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Good morning. Firefighters are still battling to contain California’s wildfires before strong winds are forecast that could spark further destruction – and amid political fallout about a lack of water to help fight the flames. There are warnings that the death toll will almost certainly rise as emergency crews search thousands of destroyed homes across Los Angeles.
Back at home there are warnings that shoppers are being duped by widespread mislabelling of “organic” products.
And new research suggests that universal reproductive leave could be a “gamechanger” for Australian workers. But how would it work?
The Australian election is coming – what moments will define the campaign?
There is still no date for the federal election but Anthony Albanese has switched to campaign mode, hitting electorates across Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia all in one week. With the PM’s approval rating sliding, a potential interest-rate cut on the horizon and Donald Trump reclaiming the keys to the White House, Nour Haydar speaks with Dan Jervis-Bardy about the events that could shape federal politics this year.
The Australian election is coming: what moments will define the campaign? – Full Story podcast
Antimicrobial resistance threatens many of the gains of modern medicine, making even routine surgery much riskier. Jackson Ryan followed Trevor Lithgow, a biochemist at Monash University, and his team, to Merri Creek north of Melbourne to look for what some scientists believe could be powerful artillery against the threat of superbugs: bacteriophages, natural born bacteria-killers, which are uniquely attuned to hunt and kill microbes.
Mallrat was poised for pop domination. Then tragedy struck. A month after the singer-songwriter finished her second album, her younger sister died. Grief melted over everything like a black sludge and left her “brain like an empty cave”. But as the light starts to break through the cracks of a difficult year, she speaks to Katie Cunningham about how she has rediscovered the magic of music.
Fewer than half of children in some of Sydney’s most affluent suburbs are being bulk-billed for GP visits – while adults across NSW are paying more to see the doctor than last year, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Victoria’s lobbying regulations could be extended to cover not only state MPs but local governments as soon as this year, the Age reports. Experts are warning that lives are at risk as the recreational use of the prescription medication Xanax by young Australians continues to rise, ABC News reports.
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