Chas Licciardello

Hey, it's Chris Spear with you.

Welcome to The Briefing.

This year's midterm elections in the US could be about more than who ends up controlling the Congress, but also could have major consequences for democracy as a whole.

We explain everything you need to know about the US midterm elections, why they matter, and what could happen in the second half of this episode.

Firstly, let's get into the headlines with Sacha Barbagat on Tuesday, the 2nd of June.

But Donald Trump is telling a very different story.

Posting to Truth Social early this morning, he says talks are continuing at a rapid pace and that after a call with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel has agreed to halt any attacks against Hezbollah and that no Israeli troop will be entering Beirut and any that already have, have been turned back.

The US president also claims to have spoken with Hezbollah via representatives, saying the group has committed to stopping its attacks on Israel.

Back home now and former Labor Environment Minister Peter Garrett has been named to head up an independent inquiry into the Orcas Pact.

A group of Labor veterans and public figures is behind the move with concerns the $368 billion defence plan is not in Australia's best interest.

Garrett, also the frontman of iconic Aussie band Midnight Oil, will be the lead commissioner on the community-based investigation, which is set to last five months.

Yeah, well, I mean, we do know that both Labor and the coalition back AUKUS in all the way.

I mean, the circumstances of how we got here, way too storied and complex to get into in these headlines.

We know that the coalition are backing this 100%.

We know that Labor's backing it 100%.

I don't think a community-led review is going to change anyone's mind here.

Australia has just hit its highest number of billionaires on record with their total wealth now exceeding $686 billion.

And that's according to new analysis by Oxfam.

17 more people became billionaires in the last year in Australia.

So now we've got 178 of them with the newcomers including property developers, an AI platform founder, mining boss and fashion label founders.