The Briefing

Headlines:
The world watches a shaky Iran ceasefire
Albanese travels to Singapore to secure fuel supply
A hammer attack in a Sydney hospital
Bruce Lehrmann loses final chance to appeal defamation case
Plus: the cop chase stopped by a cactus
Deep Dive:
When women began disappearing on Long Island in the 1990s, police didn’t know they were facing a new serial killer. Today, architect Rex Heuermann pleads guilty to the murders of eight women in what have become known as the Gilgo Beach murders.
In this episode of The Briefing, Natarsha Belling is joined by Dr Xanthe Weston, associate professor of criminology and host of the Motive & Method podcast, to talk about how the killer was caught.
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Thursday Headlines:
Ceasefire in doubt as Israel pounds Lebanon and Iran halts oil tankers
Fuel price drops unlikely to hit your tank in a hurry
AI tool that spots heart failure risk five years before it develops
Activist group infiltrates Coles
You could own a Queensland town for $400K
Further listening from headlines:
Your supermarket is spying on you
The controversial ICE tech at our door
Deep Dive: Israel says its invasion of Lebanon is about security and pushing Hezbollah away from its northern border. But on the ground, more than a million people have been displaced, infrastructure is being torn apart, and tensions inside the country are rising fast.
With villages flattened, others cut off, and communities turning on each other, fears are growing of a prolonged Israeli occupation and the risk the conflict could tip Lebanon into something it hasn’t seen since the 1970s – a civil war.
In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou speaks with Middle East and counter-terrorism expert Dr Mariam Farida from Macquarie University about Israel’s long-term strategy in Lebanon, whether it can ‘dismantle’ Hezbollah and why the risk of a broader crisis is rising.
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Headlines:
A two-week ceasefire in Iran
Matt Canavan sets out his “Patriot Agenda”
Ben Roberts-Smith doesn’t seek bail
Australia’s sporting rich list revealed
Deep Dive:
Trump has announced a two-week ceasefire against Iran, hours after making the threat to wipe out the “whole civilization” if a deal wasn’t reached.
But will the ceasefire last? And what does Trump have to show for his five-and-a-half weeks of war?
In this episode of The Briefing Natarsha Belling is joined by Jennifer Parker, an expert on national security and the principal and founder of Barrier Strategic Advisory.
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BREAKING: Donald Trump has announced he will suspend all bombing and attacks on Iran for two weeks - but only if Iran agrees to the complete and immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

In a post to Truth Social, the US President says he's agreed to a request from Pakistan, which has been working as a mediator, to hold off on his threatened bombardment of Iran's power and civil infrastructure.

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Wednesday Headlines:
Trump warns a 'whole civilisation will die' if Iran doesn't make deal
Ben Roberts Smith to appear before court today
Record number of scam websites taken down by Australia's financial regulator
Kanye West blocked from entering the UK
EV sales hit record highs in Australia
Deep Dive: War used to be reported. Now it’s being packaged.
Footage shared by the White House showing strikes on Iran is being edited like gameplay - complete with stylised overlays, dramatic pacing and even ‘killstreak’-style visuals, pulling in millions of views.
But this isn’t a one-off. From ICE raid clips set to the Pokémon theme to military operations branded like blockbuster titles, conflict is being reframed through the language and aesthetics of entertainment.
In this episode of The Briefing, Helen Smith speaks with Daniel Baldino from the University of Notre Dame Australia about how war is being gamified - and what that shift does to public perception, accountability, and reality itself.
Further listening: Will Elon unplug your EV dream?
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