Why have so many hand car wash services replaced automatic machines?

It has to do with immigration policies and there are implications for Australia’s productivity which is among the worst in the developed world. 

Economists insist boosting productivity is the only way to improve our living standards, but could delivering higher wages first actually help to fix the problem?

Today, chief business correspondent Ian Verrender on the key factors left off the agenda at this week's economic round table in Canberra - population and property. 

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Ian Verrender, ABC Chief Business Correspondent

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been to the White House before in what became an infamous encounter with Donald Trump. 

This time he took an entourage of European leaders as backup as the US president pushes for a quick end to the war in Ukraine. 

At the heart of the talks are security guarantees from the US and a possible meeting between Zelenskyy and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.  

Today, former US Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst on why it could actually be a step forward towards peace. 

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John Herbst, fmr US Ambassador to Ukraine and senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center

If the Putin-Trump meeting on the weekend brought about anything, it was a closer relationship between the two leaders. One an accused war criminal, the other a convicted felon. 

So, with the US president rolling out the red carpet for his Russian counterpart, what will Vladimir Putin do next? 

Today, Russia expert Matthew Sussex from the Centre for European Studies at the ANU on Putin’s ultimate aim and how Trump’s helping him achieve it.   

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Dr Matthew Sussex, Visiting Fellow, Centre for European Studies at the Australian National University

In the month of April, China installed more solar power than Australia ever has. 

China is also now home to half of the world’s wind power and half of the world’s electric cars.

Despite this, China remains the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.

So, is it a climate hero or villain and how has the Chinese Communist Party managed to roll out green energy tech so quickly?

Today, climate reporter Jo Lauder on why China is becoming the world’s first ‘electrostate’. 

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Jo Lauder, ABC climate reporter

Donald Trump once declared mRNA vaccines a medical miracle, now his health Secretary is taking an axe to them.

Robert F Kennedy Junior doesn’t believe in the science behind the vaccines that were deployed to save lives as Covid spread around the world and he’s cut nearly half a billion dollars in research funding.

Today, professor of public health Julie Leask on what Kennedy’s anti-vaccine stance means for global health. 

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Julie Leask, social scientist and professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney

This week, five Al Jazeera journalists were killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza.

Israel confirmed it had targeted one of the men it says was the head of a Hamas terrorist cell, an allegation Al Jazeera denies.  

So, who is telling the truth? 

Today, former Al Jazeera correspondent and executive director of the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom Peter Greste on the problems that arise when foreign reporters are blocked from covering a war. 

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Peter Greste, professor of journalism at Macquarie University and executive director of the  Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom 

Donald Trump wants to win a Nobel Peace Prize and so he’s desperate to end the war in Ukraine. 

He’ll be in Alaska later this week meeting the Russian president in the first face-to-face encounter the two men have had since Trump returned to the White House. 

The problem is the Ukrainian leader won’t be there and Trump’s talking about some ‘land-swapping’ between the Russian invaders and Ukraine. 

Today, international relations expert Rajan Menon on Trump’s theatrics and what the summit will really achieve. 

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Rajan Menon, professor emeritus of international relations at the City College of New York

In a move that will further anger the Israeli leader, Australia will recognise a Palestinian state in September following declarations from the UK, France and Canada.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the situation in Gaza has gone beyond the world’s worst fears.

Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu says recognising Palestinian statehood is a win for Hamas and he’s defending his decision to expand the war in Gaza. 

Today, ABC Middle East correspondent Allyson Horn on Netanyahu’s war plans and why his own military is opposed to them. 

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Allyson Horn, ABC Middle East correspondent

Elon Musk’s Tesla electric vehicles can not generally be used to power Australian homes.

Why is that, when the batteries in Tesla EVs are much more powerful than most home batteries? 

As Australia transitions to more green energy, other models of electric vehicles are being used to power homes and even the grid, feeding in when electricity is needed most. 

Today, energy reporter Dan Mercer on the revolutionary technology and why the world’s richest man has been wary of it. 

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Dan Mercer, ABC energy reporter

Donald Trump didn’t like the numbers, so he sacked the messenger. 

So, what are the implications of the US President’s decision to get rid of the nation’s chief statistician, who dared to release revised jobs figures? 

Today, Tom Nichols, staff writer at The Atlantic on the jackhammer Trump is taking to democracy. 

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Tom Nichols, staff writer at The Atlantic