong he's turned this experience into an eye-opening documentary Human Forever.Like father, like son; Nigerian musician Seun Kuti is continuing the family business, leading the band Egypt 80 established by Afrobeat pioneer and political firebrand  Fela Kuti.  

African migrants are being evacuated from South Africa following a spate of deadly assaults and growing protests supposedly targeting undocumented foreigners. They’re being blamed for taking jobs, squeezing public services and driving crime. Is this xenophobic scapegoating really a protest against a failing government? In some European nations cooperatives account for as much as 40 percent of the housing stock, providing affordable and life-long security for millions of people but in Australia it's been dismissed as a hippie ideal. Sidsel Grimstah, Adjunct senior lecturer at Griffith University and a resident of coop housing in Oslo in Norway and Melina Morrison, CEO of the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals say the model has the potential to change the traditional view of housing in Australia.In his new book Ungrounding forensic architect Eyal Weizman argues that the wholesale destruction of Gaza is a deliberate strategy of dislocation, to remove people from this place, never to return. 

The director general of the World Health Organisation says controlling the spread of Ebola in central Africa is everybody’s business, but governments are slashing their aid budgets.  Medicins Sans Frontier is funded almost entirely by private individuals and philanthropic organizations. The group's Humanitarian Affairs coordinator for the Democratic Republic of Congo, Anastassia Chkolenok, is working to rapidly deploying emergency teams into the epicentre of the outbreak..  For decades, Australia has treated social housing as a safety net — something small, residual, and tightly rationed. But what if solving the housing crisis means thinking much bigger — and putting social and affordable housing at the centre of the system again? When former sports reporter Ralph Jackman swapped the newsroom for a classroom in a youth detention centre, it was like an extreme sport he hadn’t signed up for, but the experience changed his life and his attitude to opportunity....now he’s penned a memoir Detention about everything he learned in this classroom of life.  

A heated phone call between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu raises fresh questions about just how strained that relationship has become, and about prospects for a peace deal with Iran.  The government’s just put 40 million dollars into pre-fab housing, so can it deliver better houses, built faster and in greater numbers as well as it has overseas? Australians are now discarding their pianos in the thousands every year while Martin the piano tuner is keeping them on life support. His delicate and dying art is the subject of a new documentary The Piano Tuner. 

How is National Reconciliation Week been acknowledged where you live and work? Has it been acknowledged? In the wake of the Voice Referendum some businesses and organisations have scaled back their commitments to reconciliation and reports of racism in the workplace are growing. Co-directors of Evolve Communities Aunty Munya Andrews & Carla Rogers, say that change won't come if organisations are only hosting morning teas once a year. This week were talking housing, not how it’s taxed, but how we can be more creative in building and funding it. The Community Land Trust model which has been used overseas for years to create affordable homes not just for one buyer, but for generations. It's almost impossible to imagine her as old, but Marilyn Monroe would have turned 100 today. This year three major exhibitions are being staged in the US and Great Britain honouring her legacy and seeking to answer the apparently illusive question, who was Marilyn Monroe? Michelle Morgan is the author of several books about Marilyn, including When Marilyn Met the Queen, she says Marilyn remains a deeply misunderstood woman

She lived for decades under a fake identity in a Berlin apartment, but in 2024 Daniela Klette - an alleged left-wing terrorist - was captured, and this week she was convicted in a German court - we'll delve into the history and legacy of the murderous Baader-Meinhof gang Sydney says goodbye to beloved ABC broadcaster James Valentine with an all-star cast of tributes, including Jacqueline from Randwick. And the electrifying, Cuban born trumpeter Lazaro Numa shares his musical journey from Havana, via Singapore, to Adelaide. When he plays you know it's the weekend. 

Fran Kelly brings you compelling conversations on issues that challenge,entertain and inspire us. 

The Kremlin has urged foreigners in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, to leave the city now, with threats of a systematic attacks targeting ‘decision-making centres and command posts’. But diplomats in Kyiv are staying put, saying they won’t be intimidated by Russia’s threats.  As he Pope calls for a go slow on AI, environmental and community groups are also for a pause on data centre approvals in Australia, amid concerns about their electricity and water use. By one estimate, the AI infrastructure now in the pipeline will consume the same amount of power as all of Tasmania by 2030. And on the eve of his Australian tour, musician Brian Jackson pays tribute to the godfather-of-rap Gil Scott Heron. Their musical partnership, forged in the crucible of black power and civil rights activism in the seventies continues to inspire the hip-hop stars of today.  

Sorry doesn’t cut it, that’s the overwhelming message from Indigenous leaders today as the nation marks the anniversary of the apology to the stolen generations. Twenty Nine years ago Professor Mick Dodson delivered the landmark Bringing Them Home report on the plight of Stolen Generations; today he describes the government’s response to its recommendations as a ‘woeful failure’.Pope Francis has just released his first encyclical – a pastoral letter to Catholic faithful – urging humanity not to become slaves to the machine in the age of AI. The exploits of Andrew Mounbatten Windsor and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson were revealed in sordid detail by historian Andrew Lownie last year. Now, in the wake of fresh revelations and more material, Lownie is re-releasing Entitled: the Rise and Fall of the House of York.

As the world waits for an agreement between Iran and the US, another middle east peace deal is hanging by a thread. Six months on from the ceasefire in Gaza, with hundreds more civilians dead, US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace is failing in its mission to disarm Hamas and begin the reconstruction of the bombed out territory, leaving two million Palestinians stuck in limbo.  If you use the internet, you know Big Tech is harvesting your data with every click, but did you know that information is worth more than two-hundred and twenty thousand dollars over your lifetime? And with the advent of AI, human data has an even higher premium. So, is surveillance the price we pay for technology, or is there a way to take back control? A new documentary, We Are Not Powerless, screening at the Sydney Film Festival tells the story of two young Afghan refugees stranded in Indonesia but determined not to waste a moment.

He’s been exporting chaos and testing democratic norms across the world but journalist, author and podcaster Jon Sopel reckons we’re about ready to switch off from the Donald J Trump presidential psychodrama. And where do the wild horses roam? In Western Sydney apparently. DNA analysis shows that animals descended from the Przewalski horse dating back to the time of Genghis Khan are alive and well and hiding out right here in our backyard.

Australian activists from the Global Samud Flotilla detained by Israel are en route to the airport tonight after they were detained for several days for attempting to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid to the devastated territory. Also New Zealand's Finance Minister calls on Australian start ups to move across the ditch to escape the Albanese government's proposed capital gains tax changesAnd for decades the American comedians have entertained us with their hilarious and political hot-takes after dark, but tonight its curtains for one them of them - Stephen Colbert - and the US politicians breathe a sigh of relief.

For many young people, the great Australian dream is now a share portfolio, and if you believe social media these zoomers and millennials are outraged at the government’s proposed changes to capital gains tax. With home ownership out of reach for so many, are they right to feel aggrieved? And should we be cutting them some tax slack? In just over three weeks time America will become the centre of the world, hopefully for all the right reasons. Football players from a record 48 nations are descending on North America for the World Cup, but the spectre of ICE deportations, Trump’s war on Iran and exorbitant ticket prices is casting a long shadow over the tournament. She's the superhero of international correspondents, and when she steps in front of a camera with her characteristic steely calm the world takes note. Lyse Doucet has spent more than 40 years telling the stories of forgotten people in forgotten places and illuminating global events for the BBC. This month she's appearing at the Sydney Writer's Festival sharing her new book The Finest Hotel in Kabul.

It's a country wracked by violence, poverty and corruption and now a deadly strain of Ebola. Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo are scrambling to contain the virus which has already killed at least one-hundred and thirty people. Australian health company, Aspen Medical has been on the front-lines of the fight against previous Ebola outbreaks in Africa and experts Dr Katrina Sanders and Al Martin say they're ready to respond if asked. Donald Trump’s visit to China has left many in Taiwan asking whether the island could be facing a nightmare scenario where rather than being at the negotiating table, they’re in fact on the menu. William Yang, Senior Analyst for North East Asia with the International Crisis Group says President Trump takes a purely transactional view of Taiwan.   More and more doctors are using Artificial Intelligence to lighten their administrative load but when the patient says no, who gets to decide? Around 40% of Australian GP’s are now using AI to take patient notes and convert them into records, and in some instances making treatment recommendations. Dr Tom Kelly is the founder of Heidi Health one of the most popular platforms providing this service, he says patients should be able to opt out but that many protections are built into the system to ensure privacy. GP and medical technology advisor Dr Janice Tan says, as is often the case with technology, better regulation and clear guidelines are needed.   

Founders and venture capitalists say the government's proposed changes to tax concessions in last week’s budget will be a massive handbrake on the start-up sector. They’re calling on the government to back the big thinkers and risk takers. Zac Altman, CEO of Kantoko, & Shivani Gopal, founder and CEO of Elladex share their wishlist? It’s the size of a sesame seed but - if left unchecked - has the potential to wipe out half of Sydney’s tree canopy. Our favourite species up and down the east coast - Moreton Bay and Port Jackson figs, flames trees, oaks and paperbarks - are all vulnerable to this nasty little borer and scientists like Professor Brett Summerell from Sydney's Botanic Garden are sounding the alarm.  The namesake of our most prestigious literary awards, Australian feminist icon and trailblazing author Stella Miles Franklin is enjoying a cultural revival and now there's a new novel by French author Alexandra Lapierre written very much in her own words.  

The Coalition leader Angus Taylor has laid out his vision for a more prosperous Australia, with plans to end bracket creep and block permanent residents from accessing welfare and social services. Political hounds Clare Armstrong and Phil Coorey give their budget replies. Intergenerational equity was another key theme , but Angus Taylor insists its migrants not boomers who are to blame for the housing crisis. The Coalition is proposing to block access to welfare and social services for permanent residents, but just how much will this save the budget and what message does it send?The enhanced games kick off next week in Las Vegas, with a juiced up for Australian swimming champion James Magnussen leading the pack. There’s millions of dollars  and a lot of pumped up egos invested in the event but sports integrity expert Dr Catherine Ordway reckons few people will be watching. 

Filipino senators and staff were forced to run for their lives as gunshots ring out in the Manila Senate last night. The chaotic scenes were broadcast live on national television, but was it a gun fight or was it all a smoke screen aimed at protecting Senator Ronald dela Rosa, the chief enforcer of former President Rodriguez Duterte, now wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity. Never pay a ransom. It’s the cardinal rule when dealing with hackers,  but the company behind online learning platform Canvas has reportedly done a deal with cybercriminals who stole the personal details of 270 million people, including many Australian students. Cybersecurity experts like Professor Nigel Phair from Monash University say that the company could now end up on the suckers list of vulnerable targets.It's the highly curable cancer that’s killing nearly four thousand Australian men every year. Prostate cancer can be detected through a simple blood test and former Labor deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan - a survivor of the disease - is on a mission to get more men tested. 

Last year the Labor government was re-elected with an historic majority, and last night the treasurer delivered what he calls a ‘big reform’ budget, aimed at tipping the scales on tax policy to help younger Australians get onto the property ladder. For some it’s a budget betrayal that won’t do anything to improve house prices but UNSW economist Richard Holden reckons it’s a waste of a good mandate.      The shadow of the war in Iran hangs over US President Donald Trump  as he jets off to Beijing for talks with his Chinese counterpart. What might the US president be willing to sacrifice to court favour with Xi Jinping? Could it be a shift on America’s policy on Taiwan? And does Beijing now feel emboldened to follow through on its ambition for reunification?And a new collaboration between South Korean musician Sunny Kim and Ensemble Ochaye inspired by the life giving element that transcends cultures, borders and time: water.  

Gambling addiction is costing more lives than we know. This week a coronial inquest in Victoria has heard harrowing testimony of a young man who lost nearly $50,000 before taking his own life at just 22. It was stories like this that moved the late Labor MP Peta Murphy to act and today nearly three years after she delivered her review into gambling harm, the government has finally tabled its response. Reform advocates like Mark Kempster and Monash University Associate Professor Charles Livingstone, … have described their response as 'weak' and 'gutless'.Comedian, actor, political candidate and marathon runner Suzy Eddie Izzard is back in Australia with two new tours, a comedy remix and tragedy - with a one-woman performance of Hamlet. 

Anthony Albanese is going where no Labor leader has successfully gone before with the budget expected to see cuts  to negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts. But will it deliver the changes younger Australians really need and want? The march of the populists continues, with historic council elections in England, delivering Labour’s traditional heartland to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party and placing the prime ministership of Sir Keir Starmer in peril. Meanwhile One Nation hs claimed an historic victory in the blue ribbon liberal seat of Farrer. Is this the end of two party dominance? 

Sunday is Mother’s Day — a tradition wrapped in flowers, cards, and a very neat idea of what motherhood is. But in reality motherhood is an experience shaped by history, circumstance, and the stories families tell, and keep hidden. In their new memoirs, journalists Cynthia Banham and Sheryle Bagwell exploring the secrets, absences and complicated bonds that define the sacred connection between mother and child. Not many people get to live on planet earth for a century and few people have seen as much of it as broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough.The great narrator and defender of our natural world is 100 years old today. His friend and collaborator Australian cinematographer Chadden Hunter says he's as generous and entertaining off camera as he is on it. 

We may not know the details yet but the Prime Minister and Treasurer have made their intentions clear; this year’s budget is aimed at giving younger voters a fair crack. So what will that mean for older investors and will the changes go far enough? This time last year many of us thought the Australian Pavilion would sit empty during the famous art biennale after artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino were cancelled by Creative Australia. Now the dynamic duo are getting ready to share their installations with the world.