The Morning Edition

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faces tricky terrain with the government lifting a ban on US beef imports to Australia this week, leaving him open to suggestions he has capitulated to pressure from Donald Trump. We also witnessed a democratic festival in the form of the opening of the new parliament, with former foes Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack putting differences aside to attack the government's 2035 emissions reduction target. Soon, the PM will have to decide on the interm emissions target. Some big companies want him to go hard, while others urge a slower approach to the green energy transition. Now that the US has pulled out of the Paris Agreement altogether, what will Albanese do? Today, Chief Political Correspondent Paul Sakkal joins host Jacqueline Maley.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A showdown looms between two of the world's most powerful men, Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch, with the American president suing the media mogul for a whopping $10 billion. Front and centre of the case is Trump's connection to the late sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, an issue that has become so divisive lately that it threatens to tear the MAGA movement apart and destabilise the president's leadership.  Today, international and political editor Peter Hatcher discusses what one of Trump's most loyal supporters, Steve Bannon, told him about the biggest controversy to hit Trump's second stint in the White House.   Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You may be like half of all Australians who now take a multivitamin, to improve their health. But are they safe?  Melbourne dad Dominic Noonan-O’Keefe had no reason to think the multivitamin he took recently, to boost his energy, would be anything but. And then, one day, he sat at his desk and felt like his brain was exploding. Today, health reporter Angus Thomson on the hundreds of Australians who’ve joined a class action investigation against wellness giant Blackmores. And the Australians who are unintentionally poisoning themselves with over-the-counter supplements. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More Australians are turning towards using in-vitro fertilisations to have babies, every year. Often it's done through regulated IVF clinic, but sometimes parents - desperate for a child - search for a sperm donor on social media. But as this extraordinary case shows, there can be many more risks associated with - as one lawyer put it - the ‘wild west’ - of online sperm donation. Today, senior reporter Henrietta Cook on the case of a Melbourne man who fathered 27 children, and the fall-out after the women he donated to found each other.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

East Jerusalem is one of the most contested pieces of land in the Middle East. International law says it is an occupied Palestinian Territory. Israel claims it is an essential part of the Jewish state. But for the Palestinians and Jewish people who live in East Jerusalem, side by side, it’s often a daily struggle to feel safe. If not physically, then psychologically. And since the war in Gaza began nearly two years ago, an increasing number of Palestinians have been evicted from their homes there. Today, foreign affairs and national security correspondent, Matthew Knott, on the battle for statehood that is being fought in this area, house by house. And the Australian-Israeli man who’s at the centre of it all.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, here we are, a new term of parliament begins next week. There’ll be fresh faces and, hopefully, fresh ideas.So will the government use its massive majority to press ahead with major reforms in housing, or tax, and how will opposition leader Sussan Ley and her team rebuild their battered party?Before we get to that, the news this week has been dominated by Anthony Albanese’s trip to China, which has been full of stage-managed warmth. But with our very own Paul Sakkal away travelling with the PM, and our host Jacqueline Maley on a book tour, we have acting political editor Nick Bonyhady in the chair with special guests: Nine’s political editor Charles Croucher and CBD columnist Kishor Napier-Raman.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been in China this week, a picture of warmth as he shook hands with Chinese president Xi Jinping.  But there’s a lot happening behind these carefully stage-managed moments. As one commentator put it: “The tightrope along which [Australia’s] been walking between the U.S. and China - just got pulled tighter at both ends.” Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher, on how Anthony Albanese is balancing his desire to ink more trade deals with Xi Jinping, while facing pressure from the United States, to fight against China.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One time high court justice Dyson Heydon and famed neurosurgeon Charlie Teo once held the futures of countless people in their hands.But then came their downfall.As one lawyer put of Dyson Heydon, after a high court inquiry in 2020 found that he had sexually harassed six young female associates, “At the same time he was dispensing justice in the highest court in Australia’s legal system, he was [engaged in] sexual harassment.”And Charlie Teo? Two years after being found guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct - for, among other charges, taking financial advantage of a vulnerable patient - he was reduced to performing surgery overseas.So what, then, to make of their so-called reputation rehabilitation tours?Today, CBD columnist Kishor Napier-Raman, on the continued celebration of these men, in some of the most privileged circles in Australia.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some have hailed it as a dangerous document that could restrict our freedom of speech. Others have celebrated it, saying it will lead to protections that are overdue for a community that has long been battered by prejudice. We are, of course, talking about the report that Jillian Segal, the special envoy to combat antisemitism, handed to prime minister Anthony Albanese last week. But what changes, if any, will our government implement from amongst Segal’s recommendations? And does she have any power, herself?  Today, deputy federal editor Nick Bonyhady, and federal politics reporter Olivia Ireland, join me to discuss all of this. And what we should make of the sizeable donation that Segal’s husband has made to a right wing lobby group. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We know that air flight is - for the most part - extraordinarily safe. On any given day, about 100,000 flights take off and land, safely, across the globe.  The air tragedies that do make the front page news, like Malaysia Airlines’ MH17 flight, which was shot down by a Russian-made missile in 2014, are exceedingly rare. But unbeknownst to most of us, many pilots experience difficulties with their GPS signals. And, these difficulties are reportedly increasing.  Today, senior reporter Chris Zappone, on this persistent, but relatively under-reported problem that pilots face so regularly. And how much of a threat it is to our safety.     You can find Chris' story on The Age and Sydney Morning Herald websites here: https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/how-a-confusing-cockpit-snippet-invited-doubt-over-the-air-india-crash-investigation-20250713-p5mejl.htmlSubscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.