7am

When Donald Trump took power, he promised retribution against his political opponents. Now, he’s delivering - and he’s using the justice department to do it, with the US Attorney launching a two-count indictment against former FBI Director James Comey.  And it seems like that’s just the beginning.  The justice department has also been directed to investigate the Open So...

Anthony Albanese has finally managed to get a meeting with Donald Trump, after months of trying.  But why did it take so long? And what does it say about just how rocky our relationship with the US has become? As political journalist and author of Albanese: Telling it Straight Karen Middleton reports, the Australian government has been working hard to soften the Trump administration’s a...

The communications watchdog has opened a formal investigation into Optus after a 13-hour failure blocked about 600 triple-zero calls – now linked to three deaths. The government is furious, calling it “completely unacceptable”, and warning of “significant consequences”. But is it actually their fault too? Today, journalist and contributor to Crikey, Michael Sainsbury,...

The Albanese government has been on an unprecedented campaign of diplomatic activism in the Pacific Islands – all to keep China’s military at a distance. At the same time, AUKUS is remaking our defence strategy, with eight nuclear-powered submarines, expanded facilities for US forces, and plans for a new east-coast submarine base. For some watching on, those two approaches are at odds...

Almost a month after two police officers were shot and killed in regional Victoria, the accused gunman – Dezi Freeman – is still at large. Victoria Police have deployed thousands of officers, searched more than a hundred properties, and offered the biggest reward in Victorian history – with no result. People have also been combing Freeman’s Facebook history, which plots a j...

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in New York for the UN General Assembly, where Australia has formally recognised the State of Palestine – a step that more than 150 UN member states have now taken. The move is part of what Australian calls "a co-ordinated international effort to build new momentum for a two-state solution". But with no active peace process, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin...

The Coalition is again in crisis. The latest Newspoll puts its primary vote at 27 per cent – its worst on record. And with one frontbencher sacked over immigration comments and others threatening to quit over climate policy, the party seems more divided than ever. Today, press gallery journalist Karen Middleton on the ideological battle lines tearing the party apart. If you enjoy 7am, the be...

Having released the National Climate Risk Assessment – a report full of apocalyptic climate warnings – earlier this week, the government has now announced its 2035 emissions reduction target. It’s a range, not a single number: 62–70 per cent below 2005 levels. The government says it’s achievable and ambitious, backed by more renewables and industry support. Critics sa...

The UN Commission of Inquiry has delivered its starkest assessment yet – finding that Israel has been and is committing genocide in Gaza. Israel has rejected the report, saying it’s acting in self-defence and takes steps to protect civilians. Meanwhile, Israel has begun a major ground offensive in Gaza City after weeks of bombardment. And abroad, Israel’s strike in the Qatari cap...

In the days since the assassination of prominent right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, the White House ordered flags flown at half-staff and memorials were organised in Washington, DC and Arizona. But what followed wasn’t just mourning. The Trump administration is urging people to report anyone who criticised or mocked Kirk’s death, and has pledged to use federal power to uproot and disman...

Last week, the federal environment minister approved Woodside’s plans to keep its North West Shelf project producing gas out to 2070. Both the government and Woodside claim that gas is a necessary transition fuel as the world decarbonises – but how convincing are their arguments? Today, investigative journalist and author of the Quarterly Essay Woodside vs the Planet, Marian Wilkinson,...

In opposition, Anthony Albanese said Scott Morrison was running "A shadow government that preferred to operate in darkness." Now in power, the Albanese government is planning to water down Australia's transparency laws and make secrets easier to keep. The proposed changes to Australia’s Freedom of Information act would limit who can make requests, and make it easier for officials to refuse t...

When Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan introduced the state's treaty bill into parliament, she said it would pave the way for a formal apology, the introduction of Aboriginal truth-telling into the school curriculum, and a better future for Indigenous Australians in the state. The treaty is the culmination of almost a decade of work that established the First Peoples’ Assembly – which le...

Indigenous leaders across the country have welcomed Victoria’s treaty. The legislation will enshrine a democratically elected body for First Peoples, called Gellung Warl, that will be consulted on laws and policies affecting Indigenous communities. Now there are calls for other states and territories to use the Victorian example as a model to establish their own treaties. But there’s a...

Images of child sexual abuse generated by artificial intelligence are on the rise. Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, says 100,000 Australians a month have accessed an app that allows users to upload images of other people – including minors – to receive a depiction of what they would look like naked. Predators are known to share know-how to produce and spread t...

US President Donald Trump was once skeptical of digital assets, saying Bitcoin “seems like a scam” and that crypto’s value was “based on thin air.” Now, cryptocurrency is at the centre of both his economic agenda, and his personal wealth.  Since returning to office in January, Trump has put out executive orders supporting the industry, expanding the government&rs...

After saying that the value of cryptocurrencies were ‘based on thin air’, US President Donald Trump changed his tune – pledging to be a ‘pro-Bitcoin president’ and earning the backing and campaign donations of the industry. Since taking office, Trump’s family has launched numerous crypto ventures that have potentially earned in the billions. Today, tech and powe...

For the first time ever, the Supreme Court of Victoria allowed a television camera to broadcast a sentencing – the hearing for convicted triple murderer Erin Patterson. Justice Christopher Beale imposed life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 33 years, for murdering three in-laws – and attempting to murder a fourth – by lacing their beef Wellingtons with poisonous death cap...

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the government’s deal with Nauru was “hardly secret.” But the agreement to deport hundreds of non-citizens to live in the tiny Pacific nation was signed on Friday August 29 and only acknowledged publicly the following weekend, with key details – including a potential $2.5 billion price tag – emerging in the days afterwards. At the...

Insiders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the agency is in chaos. Last week, the White House fired CDC Director Susan Monarez after less than a month in the role. Insiders say the agency is no longer able to provide reliable health guidance to Americans as it faces resignations, funding cuts, and a replacement of vaccine advisers with skeptics who have expressed anti-vaccine v...

Australia acted against Iran after ASIO found Tehran orchestrated two antisemitic arson attacks on Australian soil – expelling Iran’s ambassador and moving to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation. For Kylie Moore-Gilbert, it’s a long time coming. She spent 804 days imprisoned under IRGC control after being arrested in Tehran on espionage charges....

In the lead-up to the so-called ‘March for Australia’, many people downplayed the involvement of neo-Nazis in organising and promoting the rallies that took place in several cities. But in Melbourne, neo-Nazis were not just central to the march – they led it all the way to the steps of Parliament House, where a prominent neo-Nazi’s speech to the crowd ended in applause. Jus...

As hard-fought gains in reproductive medicine, voluntary assisted dying and LGBTQI health care have been made – another story has emerged. One where religious pharmacists, doctors and hospital systems believe it's justifiable to withhold medication or support… often with devastating consequences. Now, 1 in 5 pharmacists in Australia will refuse you care if the medication you’re...

Murray Watt has a big job: as federal environment minister, he’s been hand-picked by Albanese to fix Australia’s old and broken environment laws. It was a brief his predecessor Tanya Plibersek failed to achieve –  with mining interests in Western Australia claiming success when a deal with the Greens was dashed by the prime minister at the last minute. So what will be differ...

When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese fronted the media this week alongside ASIO chief Mike Burgess, it was with extraordinary news. Albanese revealed that ASIO now has evidence the Iranian government was behind at least two anti-semitic attacks on Australian soil – the firebombing of a Jewish kitchen in Bondi, and an arson attack on the Adass synagogue in Melbourne. He said Iran directed the...