Radio National Breakfast

Australia's red and yellow beach flags are one of the most recognisable symbols of surf safety in the world... but new research suggests they can also be dangerously confusing, particularly for tourists, migrants, and infrequent beachgoers.

The debate has taken on new urgency, with a series of drowning deaths already recorded in Australia in the opening days of 2026.

• Guest: Dr Masaki Shibata, drowning prevention researcher in intercultural studies at Monash University
• Producer: Jessica Lukjanow 

They were billed as the solution to escalating rates of serious crime, but Victoria's tougher bail laws- introduced in July last year- are straining the Magistrates' Court and leaving more criminal cases unresolved, according to Court Services Victoria.

New data from the independent body shows case finalisations are 7.6 per cent lower than expected, while the average cost per criminal case has jumped by almost by almost a fifth.

• Guest: Dr Louis Shetzer, national legal research and policy co-ordinator Justice Reform Shelter
• Producer: Eddy Diamond 

Flooding in North Queensland will lead to significant livestock losses in the cattle industry, but there's hope they won't be as significant as the 2019 floods, which killed an estimated 450,000 head of cattle.

It comes at a time when producers and processors need to navigate a new export hurdle into China

Federal politicians could be back in Canberra within weeks as the government drafts a legislative response to the Bondi terror attack.

The Prime Minister is reportedly considering a recall before Australia Day.

• Guest: David Pocock, independent Senator for the ACT
• Producer: Jason Whittaker

It's been a year since devastating wildfires spread across parts of suburban Los Angeles, threatening some of the city's most famous landmarks, destroying thousands of homes and killing more than 30 people.Now Australians are being warned it could happen here with a new report from former Australian fire chiefs and the Climate Council warning urban areas are at an increasing risk from bushfires.

American politician Majorie Taylor Greene, has left Congress after a very public break-up with President Trump, but not before condemning the US raid on Venezuela. 

What does MAGA and the Republican party more broadly think about the intervention-- and the not so veiled threats from the White House that there might be more to come?

For many in the Venezuelan diaspora, the last few days have been a time of mixed emotions-- with shock, fear, joy, apprehension among them. As the US began the raids which culminated in the capture of the president and his wife, many Australian Venezuelans began receiving frantic messages from friends and family.... Now they wonder what comes next for their home country and those they left behind.

• Guest: Elena Zurbo, vice-president of the Venezuelan Association of Australia
• Producer: Pip Cook

A pet cat, dog, guinea pig, even a rabbit can be a very special addition to a family.

And while pets are often given as Christmas presents... it's the weeks before the festive period that can see a spike in pet surrenders.

• Guest: Dr Bronwyn Orr, lecturer in animal welfare ethics and behaviour at James Cook University
• Producer: Kate Uebergang

It's below freezing in the German capital Berlin- but tens of thousands of homes are without power after a left wing activist group staged an arson attack on the city's power grid on the weekend.

The group claiming responsibility-- the Volcano Group-- said the attack deliberately targeted some of the Berlin's wealthiest districts in the city's southwest.

• Guest: Professor Stefan Marschall, chair of German Politics at Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf 
• Producer: Kate Uebergang

Just who controls Venezuela remains an open question... the country's captured leader Nicolás Maduro has appeared in a Manhattan court, pleading not guilty to multiple charges .... and declaring I am still president of my country.

In Caracas, his deputy has been sworn in as acting President- with US President Donald Trump issuing threats that Delcy Rodriguez will pay a very big price- probably bigger than Maduro he says - if she doesn't do what's right.

• Guest: Brian Finucane, Senior Adviser at the International Crisis Group and former attorney at the US State Department
• Producer: Anne Barker