The Briefing

Friday Headlines: Trump administration says fatal shooting of ICE office was politically motivated, Andrew Hastie pours cold water on claims he's gunning for Sussan Ley's job, Diddy's appeal to be decided by the end of next week, foreign students earn less than half of some domestic graduates, and Albo shouts New York pub a beer!  Deep Dive: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Cynthia Eriv...

The AFL remains Australia’s most attended sport, drawing 8.4 million fans in 2024 alone, but the games history with homophobia has been back in the national spotlight.   Over the past year and a half there have been six publicised incidences of homophobia within the league. And in the games 130-year history only one player has come out as openly bisexual or gay, Former West Coast Eagles...

Public confidence in Australian universities is continuing to erode, as institutions face funding issues, widespread job cuts and allegations of failures to report gender-based violence across campuses. The University of Technology and the Australian National University have both faced various controversies over the past couple of years, prompting renewed scrutiny of university governance and prio...

Thursday Headlines: Albo and Trump have become Insta official, Trump slammed by London Mayor over 'Islamophobic' sharia law comments, WHO issues statement on paracetamol causing autism claims, fresh warnings for online machete sellers, A-League footballers sentenced over their involvement in a gambling scam and would you pay over $2K for kindy artwork? Deep Dive: Former UFC champion Conor McGregor...

US president Donald Trump made a fiery 56-minute speech at the UN General Assembly - well over the customary 15-minute time limit - telling world leaders their ‘countries are going to hell’ over migration and that climate change was a ‘con job’ . The speech was delivered to a room of visibly unsettled world leaders and drew immediate global attention, triggering a...

Over four years after Brittany Higgins first went public with allegations she was sexually assaulted in Parliament House; the political and legal fallout is still playing out today.    It's included a criminal trial, corruption probes, multiple defamation cases, and fresh allegations aimed at her rapist.  In this episode of The Briefing, Tara Cassidy and Chris Spyrou unpack everythi...

Wednesday Headlines: White House confirms Albo meeting after Trump sprays UN, Australian childcare bosses grilled over mistreatment and abuse at inquiry, Elon Musk’s father accused of child sexual abuse, new changes for millions with student debt, and the country’s most culturally powerful people have been named. Deep Dive: Higgins v Lehrmann: Part 1 Brittany Higgins and Bruce Lehrmann...

Robert F. Kennedy Jr - now Donald Trump’s Health Secretary - has made dubious claims about vaccines, with his latest suggesting common painkillers like Panadol could cause autism in unborn children. His statements, widely rejected by doctors and health experts, have reignited controversy not just in public health but within one of America’s most famous dynasties: the Kennedys. In our f...

In a bombshell statement sending shockwaves around the world, the US President has claimed paracetamol use in pregnant women is linked to autism. Although admitting he’s not a doctor, Donald Trump also made concerning allegations about vaccines. In this episode of The Briefing, Natarsha Belling is joined by leading autism researcher, Professor David Trembath, to unpack today’s statemen...

Headlines: Opposition leader Sussan Ley welcomed to Israel over Palestine pushback, Super typhoon set to make landfall in China, Hong Kong and the Philippines, The Duchess of York dropped by charities over Epstein apology, Instagram rolls out AI to detect teens lying about age, and AFL's night of nights – the Brownlow! Deep Dive: Boycotts and ‘political consumerism’ are on the ri...

The fallout continues over the Optus disaster as pressure grows on the Telecommunications Giant after its deadly triple-zero outage. Federal Communications Minister Anika Wells says Optus has failed the Australian people, warning the company will face significant consequences.  In this episode of The Briefing, Natarsha Belling is joined by tech expert Trevor Long to unpack what caused the out...

Headlines: Australia joins Canada and the UK in formally recognising Palestine, Charlie Kirk's funeral service is underway at a stadium in Arizona, at least five people tried to warn telco giant Optus of an outage that impacted 000 calls, Tony Abbott, Liz Truss, and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price headline a conservative conference in Brisbane, and it turns out plenty of Aussies are willing to risk a fin...

The Coachella 2026 line-up has officially dropped, featuring major headliners like Justin Bieber and Sabrina Carpenter, but one Aussie act also taking the stage is Royel Otis.  Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic make up the pop duo, who recently went viral for their covers of Linger by the Cranberries and Sophie Ellis-Bextor's Murder on the Dancefloor.  In this bonus episode of The Briefing...

Gwilym Lee is a proud Welshman and self-proclaimed ‘pretender’, best known for portraying Queen guitarist Brian May in Bohemian Rhapsody. The actor grew up in Birmingham and began his career on stage before staring in television dramas like The Great, Midsomer Murders and Top End Bub - alongside Aussie actor and co-writer Miranda Tapsell. In this chat with Antoinette Lattouf, Gwilym sh...

The race is on to find the next NSW Police Commissioner, but the top candidate is already plagued with controversy. The NSW Premier says he’s willing to overlook bad decisions and that the NSW police commissioner did not need to have a “lily-white record”. It comes at the end of a massive week for the NSW government... after it passed groundbreaking legislation that could set a p...

Friday Headlines: Donald Trump says Jimmy Kimmel being taken off air is not a free speech issue, Queensland becomes the first state to ban pill testing, doctor who treated Erin Patterson reprimanded by medical board for 'crazy bitch' comments, Brigitte Macron to submit 'scientific evidence' proving she is not a man and a new survey for dog-obsessed Aussies! Further listening from the headlines:&nb...

Donald Trump’s war on the media has just escalated, with the Jimmy Kimmel Show cancelled after the late-night night host made comments about the US President’s reaction to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. President Trump today also banned Australia’s ABC from attending a news conference after a 4 Corners journalist questioned the US leader over his family’s business deali...

Thursday Headlines: Thousands protest in London as Donald Trump receives a royal welcome in the UK, Vic Police warn of fake cop collecting donations for Porepunkah victims, Australian-first trial to combat gender-based violence to launch, Ben & Jerry's co-founder quits over Gaza dispute with parent company, and Gout Gout qualifies in Tokyo! Deep Dive:  Influencers and content creators are...

It’s being labelled as a major diplomatic blunder by the Albanese government, with Papua New Guinea pulling out of signing a key defence treaty with Australia at the last minute. While the federal government was confident of sealing the deal, the dramatic turnaround has raised serious concerns over Australia’s security and diplomatic future in the critical Pacific Region.  In...

Wednesday Headlines: Murder charges laid against Charlie Kirk’s accused killer, terrorism offenses tossed for Luigi Mangione, former broadcaster Alan Jones facing more indecent assault charges, thousands of Palestinians flee Gaza City as UN report finds Israel is committing genocide, White House labels Aussie journo ‘foreign fake news loser’, Albanese government to invest $1.1 bi...

Sunscreen is back in the spotlight, with groundbreaking new research showing a link between daily sunscreen use and vitamin D deficiency. Earlier this year, several sunscreen brands were pulled from shelves over conflicting SPF testing results. Now, new Australian research has shown sunscreen use can also affect our vitamin D levels. In this episode of The Briefing, Natarsha Belling is joined by t...

Dementia is now Australia’s leading cause of death, and it doesn’t just affect the elderly.     Around 90 kids die from childhood dementia each year in Australia, that’s about the same number of children that die from cancer.   In this bonus episode of The Briefing , we revisit Antoinette Lattouf’s conversation with Meg Maack - CEO of the Childhood Dementia I...

Tuesday Headlines: FBI says DNA evidence links suspect to Charlie Kirk murder, senior Liberal threatens to quit frontbench over net zero targets, Queensland trio charged relating to 'end of life business,' protestors promise to target Albo’s new office and Cathy Freeman and Nikki Webster return to where it all began!  Further listening from the headlines: Who’s responsible for the...

The Coalition has recorded its worst primary result in Newspoll history, as Sussan Ley struggles to save the Liberal Party. The latest research shows a growing number of Australian voters are continuing to abandon the Federal Opposition and head towards minor parties like The Greens and One Nation.  In this episode of The Briefing, Natarsha Belling is joined by pollster Tony Barry, who says t...

Monday Headlines: UK PM says Britain will ‘never surrender’ its flag to far-right protesters, police can't rule out Dezi Freeman hasn't escaped interstate, Coalition records a historic low in poll history, experts warning STI rates have doubled nationwide, and The Emmys are on today. Deep Dive: Would you hand over your licence, credit card or face ID to access adult content online? &nb...