The Briefing

Thursday Headlines:
Fresh Telstra outage hits customers
Trump says Iran-US ceasefire is ‘over’
Australian rents hit record high
Australians with cancer are living longer
NSW wins 2026 State of Origin
Deep Dive: The tragic death of 27-year-old Melbourne footy player Nathan Fitzgerald has sparked questions over the hidden hazards of shared suburban fields and whether enough is being done to protect local athletes.
This tragedy coincides with an alarming new report from the Australian Sports Brain Bank and Four Corners revealing high rates of the brain disease CTE in deceased players, ramping up the pressure on the AFL to establish formal CTE protocols.
In this episode of The Briefing, neuroscientist Dr Alan Pearce joins us to break down the latest brain research and ask the difficult question: as the evidence stacks up, can footy ever truly be safe again?
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Wednesday Headlines:
Aussies suffer sharpest decline in real wages in the developed world
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage resigns and vows to fight to win by-election
Prince Harry and Elton John lose privacy lawsuit against Daily Mail’s publisher
NATO summit underway as Trump revives Greenland bid
Male testosterone levels have halved in 50 years
Pam the Bird prankster to remain behind bars
Deep Dive: You might have heard that house prices are falling – at least in Sydney and Melbourne, which tend to set the direction for the other capital cities. Auction clearance rates were below 50% for the third weekend in a row, and experts say the slump could continue.
Is Australia on the brink of a Labor-created societal collapse? Or are we finally having the much-needed correction of an overstimulated property bubble? What direction do we want house prices to go, anyway?
Joining Chris Spyrou in this episode of The Briefing to look beyond the headlines is My Bui, an economist with AMP.
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Tuesday Headlines:
China’s pacific ballistic test labelled ‘destabilising’ by Australia
Melbourne teacher dies after footy head knock
Hamas to dissolve Gaza government
Trump admits he asked FIFA for red card review
Karl Stefanovic reportedly blocks comedian that keeps parodying him
Deep DIve: Dodgy businesses, you’ve been warned. Last week Australia’s consumer watchdog launched a Federal Court case against Amazon for unfairly stuffing ads into its Amazon Prime streaming service; and, in the same week, the federal parliament passed laws that’ll protect consumers against unfair trading practices.
Those ‘dark patterns’ that make it super hard to unsubscribe from a service, or the countdown timer that pressures you into a purchase? They’ll be targets under the new laws, along with surprise fees. The laws were passed last Thursday, and will be implemented from 1 July 2027.
On The Briefing today is one of the people who campaigned loudest for the new Unfair Trading Prohibition laws, Chandni Gupta, the deputy CEO and Digital Policy Director of the Consumer Policy Research Centre.
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Monday Headlines:
Albo slams Liberal party rebrand ahead of Pacific blitz
Cannibalism link being investigated in NSW child murder
USA celebrates its 250th independence anniversary as Iran mourns supreme leader
Warnings against panic buying after bird flu confirmed in third Australian state
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce tie the knot
Deep Dive: If you believe the polls, One Nation is demolishing the political order and might become Australia’s biggest party.
At this moment of political flux, two of the ‘teal’ independents are bidding for a piece of the action by establishing their own alternative party: Community Strong Australia.
Joining us on The Briefing to discuss her new party, why she started it and whether it’ll have any electoral cut through is Waringah MP Zali Steggall.
Further listening from the headlines:
Bird flu's hit Australia. What now?
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If the rumours are true, Taylor Swift has tied the knot this weekend in a stadium in New York City.
Since Swift's August 2025 engagement to footballer Travis Kelce, there has been speculation about the venue, the guest list, the setlist... everything. Swift is, after all, one of the world’s biggest pop stars, and her success has been built on turning the details of her life into stories. This wedding is one hell of a story.
On this bonus episode of The Briefing, we revisit Swift’s most recent batch of stories on her 2025 album ‘The Life of a Showgirl’. Chris Spyrou speaks with Kate Pattison, a PhD candidate on Swift’s fandom and our in-house TS expert.
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