Bondi Junction: a nation mourns

Snus is a small tobacco sachet placed between your gum and upper lip. But now there’s a new form of ‘snussing’, with products that take out the tobacco and replace it with flavours like cool mint, espresso, or bellini, and leave in the nicotine.  Advertised on TikTok as an alternative to vaping, following a federal crackdown on non-prescription vapes, are these products just another sneaky way to keep the tobacco industry alive? In this episode, Sacha Barbour Gatt speaks with Associate Professor Becky Freeman, from the School of Public Health at Sydney University, to learn more about nicotine pouches and their growing popularity in Australia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A movement is growing around the world protesting Israel’s offensive against Palestine in the Middle East. This time it feels different. More than 100 students at Columbia University in New York were arrested last month when the college called in police to break up their protest, an encampment in the university’s quadrangle. Riot police were called in yesterday to remove students from a campus building. The arrests at Columbia marked a defining moment in the global protest – and similar protest encampments are springing up on campuses across the globe. In this episode of The Briefing, LiSTNR reporter Helen Smith visits an encampment at Sydney University to find out how and why the students have decided to join the global campaign.   Headlines: What’s come out of yesterday’s National Cabinet meeting on domestic violence? US Uni protests escalate into violence New AI chatbot launching on our iPhones    Follow The Briefing:Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAU  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Experiments on driverless - or autonomous - cars began 100 years ago, but only in the last twenty years have they become a genuine reality. Elon Musk's Telsa announced last month it was launching an autonomous taxi. How do they work? How safe are they? And how long will it be before we're all expected to share the road with autonomous vehicles? In this episode of The Briefing, we're joined by James Ward from Drive.com.au to discuss the latest developments in autonomous vehicles.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the last few weeks, our national conversation has been heavily focused on the number of lives that have been taken by men because of domestic violence. Arman Abrahimzadeh lost his mother to domestic violence in 2010 when his father murdered her in front of 300 people. Since then Arman has dedicated his life to trying to end family and domestic abuse - talking to perpetrators in prisons, young people and across schools. On this episode, Arman joins us to discuss how we can stop the abuse, stop re-offenders, and protect victim-survivors. Lifeline - 13 11 14 1800RESPECT - 1800 737 732 Headlines: National Cabinet to discuss tracking DV offenders, online content   Donald Trump fined $13,000 and threatened with jail time over gag order  Bonza enters voluntary administration  King Charles returns to public duties    Follow The Briefing:Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAU  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ozempic is the new wonder drug sweeping the world of weight loss. But now a new surprising side effect has potentially been uncovered. There's anecdotal evidence that semaglutide – the active ingredient in Ozempic, may also be able to reduce the desire for alcohol, cigarettes and other drugs. Now, research is being undertaken to find out if science can back up those claims. In this episode of The Briefing, Simon Beaton speaks with Dr Leigh Walker from the Florey Institute to find out what we know already, and how safe Ozempic could be to treat addictions.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Imagine going to your doctor and having treatment forced upon you. This is called compulsory treatment and in Australia it’s legal. Compulsory mental health treatment is when a psychiatrist believes that a patient is at a severe risk of harming themselves or others, who can then be forced to take medication or undergo treatment. But how subjective is that decision on labelling the risk? And if the medical practitioner gets it wrong it means a loss of their rights, and quite often incredibly strong and debilitating medication. Dr Kay Wilson from the University of Melbourne joins the Briefing to explain how compulsory treatment works and the stigmas attached to mental health in Australia. Headlines: 30% spike in women killed by intimate partners last year US hopeful Hamas will accept new ceasefire offer Telcos to be forced to prioritise Triple Zero functions in outages News from the Royals Follow The Briefing:Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAUSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At least 120-thousand people are experiencing homelessness in any given night in Australia. And this isn't a problem that only we are facing, with many countries around the globe struggling to tackle the homelessness issue.  However, this isn’t the case in Finland.   In their capital, Helsinki, the government aims to end homelessness – or get it down to where becoming homeless is likely to be very temporary for most people – by 2025.  So how are they doing this? And could Australia learn from what they’re doing right?  On this episode, Bension Siebert speaks with Juha Kahila, Head of International Affairs at the Y-Foundation, as he joins us from Finland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Huge crowds gathered at the weekend to protest laws that see high-risk offenders released on bail. As anger mounts over this year’s soaring domestic violence death toll, we speak with Kay Schubach, a domestic violence survivor about what really needs to change to stop more Australian women dying at the hands of offenders released by our courts. In this episode of The Briefing, Kay joins Sacha Barbour Gatt to talk about what we can all do – from the public to government and judicial system - to break the horrific cycle of post-custody attacks by high-risk domestic violence offenders. Headlines: Emergency National Cabinet meeting called after weekend of gender violence rallies Antony Blinken to travel to Saudi Arabia to help restart ceasefire talks Australia’s Defence Minister has spent the weekend in Ukraine Titanic watch breaks records at auction   Follow The Briefing:Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAUSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you feel like you have a good work-life balance? It’s something that most people struggle with, particularly with current cost-of-living pressures. Tim Duggan is the co-founder of Junkee Media. As a young man who launched several digital media platforms he knows a thing or two about work life balance. He’s also the author of several books, his latest is called Work Backwards. In this interview with Tom Tilley he talks about what he did with the freedom to choose his work, after selling Junkee for around 15 million dollars. Send us your Weekend Briefing suggestions on Instagram at @thebriefingpodcast!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nina Oyama wants people to hire more lesbians. She also has a fondness for iPads over mobiles. But most of all, Nina is funny. She’s a comedian, actor and award-winning writer and director who can go from smutty stand-up to sweet characters on screen. Her portrayal of the uptight eco warrior Courtney in Utopia or the anxious policewoman Abby in Deadloch being some of her stand out performances. Her latest live show is called 'Nina Oyama is Coming' and in this chat with Antoinette Lattouf, she explains why you’ll never look back if you hire a lesbian and why her greatest achievement in life involves hanging upside down. Tickets to Nina's show here WEEKEND LIST TO LISTEN - Ushers album Coming HomeTO TRY - Foot lotion and socksTO TRY - Order coffee using fake namesTO LISTEN - Clara Bow Scandal series on Shameless Send us your Weekend Briefing suggestions on Instagram at @thebriefingpodcast!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.