Donald Trump says negotiations to end the war in Ukraine have begun and both Russia and Ukraine want peace. 

The US president chose to call the instigator of the war Vladimir Putin first to discuss a potential deal, raising fears he’ll push Ukraine to the sidelines. 

The US is already insisting that Ukraine can’t restore its territory to what it had in 2014 and it says Ukraine won’t join the NATO military alliance. 

Today, international relations expert Rajan Menon on what peace might really look like under Trump. 

Featured: 

Rajan Menon, professor emeritus of international relations at the City College of New York and senior research scholar at Columbia University

Two nurses from a Sydney hospital have been stood down while police and the health department investigate them for making threatening comments about Israelis. 

One says they’ll refuse to treat Israeli patients and the other even claims he’s killed Israeli patients.

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said the comments made by the pair were "vile, dehumanising and unacceptable".

Today, Deborah Stone from The Jewish Independent news website on the footage and the response to it. 

Featured: 

Deborah Stone, editor-in-chief of The Jewish Independent

Donald Trump says no nation will be exempt, although there’s a prospect of Australia winning a rare reprieve from hefty tariffs being imposed on all steel and aluminium imports to the United States. 

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been on a phone call with the US president, urging him to exempt Australia from the 25 per cent import tax. 

The key argument is that Australia imports a lot more from the US than it sells there. 

Today, economist Susan Stone on the latest front in the trade wars and what it means for us. 

Featured: 

Dr Susan Stone, Credit Union SA Chair of Economics at the University of South Australia

Elon Musk thinks the peak US foreign aid agency is ‘evil’ and so in his powerful position as Donald Trump’s cost cutter he’s getting rid of it.

USAID was set up by President John F. Kennedy and supports humanitarian projects across the globe. 

Already there are reports of people dying on the Thai-Myanmar border when a US supported hospital in a refugee camp was abruptly shut down. 

So, what’s Mr Musk up to and why?

Featured: 

Matthew Maury, interim CEO of The Australian Council for International Development

Alan Yu, senior vice president for National Security and International Policy at the Center for American Progress

BMI, or body mass index, has long been used as a simple calculation to determine if someone is underweight, a ‘healthy’ weight or obese.

But when it was devised by a Belgian mathematician almost 200 years ago, it was never supposed to be a tool to measure health.

Now, researchers are challenging the way obesity is defined and diagnosed. Today, a look at the new approach and why there’s a global push away from BMI.

Featured: Willow Moscarda, Perth studentDr Louise Bauer, Professor of child and adolescent health, University of Sydney

The police bodycam vision has been beamed around the world after being played in a London court. 

It shows Sam Kerr calling a police constable ‘f***ing stupid and white.’ 

Now the Matildas captain is on trial over allegations she racially harassed him.

Today, host of The Sports Ambassador podcast Tracey Holmes walks us through the case. 

Featured: 

Tracey Holmes, The Sports Ambassador podcast host

Donald Trump wants America to take over Gaza and for all Palestinians to leave so it can be turned into a “Riviera of the Middle East.” 

The idea, unleashed in a joint press conference with the Israeli Prime Minister at the White House, is a complete upending of decades of Middle Eastern policy that could involve American troops on the ground. 

Today, Hussein Ibish from the Arab Gulf States Institute on the implications of Trump’s words and what might come next.  

Featured:

Hussein Ibish, senior scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute, Washington D.C.

Donald Trump says he loves tariffs but just hours after he slapped massive levies on Mexico and Canada he’s taken them away. 

The surprising U-turn has rattled financial markets and revived fears of a global trade war. 

So, what on earth is the US President up to and how will the global economy respond? 

Today ABC TV’s finance expert Alan Kohler on what Trump’s tariff moves mean for Australia. 

Featured:

Alan Kohler, ABC TV finance expert

The raids and deportations have begun and undocumented migrants in the United States are being rounded up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. 

President Donald Trump is making good on his threats to target those accused of crimes first, with plans to send tens of thousands of people to Guantanamo Bay detention centre. 

Today, an immigration attorney from Texas explains how the new policy is playing out on the ground.

Featured:

Ruby Powers, immigration attorney in Houston, Texas

From this week all Australian kids will be back at school for the year, but what can we do to improve their results? 

There has been a concerning decline in performance in numeracy and literacy tests over the past two decades. 

Today, education reporter Conor Duffy on why Australian students underperform and how one group is bucking the trend. 

Conor Duffy explains that the most recent NAPLAN tests show one third of students not meeting minimum benchmarks. 

He says students from language backgrounds other than English are consistently outperforming their peers. 

Conor Duffy emphasises the importance of parental engagement in improving student outcomes. 

Featured: 

Conor Duffy, education reporter

Key Topics:

• Australian education 
• NAPLAN test results
• Literacy and numeracy performance
• Language backgrounds other than English (LBOTE)
• Parental engagement in education
• Inquiry-based learning vs. explicit teaching