Radio National Breakfast

For more than 200 days, police killer and self-identifying sovereign citizen Dezi Freeman evaded police.

Freeman had been on the run for seven months, after he killed two police officers at a property in Porepunkah in Victoria's High Country, last August.Yesterday, police found and fatally shot Freeman at a remote property in Victoria's north east. 

• GUEST: Alex Krstic, former police officer and friend of one of the killed police officers, Neal Thompson
• PRODUCER: Joe Sullivan 

The National Cabinet met yesterday announcing a four-level plan to respond to pressures on fuel supply as a result of the war in the Middle East.

The measures include suspending the road user charge for heavy vehicle users and halving the fuel excise.This week we've been trying to answer some of your questions on the conflict - and the rolling impact from the bowser to the broader economy. 

• GUESTS: David Leaney is an expert in international supply chain management and a lecturer at the Australian National University + Associate Professor Stuart Walsh, Deputy Director of Research at Monash University’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• PRODUCER: Eddy Diamond 

The Lebanese army says one of its soldiers has been killed, and several others injured after an Israeli attack on a checkpoint in the country's south.

It comes as Israel continues a major military incursion in Lebanon, as part of a plan to establish a security zone from the Israeli border, known as the Blue Line, to the Litani River.

Lebanese President Joseph Auon has denounced Israel's campaign - which has included targeting bridges and other civilian infrastructure; describing it as a violation of Lebanese sovereignty.

More than 1,200 people have been killed in Lebanon since the conflict reignited just over a month ago

• Guest: Sally Hayden, correspondent for The Irish Times based in Beirut
• Producer: Pip Cook

For rural families, a round trip to the local footy oval, swim meet or netball courts can take hours - and burn hundreds of litres of increasingly expensive petrol each week.

That's forcing many parents to make some tough decisions; cutting back on extra-curricular activities and school events to preserve the family budget.

• GUEST: Jess Pluckrose, sheep and cattle farmer on Marrapina Station, NSW
• PRODUCER: Brooke Young

The conflict in the Middle East has deepened, with Yemen's Iran-backed militia group -the Houthis - launching attacks on Israel over the weekend.

The entry of this powerful Iranian proxy has raised fears of further disruption to the global economy.

Then, the federal government says it is trying to avoid COVID-style restrictions amid the fuel crisis.

Commonwealth, state and territory leaders are gathering for a national cabinet meeting to map out a co-ordinated response to fuel security.

Recap the morning's news, politics and global affairs with the Breakfast Wrap.

Grey-headed flying foxes have long been viewed as pests in Australia — but have we been overlooking the good they do for the environment, and even the economy?

A new research paper published this month suggests that the bats are responsible for creating more than 91 million trees in Australia — which in turn generates hundreds of millions of dollars for the country's timber industry.

• Guest: Dr Alexander Braczkowski, conservation biologist and senior author of the study
• Producer: Pip Cook

Keeping students engaged at school is an age-old problem. Not everyone learns the same way and some don't respond to traditional school programs.

When Russell Kerr was a teacher in Victoria in the '90s, he saw many students like this struggle, with some dropping out altogether.

But one day he took a group of students into the bush to build stick furniture with a skilled artisan — and he saw things change.

Guest: Russell Kerr, founder of Hands On Learning

Iranian authorities are warning against any foreign ground attacks, after the US dispatched thousands ⁠of its Marines to the Middle East.

It's a conflict with no end in sight, prompting questions about what is the Trump administration's end game. 

Guest: Stephen E. Biegun, Rothschild & Co Distinguished International Fellow at the Lowy Institute and former Deputy Secretary of State of the United States

Producer: Grace Stranger, Eleni Psaltis

The Federal Opposition says aged care organisations like Meals on Wheels are struggling to get their services to their clients, particularly in rural and regional areas, amid the ongoing fuel crisis. The Shadow Aged Care Minister Anne Ruston says its potentially leaving some older Australians isolated.  

• GUEST: Anne Ruston, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care
• PRODUCER: Isadora Bogle