Agenda-setting news coverage, breaking news and stories impacting the lives of all Australians.

In Sydney, the golden sands on some of the city's beaches are blanketed in seaweed, and lots of it.  It comes as much of southern and eastern Australia will be baking hot, subjected to temperatures soaring as much as 15 degrees above the average. For some, the Sydney seaweed is an eyesore, for others a rich ecosystem.

It's all aboard the Elvis express, as thousands of Elvis fans and tribute artists make make their way to the annual festival centred on the King of rock'n'roll in Parkes, in Central New South Wales. The pilgrimage holds a seminal moment for Maria Phillips, now known as the Platinum Elvis. 

Australian author, broadcaster and comedian Mikey Robins shares his summer reading list with Barbara Miller. Currently reading: Metamorphoses, Ovid (translated by Stephanie McCarter) The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen  2025 reads: The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald 1984, George Orwell The Quiet American, Grahame Greene Gargantua, François Rabelais The Belljar, Sylvia Plath The Odyssey, Homer Mice and Men, John Steinbeck Meditations, Marcus Aurelius The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky Ulysses, James Joyce  The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf The Leopard, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa To read list:  Works by Ralph Ellison

European leaders have rallied behind Denmark and Greenland, after renewed and emphatic statements by US President Donald Trump that he is intent on taking control of Greenland... an autonomous territory of Denmark.  Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that any US attempt to take control of Greenland would effectively spell the end of NATO.  Guest: Jamie Shea, former NATO official, and now a Professor of Strategy and Security at the University of Exeter Producer: Anne Barker  

Sources within the Federal Government say the Prime Minister is preparing for a possible backflip on calling a Royal Commission into the Bondi terror attack.  Samantha Maiden was the first to report the story with the government indicating it doesn't want to oppose the sentiment of the victims of the tragedy.   

Federal parliament could be recalled in the next fortnight, as the government furiously drafting legislative changes to gun laws, hate speech and visa restrictions. Independent MP Allegra Spender wants the government to criminalise speech that could incite violence - and protect discriminated communities beyond Jewish Australians. Guest: Allegra Spender, independent MP for Wentworth Producer: Jason Whittaker

Queenslanders are bracing for more wild weather this week. Floodwaters have already isolated regions further west, with primary producers reporting more than 19,000 head of livestock are missing or dead. Yesterday, the state and federal governments announced an additional $38 million in disaster recovery funding. Guest: Kristy McBain, Minister for Regional Development and Emergency Management Producer: Jason Whittaker

Amy Sherwin could be the most famous Tasmanian you've never heard of... but a memorial project led by former Greens leader Dr Bob Brown aims to change that. Her remarkable rags-to-riches story unfolds in the 19th century, when a girl from the bush became Australia's first global opera star... known as the "Tasmanian Nightingale."  Guest: Dr Bob Brown, President of the Amy Sherwin Fund and former leader of the Greens  Producer: Eddy Diamond 

For some time now, health experts and advocacy groups have been pushing for junk food ads to be banned in Australia. Well now the UK has done just that...  prohibiting before 9pm TV and all online ads for high-fat, salt and sugar products in a bid to tackle childhood obesity. Guest: Dr Duane Mellor, dietitian and science communicator at Aston Medical School in the UK Producer: Eddy Diamond

Elon Musk's AI tool Grok is facing a growing global backlash over the generation of non-consensual and sexualised deepfake images of women and children by a feature called 'spicy mode'.     Australia's eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant says they're investigating a number of complaints about the Chatbot... whilst the EU's digital affairs spokesperson has said "This is not spicy. This is illegal. This is appalling."  Guest: Mike Isaac, technology reporter for the New York Times Producer: Oscar Coleman

Israel's military has approved the use of electronic bracelets in the West Bank, as it looks for new ways to rein in violent attacks by Jewish settlers.  The move follows advice from Israel's domestic security agency, and is being presented as an alternative to administrative detention, which the government no longer applies to Israelis Guest: Yonah Jeremy Bob, senior military correspondent and intelligence analyst at the Jerusalem Post Producer: Anne Barker

"Sounds good to me," Donald Trump said when asked whether there might be US action in Colombia to remove its leader Gustavo Petro... who has since retorted "come get me." Colombia is one of several countries-- including Cuba-- potentially in an apparently emboldened US president's sights, following the capture of the Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Guest: Jon Bonfiglio, a Latin American correspondent based in Mexico Producer: Pip Cook

Coverage and analysis of national and international events.

The Rufous  scrub-bird is one of the world's oldest surviving species of songbirds. The tiny endangered birds can only be found in isolated rainforest areas of south-eastern Australia, but scientists warn another bad fire season could wipe them out. Guest: Dr Brian Hawkins, senior threatened species officer at the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water Producer: Pip Cook

The new year brings with it the start of Hollywood's annual awards season, where filmmakers and stars walk red carpets, give earnest speeches... its all leading up to the Oscars in mid-March. Yesterday, it was the Critics Choice Awards, which went to some frontrunners in the Oscars race. Guest: Wenlei Ma, culture editor of The Nightly Producer: Flint Duxfield

Reverend Bill Crews, founder of The Reverend Bill Crews Foundation, shares his summer reading list with Barbara Miller. Summer list:  The Fabric of the Cosmos, Brian Greene Abundance, Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson  The works of Thomas Merton

Australia's red and yellow beach flags are one of the most recognisable symbols of surf safety in the world... but new research suggests they can also be dangerously confusing, particularly for tourists, migrants, and infrequent beachgoers. The debate has taken on new urgency, with a series of drowning deaths already recorded in Australia in the opening days of 2026. Guest: Dr Masaki Shibata, drowning prevention researcher in intercultural studies at Monash University Producer: Jessica Lukjanow 

They were billed as the solution to escalating rates of serious crime, but Victoria's tougher bail laws- introduced in July last year- are straining the Magistrates' Court and leaving more criminal cases unresolved, according to Court Services Victoria. New data from the independent body shows case finalisations are 7.6 per cent lower than expected, while the average cost per criminal case has jumped by almost by almost a fifth. Guest: Dr Louis Shetzer, national legal research and policy co-ordinator Justice Reform Shelter Producer: Eddy Diamond 

Flooding in North Queensland will lead to significant livestock losses in the cattle industry, but there's hope they won't be as significant as the 2019 floods, which killed an estimated 450,000 head of cattle. It comes at a time when producers and processors need to navigate a new export hurdle into China