Radio National Breakfast

Social media restrictions for Australian children aged under 16 have been in place for around 48 hours now - with the world watching how the experiment plays out.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas is one of the architects of the ban - having commissioned the S-A state draft law that inspired the national ban back in 2024.

A parliamentary committee has been probing the nation's corruption watchdog this week.

In October, the ABC revealed National Anti-Corruption Commission boss Paul Brereton continued to advise the Afghanistan war crimes inquiry, despite assurances he had stepped away.

Mr Brereton said his recusal from all defence corruption referrals was "unnecessary" — an argument his deputy commissioners have rejected.

Helen Haines is the independent MP for Indi and the Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

• Guest: Helen Haines, Independent Member for Indi
• Producer: Isadora Bogle

The number of elderly Australians stranded in public hospital beds because they can't get the aged care support they need has seen a significant surge in the past three months.

That's according to new data released by state and territory governments as they prepare to face off today in negotiations with the Commonwealth on a new hospital funding deal.

• Guest: Mark Butler, Minister for Health, Ageing and Disability
• Producer: Isadora Bogle

So much has happened in 2025, from elections around the country, to international conflicts - it's a year that will have long-lasting ramifications.But, through it all, there have been many moments which have brought us all together. Here's the year in sound, the highs and the lows of 2025.

Australians planning a trip to the U-S could soon face an examination of their social media accounts under changes ordered by the Trump administration.

Travellers from 42 countries - who are permitted to enter the U-S without a visa - will be asked to disclose five years' worth of social media history.

Women across New South Wales say they're being denied sanitary products in hospitals - despite a pledge from the state's health department back in 2022 to provide free period products for those who need them.

Wollongong woman Samantha Bruce says she was denied a tampon or pad during one hospital stay earlier this year, an experience faced by one in ten women -- according to research by the not-for-profit group, Share the Dignity.

The chief of NATO has urged allies to step up defence efforts to prevent a war waged by Russia, warning NATO and the European union could follow Ukraine.

Mark Rutte's comments come as talks continue across Europe and the U-S to try and break a negotiating deadlock in the Russia-Ukraine war.

About 200,000 people have fled their homes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in recent days, with dozens of civilians killed by Rwanda-backed rebels - in the country's east.

M-23’s latest offensive comes despite a U.S.-mediated peace agreement -- which was signed last week by the Congolese and Rwandan presidents in Washington. 

Australia has recorded the highest number of Indigenous deaths in custody since 1979/1980.New data from the Australian Institute of Criminology shows 33 of the 113 people who died in police or prison custody in the last financial year were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Then, US President Donald Trump has announced the United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, in a move analysts are warning is likely to further inflame tensions between Washington and Caracas. 

Meanwhile European leaders have hit back at Mr Trump after he labelled them "weak" while claiming European civilisation was being eroded by immigration. We'll hear from the Vice President of the European Parliament.

And staying overseas and fighting between Thailand and Cambodia has intensified, with both sides accusing each other of striking civilians.

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

One of the world's greatest natural wonders is underway: the synchronised spawning of coral on the Great Barrier Reef.

Dr Jen Matthews, a chemical ecologist and marine biochemist at the University of Technology Sydney, has been watching the event up close.

• Producer: Pip Cook
• Guest: Dr Jen Matthews, a chemical ecologist and marine biochemist at the University of Technology Sydney