Australia is approaching a federal election on May 21 more divided than ever. As the campaign gets underway, both sides are trying to bridge fault lines between regional and urban Australia.

As Russian troops retreat from towns and suburbs around Kyiv, they have left a host of atrocities behind them. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, calls it a genocide. We ask whether he is right.

The Government has released its pre-election Federal Budget, but is it a plan for a complex economic future or just a vote-buying exercise on election eve? And as floods return to northern NSW, we look at the existential threat facing towns like Lismore.

NATO is providing more support to Ukraine, but after a month of fighting and devastating casualties, neither side has made clear gains. So is the conflict headed for a stalemate? And Chinese influence in the Pacific has been growing for years but now could Chinese warships soon be stationed in the Solomon Islands?

Fuel prices smashed all time records this week and motorists and consumers are being warned that there won’t be any hip-pocket relief any time soon. So what’s driving inflation and what can and should be done to ease the cost of living?  And with violence in the Russia-Ukraine conflict still spiralling, China is under pressure to pick a side, but will the high stakes crisis just bring Moscow and Beijing closer?

As Australians struggle to recover from the dramatic floods that hit the east coast, there are questions about how and where communities should rebuild. There is a desperate need for more support and housing but there are also calls for more spending to prevent and reduce the damage from future disasters. And as hospitals in Ukraine are bombed and the death toll rises, should Vladimir Putin face the international criminal court?

Thousands of Australians were rescued this week as homes were again flooded. We hear about one dramatic rescue, as the UN’s climate panel warns irreversible climate damage is baked into the system. Also a million Ukrainians have fled Russia’s onslaught, now in its second week, while thousands have died. The fighting spirit persists, but Russia’s intensified attacks, including an alarming incident at a nuclear power plant.

Ukrainians woke in the early hours of Thursday morning to the sound of shelling across major cities, after Russia’s President Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked invasion on the country of 44 million.

We hear about how Ukrainians are facing the threat in Kyiv, examine how far Russia is prepared to go to subdue its neighbour, and ask whether the West is doing enough to stop it.

The federal government has launched a scare campaign about Chinese influence, after it was revealed that ASIO foiled an attempt by Beijing to install Labor candidates in New South Wales. The domestic spy agency says the problem should not be politicised, but the coalition is gearing up for an election fought over national security.

A sense of frustration dominated speeches by Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins this week, rebuking the Prime Minister and critiquing Parliament’s apology for abuse in politics. But can deep cultural change come any quicker?