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Could Japan get its own Thatcher this week?

12 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A former heavy metal drummer who cites Margaret Thatcher as an influence, Sanae Takaichi could make history this week if chosen to become Japan’s fi...

Will the Gaza ceasefire hold?

10 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Following months of negotiations, Israel and Hamas have agreed on the first phase of a 20-point “peace plan” to end the war in Gaza. Nour Haydar s...

Newsroom edition: One Nation and the rise of the populist right

09 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Recent opinion polls indicate support for the populist right party One Nation has doubled since the last election. Around the globe, far-right politic...

Who will take the trophy in bird of the year 2025?

08 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Over the coming week, hundreds of thousands of Australians will cast their vote in an election unlike any other. In the fifth bird of the year competi...

The 'civil war' brewing within the Liberal party

07 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s Senate estimates week in Canberra but all eyes are on Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, the former SAS soldier with leadership aspirations. Nour Haydar...

What happens when you stop weight-loss jabs?

06 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Science editor Ian Sample talks through the dilemma facing more than a million people in the UK as the cost of the jabs jumps

Shadi Khan Saif: the Taliban’s war on the internet

05 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Last week for 48 hours, and without any warning, Afghanistan was in a total internet blackout. It was a telecommunications shutdown imposed by the Tal...

When did the US supreme court become so ‘lawless’?

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The US supreme court starts a new term on Monday, and the nine justices are preparing to take on cases that could prove crucial to the future of Ameri...

Newsroom edition: the battle to regulate AI

02 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tech companies are asking the government to allow them to effectively steal the work of creatives and journalists to train their AI large language mod...

Is the Trump plan for Gaza designed to fail?

01 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On Monday, Donald Trump and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stood together as they unveiled their plan to end the war in Gaza. But it w...

Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case reaches the end of the road

30 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After seven years, the Ben Roberts-Smith v Nine newspapers defamation case is finally over, with the high court dismissing his bid for an appeal again...

Andrew Hastie and the rise of the ‘Maga right’

29 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Liberal MP Andrew Hastie’s hardline rhetoric on migration and manufacturing have led many to question whether the opposition frontbencher plans to p...

Paracetamol and Donald Trump’s medical myths

28 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When the US president stood up at the podium and announced a link between autism and paracetamol, he sent alarm through the medical community and the ...

Back to Back Barries: Palestine, Hastie and the rise of influencers

26 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In their penultimate episode for the year, Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry unpack an eventful week at the UN and look at how Australia is dealing with a...

Newsroom edition: Trump’s war on truth reverberates in Australia

25 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Anthony Albanese was at the United Nations this week, taking to the stage to call for unity in times of global conflict. But the headlines were domina...

The Race Discrimination Commissioner on the rise of the far right

24 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The race discrimination commissioner, Giri Sivaraman, speaks to Nour Haydar about the recent spate of anti-immigration rallies, how he is ‘attacked ...

Optus under fire for triple-zero failure

23 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On Thursday, Optus users across four states attempted to call for help – but they couldn’t get through. The 13-hour outage has been linked to thre...

Albanese formally recognises Palestine at the UN

22 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On Monday, standing outside the UN headquarters in the US, Anthony Albanese announced Australia’s formal recognition of Palestine as a sovereign and...

Why some netballers are turning their backs on the sport

21 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Netball is the highest-participation sport for women and girls in Australia, but with only a handful of spots available in the Super Netball – the w...

Matt Kean on Australia’s future in a climate crisis

20 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Albanese government has put a number on its climate ambition: a target of a 62-70% emissions cut compared to 2005 levels. It comes after the relea...

Back to Back Barries: Trump, climate targets and a turn to One Nation

19 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry examine the politics of climate policy after Anthony Albanese revealed Australia’s 2035 emissions target. They also di...

Newsroom edition: Albanese gears up for a tricky Trump test

18 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week Anthony Albanese left the comforts of his high approval rating at home to land in the Pacific, hoping to sign historic defence agreements wi...

Reunited after a decade: the 60 Minutes child retrieval saga

17 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 2016, Australian mother Sally Faulkner made global headlines after a botched attempt at retrieving her children from her ex-husband in Lebanon. Now...

How the killing of Charlie Kirk became a tool for division

16 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Trump administration has vowed to take vengeance after the killing of far-right commentator Charlie Kirk. Twenty-two-year-old Tyler Robinson is ac...

Sea level rise and soaring heat deaths: will climate action match the risks?

15 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The national climate risk assessment has painted a challenging and confronting view of the future for Australia under global heating. Anthony Albanese...

Who’s responsible for our plastic problem?

14 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Many had hoped that a global UN plastics treaty would finally curb pollution. But last month talks between representatives from more than 180 countrie...

Back to Back Barries: does the Coalition have the will to win?

12 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry unpack another bad week for the Coalition after Sussan Ley sacked senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price from the shadow cabin...

Newsroom edition: is Coalition chaos making life easier for Albanese?

11 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After a week of infighting, Sussan Ley was left with no other choice but to sack controversial conservative Jactina Nampijinpa Price. As Price and her...

How New Zealand police closed in on fugitive Tom Phillips

10 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On Monday, four years on from taking his three children and fleeing into the bush, Tom Phillips was shot dead by police after opening fire on an offic...

The Liberals’ Jacinta Nampijinpa Price problem

09 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, is in crisis control after senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price falsely claimed that Labor is letting in large numbers of ...

Nino Bucci on the sentencing of Erin Patterson

08 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Erin Patterson has been sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 33 years after murdering three people and attempting to murder a fourt...

Has Trump succeeded in normalising American autocracy?

07 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s been more than 200 days since Donald Trump’s return to power, and many have been left asking: are we seeing authoritarianism normalised in th...

Back to Back Barries: divisive debates and Dan Andrews

05 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry discuss this week’s immigration debate and why politicians from all sides need to speak up strongly on the benefits of...

Newsroom edition: covering the far right without amplifying hate

04 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The violent and confronting scenes that took place at anti-immigration rallies across the country last weekend continue to reverberate throughout Aust...

Xi, Putin, Kim and a big parade: are we seeing a new world order?

03 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tens of thousands of spectators packed the stands to witness Xi Jinping’s military parade marking 80 years since the defeat of Japan in the second w...

Anti-immigration rallies and the rise of neo-Nazis

02 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Thousands attended the ‘March for Australia’ anti-immigration rallies around the country on the weekend. Among those there were neo-Nazi groups an...

Australia's 'secret' deportation deal with Nauru

01 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On Friday, the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, released a six-line statement announcing a new deal struck with Nauru. The deal allows the governmen...

Is it depression or an iron deficiency?

31 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Treating an iron deficiency can be elusive and frustrating. That’s particularly true for women who may have been misdiagnosed with depression and ot...

Back to Back Barries: can the Coalition find a circuit breaker?

28 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry discuss the expulsion of Australia’s Iranian ambassador and Anthony Albanese’s plan to help first home buyers. They ...

The manhunt in Porepunkah continues

27 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Since Tuesday morning, police have been searching for Dezi Freeman, a so-called ‘sovereign citizen’. Police say he has fled into bushland after th...

Iran blamed for antisemtic attacks in Australia

26 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Iran directed at least two attacks against Australia’s Jewish community, the domestic spy agency has determined, prompting the Albanese government t...

Kmart faces legal action in Australia over potential forced labour links

25 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this month an Australian-based Uyghur group launched legal action against Kmart in the federal court. The case has put the retailer’s supply...

Why the Australian gun lobby says it’s ‘winning’

24 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Australia’s gun laws are often called the gold standard for community safety, but almost 30 years on from the Port Arthur massacre that led to decis...

Back to Back Barries: roundtable reforms, and diplomatic rows

22 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Barrie Cassidy, Tony Barry, and George Megalogenis discuss how productive the economic roundtable in Canberra was this week, and which ideas the gover...

Newsroom edition: Netanyahu attacks the Albanese government

21 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has launched a diplomatic attack against his Australian counterpart – calling Anthony Albanese ‘a ...

Can the government keep kids safe in childcare?

20 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Calls for childcare reforms have become louder since revelations surfaced of multiple sexual abuse charges laid against a Victorian worker. Federal an...

Zelenskyy suits up for peace but can Trump deliver?

19 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Six months on from their explosive meeting in the White House, Volodymyr Zelenksyy once again met with the US president, Donald Trump, in Washington. ...

Labor go looking for an economic legacy

18 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As Labor’s much-hyped economic summit begins, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, say they want to hear big ideas...

How doomsday prepping went mainstream

17 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It used to be a view held by a secretive few on the fringes of society, but preparing for disaster has now grown in popularity, with many believing ha...

Back to Back Barries: the tricky politics of a treasurer-PM relationship

15 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ahead of next week’s productivity roundtable, Tony Barry and George Megalogenis examine how Jim Chalmers and Anthony Albanese work together and comp...

Newsroom edition: can Labor jumpstart the economy?

14 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Next week – just over 100 hundred days into its second term – the Albanese government will bring together business leaders, unions and interest gr...

Al Jazeera’s managing editor on Israel’s killing of journalists in Gaza

13 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif was on air until Sunday, when the 28-year-old correspondent was killed along with five other journalists in a targeted s...

Will Trump and Putin decide the future of Ukraine

12 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will meet on Friday in Alaska for a high-stakes summit on the Ukraine war. But the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zele...

Australia’s plan to recognise Palestine

11 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has confirmed his government will join other allies to formally recognise Palestinian statehood. Guardian Austra...

Why doesn’t Adani pay any corporate tax?

10 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When Adani first sought government approval for its Carmichael coalmine in Queensland, a major selling point was the company’s pledge to deliver $22...

Back to Back Barries: is Trump the new Xi Jinping?

08 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tony Barry and George Megalogenis (filling in for Barrie Cassidy) discuss Donald Trump’s sacking of his chief statistician over unflattering job fig...

What the mushroom murders trial jury wasn’t told

08 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On Friday, an interim suppression order prohibiting Australian media from reporting on any evidentiary rulings made in pre-trial hearings and during E...

One doctor’s hopes to rebuild Gaza’s health system

08 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Palestinian paediatrician Abdalkarim Alharazin has seen more suffering and death than most over his time as a junior doctor on Gaza’s frontlines. Am...

Newsroom edition: the politics of the Sydney Harbour Bridge protest

07 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Hundreds of thousands of people marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on the weekend to protest against the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza....

Can Trump be shamed into supporting human rights?

06 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After three decades at the helm of Human Rights Watch, the former executive director Kenneth Roth has written a memoir about his time campaigning agai...

The Descendants: the search for Tom Wills

05 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For some years there have been suggestions that in the 1860s Tom Wills, Australia’s first sports hero and a founder of Australian rules football, ma...

Is Australia a conspiracy theory nation?

04 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Conspiracy theories and fringe ideas are now increasingly a visible part of Australian politics and public life. But what pushes people to abandon our...

The Descendants: decoding a massacre

03 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Colonial pastoralist Major Logue is a figure of note in the city of Geraldton, Western Australia. But his diaries, written partly in code, reveal a da...

Back to Back Barries: does Albanese care more about polls or Palestine?

01 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry examine Labor and Liberal positions on recognising Palestine and ask: will the prime minister change Australia’s posit...

Newsroom edition: when will Australia recognise Palestine?

31 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On Wednesday, Australia joined 14 other countries to describe the recognition of Palestine as ‘an essential step towards the two-state solution’, ...

Could Murdoch bring down Trump?

30 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein is the story that won’t go away. Most recently, the Wall Street Journal reported about a letter they claim was wri...

Why do we age in dramatic bursts, and what can we do about it?

30 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Scientists are beginning to understand that ageing is not a simply linear process. Instead, recent research appears to show that we age in three accel...

Why the Australian Greens expelled their cofounder

29 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this month the Greens officially terminated the membership of one of its founders. Drew Hutton, the expelled member, criticised the party as ‘...

Is this the tipping point in Gaza?

28 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After days of international pressure, Israel has agreed to increase the amount of aid going into Gaza. It follows last week’s pictures coming out of...

Is Trump building a political dynasty?

27 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Politics Weekly America, author Gwenda Blair and reporters Rosie Gray and Ashley Parker introduce us to the family members who help...

Back to Back Barries: is the Liberal-National Coalition a ‘sham marriage’?

25 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry examine the return of federal parliament, the net zero debate and why Latham’s portrait is still on display in the Lab...

Newsroom edition: the real net zero questions do not involve the Coalition

24 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Evidence shows urgent action is needed to prevent the climate crisis from worsening but political will is waning. As the Coalition takes the debate ba...

The many controversies of Mark Latham

23 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Mark Latham came close to becoming an Australian prime minister, but it’s very different headlines being made now. After a career of controversy, th...

What’s behind the cancelling of Stephen Colbert?

22 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Late Show on CBS will come to an end next year after a 33-year run. The news came just days after the TV host referred to a $16m settlement betwee...

A new parliament, but is it new politics?

21 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As Australia’s federal parliament resumes, Reged Ahmad speaks to chief political correspondent Tom McIlroy and political reporter Krishani Dhanji ab...

Why the Texas floods are fuelling far-right conspiracy theories

20 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The floods in Texas earlier this month swept away entire homes and holiday camps, claiming more than 130 lives. As authorities try to piece together h...

Back to Back Barries: Does Albanese need to choose China over Trump?

18 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry examine the optics of the prime minister’s lengthy visit to China. They also return to the fallout from Jillian Segal’...

Trump goes to war with Maga over Epstein files

18 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump really wants people to stop talking about Jeffrey Epstein, but his Maga base, including some prominent commentators such as Laura Loomer,...

Newsroom edition: why is Jim Chalmers listening to Ezra Klein?

17 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Canberra there’s one book you must at least pretend to have read by the time parliament returns: Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. In r...

Will this weekend’s election end the political chaos in Tasmania?

16 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This Saturday, Tasmanians will go to the polls again. The state election is the fourth in just over seven years, and many are hoping it will finally p...

How the BBC got into a mess over Gaza

16 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After mounting criticism over its coverage of the war in Gaza, will the BBC change its approach?

When Albanese met Xi

15 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Anthony Albanese met Xi Jinping for the second time in Beijing on Tuesday. Prior to the meeting, in remarks open to the media, both leaders talked abo...

Jim Chalmers on uncertainty and ambition

15 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Treasurer Jim Chalmers tells Guardian Australia chief political correspondent Tom McIlroy one of his key measures of success in the future is making A...

The controversy over Jillian Segal’s antisemitism plan

14 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The federal government’s special envoy to combat antisemitism, Jillian Segal, has released a report that recommends 49 key actions to stamp out abus...

South Australia’s algae bloom crisis

13 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

South Australia’s coastline is battling a toxic algal bloom. Rising sea temperatures and a lack of action about the unfolding catastrophe have left ...

Back to Back Barries: could the antisemitism plan be used to silence dissent?

11 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barrie unpack the plan handed to the federal government this week to combat antisemitism. They also look at Trump’s threat t...

Newsroom edition: the mushroom trial media frenzy

10 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week the jury in Erin Patterson’s months-long triple-murder trial returned a verdict of guilty on all charges. But rather than draw a line unde...

Kumanjayi Walker inquest findings: racism, reform and reckoning

09 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Six years on from the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker and a murder trial that found former NT police officer Zachary Rolfe not guilty o...

What can be done to make childcare safer?

08 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A week after it was revealed that a Melbourne childcare worker had been charged with sexual abuse offences relating to multiple children, scrutiny of ...

Trump’s big beautiful betrayal

08 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ed Pilkington explains the US president’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ and what it will mean for millions of poorer Americans who voted for him last Nov...

Mushroom trial: Erin Patterson found guilty

07 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A jury has found Erin Patterson guilty of murdering three relatives and attempting to murder a fourth with a deadly beef wellington lunch almost two y...

Japan’s rice crisis

06 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Home-grown rice is a key part of Japanese culture, identity and politics, dating back thousands of years. So much so that any disruption can spark a w...

Back to Back Barries: do Labor voters have buyer’s remorse?

04 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry take a look at Anthony Albanese’s support of Donald Trump’s bombing of Iran and ask: will the US - Australia relatio...

Guilty ... and not guilty: understanding the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs verdict

04 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The rapper faced charges often levied at mafia bosses. Anna Betts explains what the jury heard, and Andrew Lawrence tells Nosheen Iqbal what the verdi...

Newsroom edition: the perils of covering extreme weather during the climate crisis

03 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week headlines warned of a ‘bomb cyclone’ forming on the Australian east coast. However, the Bureau of Meteorology has stopped short of using...

Bougainville’s rocky path to independence

02 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 2019, the people of Bougainville overwhelmingly voted in favour of independence. Once controlled by Britain, Germany, Japan, Australia and Papua Ne...

The Melbourne childcare sexual abuse charges: what we know so far

02 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The childcare sector has come under intense scrutiny in the wake of a Victorian worker being charged with dozens of child sexual abuse offences. While...

Does the Liberal party need to change its values to survive?

01 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, is in a battle to raise the Liberal party from the electoral ashes and remake it into something that can win again....

What does Zohran Mamdani’s triumph tell the Democrats?

30 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

He is now the Democratic candidate for the New York City mayoral race. After running a highly successful and viral campaign culminating in him defeati...

The thrift stores dividing Australian shoppers

29 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As the cost-of-living crisis takes hold, more people are turning to op shops for secondhand clothes. Among the thrift shops is Savers, a US for-profit...