ABC News Daily

Michigan is shaping up as one of the biggest battlegrounds in the US midterm elections. So much so that both Donald Trump and Barack Obama have hit the campaign trail there.  The Senate race is a contest between progressive Abdul El-Sayed and conservative Republican Mike Rogers, with race and religion emerging as key fault lines.  Today, Margaret Talev, director of the Institute for Democracy, Jou...

Israelis came out in record numbers to vote but as the polls closed it was too close to call.   Although that didn't stop Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rival Gadi Eisenkot both claiming success.   Today, Dov Waxman, presidential chair in modern Jewish studies at UCLA on what happens next, the surge in support for Arab parties and whether Netanyahu could still cling to power.     ...

Is Donald Trump about restart the fighting with Iran?   Ahead of the midterm elections next week, the US President has been raising the prospect of renewed attacks that could begin after Americans vote.   Today, Cole Bucy, former CIA analyst and former director for Iran at the US National Security Council on why Trump might have little option but to escalate the conflict. Featured:   Cole Bucy, fo...

Did you know we are in the midst of a new 'woke' era? It's being dubbed 'Woke 2.0' and unlike 'Woke 1', it's thought to be winning over voters for the Democrats ahead of next week's midterm election. Today, staff writer at the Atlantic magazine, Jonathan Chait on what he believes woke is and why campaigning against it won't win Trump any votes this time. Featured: Johnathan Chait, staff writer at...

Unemployment is on the rise, interest rates are up, the price of fuel is soaring and everything just costs more.   Recent polling shows voters are blaming the Prime Minister and his Treasurer for the tough times with their popularity rating taking a dive. Today, senior economic correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Shane Wright on how the governments losing control of the cost-o...

It’s been a fortnight of extraordinary setbacks for US relations with Ukraine.  Donald Trump has struck a deal to buy Russian diesel, delivering a financial boost to Vladimir Putin’s war effort, he briefly interrupted intelligence sharing with Ukraine, while his special envoy Steve Witkoff has praised Putin as a 'humanitarian.'  Today, CNN's chief national security analyst, Jim Sciutto on what Tru...

Brendan Nugent, the 43-year-old Victorian man accused of ramming his LandCruiser into Independent MP Helen Haines, has appeared in court today on five charges.  Authorities say they are still working to determine an alleged motive.   The incident has opened a fierce debate about the safety of politicians and worsening political discourse.  So, will the tragedy change anything?   Today political co...

On Monday afternoon, Victorian man Brendan Nugent, 43, allegedly used a white Toyota LandCruiser to strike independent MP Helen Haines twice.   The 65-year-old member for Indi in regional Victoria is in critical condition with devastating injuries. The Prime Minister says it was a deliberate act.   Today, 7.30 political editor Jacob Greber on what we know and why the alleged attack is a wake-up ca...

From a press secretary who lasted just five days to a dramatic pivot to Putin, Donald Trump has unleashed a fresh wave of chaos inside the White House.  So, with the US midterms looming, is he still holding out for a so-called 'October surprise' that could turn things around.  Today, staff writer at The Atlantic, David A. Graham on a woeful past week for the US President and whether voters are sim...

They've been fired, demoted, and even offered sham redundancies.  Decades after the Sex Discrimination Act was introduced, women across the country say they're being pushed out of the workforce for having kids under laws that haven't kept up with the demands of modern parenting.  Today, Avani Dias on her Four Corners investigation into the tactics being used by employers and the laws failing mothe...

It was meant to be the biggest ASX listing since the privatisation of Telstra, but last week the initial public offering for Firmus was dramatically pulled before a single share was traded.  The co-founder of the AI startup, Oliver Curtis has since lashed out - blaming Australians for failing to support people prepared to take a risk.     Today, columnist at the Australian Financial Review Mark Di...

The US president says he’s still deciding whether to livestream the execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 unarmed US soldiers in a 2009 shooting.   It comes as Tennessee officials grapple with the aftermath of the botched execution of death row inmate Christa Pike last month.   Today, law and capital punishment expert, Austin Sarat, on what these two cases say about the future of...

The US President has eased sanctions on the Kremlin, clearing the way for a lucrative deal to import Russian diesel. Trump says the move will help bring down fuel prices for Americans, as rising living costs weigh on his standing in the polls ahead of the midterm elections. But for Ukrainians, the deal is a bitter betrayal. Today, Russian foreign policy expert Matthew Sussex from Deakin University...

With the military campaign failing to force Iran to backdown, Donald Trump has been turning up the economic pressure, hoping to cripple the country’s economy and force an end to the war.   But despite Iran’s currency plunging to record lows, the regime is showing little sign of capitulating.   Today, an expert on Iran’s economy Djavad Salehi-Isfahani on how long the regime and the Iranian people c...

In the United States, they’re calling it the 'Mamdani effect' - a surge in support for democratic socialist candidates. And here, the Greens are hoping for their own Zohran Mamdani moment, with the party’s think tank pitching an Australian version of the New York mayor’s plan for publicly owned supermarkets.  Today columnist, author and academic Waleed Aly on whether the Greens have found a winnin...

An electric car is now being sold every 100 seconds, with sales roughly doubling in the second quarter of this year and outstripping petrol and diesel cars for the first time in August. But as motorists look to escape soaring fuel costs, partly due to the Iran war, do we have the chargers needed to sustain the rapid surge?   Today, ABC energy reporter Daniel Mercer on the plans for a mass rollout...

In the US, the case has ignited a national debate over consent, with some asking whether this could be a new #MeToo moment.  At Cornell University, protests have erupted after a woman identified as Jane Doe alleged she was sexually assaulted by seven male students who belonged to a campus fraternity.  Today, New York Times journalist Hurubie Meko takes us through the case, and we speak to Chanel C...

Donald Trump has told voters to ‘pretend’ he is on the ballot at the midterm elections which are now less than a month away.   But that’s not useful for some Republican candidates who’ve been trying to distance themselves from the President, given his declining polling numbers.   Today, staff writer at the Atlantic magazine, David A. Graham on whether there’ll be a blue wave come November with the...

A plan for a data centre metres from homes and a school in Lane Cove has been shelved after residents of the Sydney suburb fought back and won.   But it’s just one proposal among many, as demand for AI drives a boom in data centre construction across Australia.   Today, we hear from a Lane Cove resident, and ask the ABC’s national AI reporter Cam Wilson just how many data centres we could end up w...

Donald Trump says the US is in an AI race against China and he doesn’t want regulation that would risk American dominance.   But Beijing is taking a very different approach with the Chinese Communist Party exerting tight control over the sector.  Today, Alvin Wang Graylin from Stanford’s Human-centered AI institute on what that means for which country is best place to stop AI going rogue.  Feature...

A flydubai flight travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv has turned into a terrifying high-altitude struggle when one of the pilots was attacked in the cockpit by his co-pilot.  Passengers were fighting to help crew regain control of the plane as it plunged 17,000 feet before making an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.  Today, counterterrorism expert Greg Barton on what we know about this mid-air atta...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing renewed political scrutiny after media investigations reported that he and his government were warned about an impending large-scale Hamas attack before October 7.  The reports say Egypt’s former intelligence chief travelled to Jerusalem days before the attack to issue a warning, while the UAE president allegedly alerted Netanyahu personally.  Ne...

There’s been another interest rate rise, pushing it to the highest it’s been in 15 years.   It’s partly thanks to Trump’s war in Iran fuelling global inflation, but the conflict is not the only thing putting pressure on interest rates. Artificial Intelligence is a factor too.   Today, the ABC’s finance expert Alan Kohler on how AI impact rates and why it might also be the reason they fall again  F...

Donald Trump has promised he can use his negotiating skills to end wars. But his approach is facing a major test on two fronts. He’s rejected Iran’s latest proposal to halt the fighting and reopen negotiations, while there’s still no breakthrough in efforts to get Russia and Ukraine back to a peace deal. Today, international relations expert Rajan Menon on whether the president can actually delive...

We're being warned that AI could wipe out humanity.  But some of the very same experts sounding the alarm are also predicting AI will help cure cancer within the next decade.   So, how will these competing visions of destruction and salvation play out? And is a cure for cancer really within AI’s reach?  Today, doctor and researcher Emilia Javorsky joins us to separate the reality from the hype. Fe...