Japan forbid itself from going to war. So why’s it expanding its military?

The government handed down its third federal budget this week, and it was the usual blizzard of figures.  Treasurer Jim Chalmers gave us hand-outs, grand plans for the future and some heroic predictions on inflation figures.  Today, chief political correspondent David Crowe and national affairs editor James Massola join Jacqueline Maley to unpack the budget as a political document - will it help the government win the next election, and will the voting public believe all the promises made about the future of the economy? Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As global outcry continues for the war in Gaza to end, after more than seven months, Hamas and Israel have reached an impasse. Recent ceasefire talks failed. And both sides are struggling. Much of Hamas’ fighting forces have been killed. And Israel’s main ally, the United States, just made the remarkable step of beginning to limit its supply of arms to the country. So, where to from here? Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher on how this war can end, when both sides now know that it’s unwinnable.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was always going to be a particularly tricky federal budget. Amid a cost-of-living crisis, the Albanese government had been tasked with providing relief to Australians, but without causing inflation to rise. Which would have the dreaded impact of leading to yet another interest rate rise.So, did treasurer Jim Chalmers nail his brief? And what are the government’s priorities? Is it women, those suffering amid the housing shortage, and students with debt, as it had previously promised, among others? And who’s been left in the cold?Tonight in a special episode recorded in the lock-up in parliament house, senior economics correspondent Shane Wright on the main winners and losers of this year’s budget. And if this budget is really an early election pitch for the Albanese government.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the case of Elon Musk versus Australia’s E-Safety Commissioner, the billionaire owner of social media platform X had a win in court on Monday. A temporary order that forced the site to remove videos of the stabbing of a bishop in Sydney last month, was lifted ahead of a trial showdown between the tech giant and the Australian regulator. The court case has reopened debate about how much control a government can exert over these tech companies, but also, whether age restrictions should be placed on social media use.  Today, federal political correspondent Paul Sakkal takes us inside this court case, and how governments across the world are using tech to implement age controls.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

About two weeks ago, a council in Sydney’s west voted to ban books about same-sex families. A former mayor and current councillor led the charge, brandishing a book he said his constituents complained about. Though he hadn’t read the book himself, he claimed residents wanted their kids kept safe from “sexualisation." The motion prompted immediate outrage, including from the NSW Arts Minister, who said when civilisations turn to burning books, or banning books, it was a very bad sign. Today, state political editor Alexandra Smith on what wider implications this local decision could have for all Australians. To read Smith's full opinion piece click here. Other audio used in this episode include from: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum MSNBC Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Federal government will hand down its third budget on Tuesday, May 14. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has promised the budget will be about cost of living relief and also reform. The Treasurer says people should also expect ambitious investment from the government on housing supply. Today, in a special episode, chief political correspondent David Crowe and senior economics correspondent Shane Wright speak to the Treasurer in Canberra, covering migration, housing pressures, the future made in Australia and the Treasurer’s focus ahead of next week’s budget.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For months now, anger over Israel’s military operation in Gaza has spilled over into mass unrest at universities across the United States.  This culminated in disturbing scenes last week, when police in riot gear stormed the campus at Columbia University, setting off flashbang grenades and eventually arresting nearly 120 people, many of them hauled away, their hands handcuffed with zip ties.  This won’t be the last of it, says North American correspondent Farrah Tomazin, who has spoken to protesters from both sides at campuses across the US.  Today, Tomazin discusses whether these protests ever lead to cultural change, in a country that has a long history of them, some of them deadly. And whether they might help determine the outcome of the American presidential election in November.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For years now, Donald Trump has been shooting off inflammatory messages on social media, and shouting invective about his foes, from lecterns. But as for his actual plans for how he would lead the United States, should he be elected president on November 5? They’ve long been thin on the ground. Or they were, until the other week, when Trump offered a surprising interview in which he revealed, perhaps for the first time, a detailed vision of what he wants to achieve in a second presidency. And just how far he would be planning to go, to attain his goals. Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher on what Donald Trump’s desire for revenge might look like for Americans on the ground. And why he's more threatened by his own people, than America's traditional enemies.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

They were two brothers from Perth on a trip of a lifetime in Mexico. Callum Robinson, who was playing college lacrosse in the U.S and his brother Jake, a young doctor at the start of his career in Australia, were avid surfers chasing waves on a trip in the north-west coast of Mexico. Last week they went missing, before Mexican police found four bodies down a well on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Authorities have now confirmed that two of those bodies are those of Jake and Callum. How did this happen in a popular Mexican holiday destination? Today, Channel Nine’s U.S correspondent Alison Piotrowski speaks to us from Baja California about what it’s like on the ground, and the possible motive behind the suspected murders.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When you think about spies infiltrating Australia and which countries they’re coming from, you’re probably going to think of China, or Russia. But we’ve just learned, for the first time, that India’s intelligence agency - known as the RAW - deployed secret agents to try and steal sensitive information from one its most important global partners, Australia.  It comes as reports emerged from the United States that a hired hit team with links to the RAW was in the final phase of carrying out an assasination plot against an Indian activist. Today, foreign affairs and national security correspondent Matthew Knott on what’s behind this global “nest of spies” and why this spy operation in Australia was kept secret until now.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.