Radio National Breakfast

A rising number of Australian households in flood-prone areas are uninsured, and it's prompted the federal government to look overseas for potential solutions.

In Britain, a flood levy is estimated to have helped half a million households.

• Guest: Daniel Mulino, Assistant Treasurer and Financial Services Minister

An independent review has begun into Australia's national fire ant eradication program.

The Invasive Species Council has repeatedly warned that governments are under-funding the fight against one of the world's most destructive pests.

Biosecurity zones have been extended to parts of central Queensland, months after fire ants were detected outside the state's south-east. 

• Guest: Reece Piantam, Advisory Manager of the Invasive Species Council
• Producer: Grace Stranger

A new report from Australia's Lowy Institute says China has emerged as the most influential power in Southeast Asia — edging out the United States in the wake of the Trump administration's aid cuts, high tariffs and visa restrictions.

The study shows South-East Asian nations are diversifying their relationships, but long-standing dependencies — especially on China — are deepening in the areas of trade, investment, and education.

• Guest: Susannah Patton, Lowy Institute Deputy Research Director, and Director of its South-East Asia Program
• Producer: Anne Barker 

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says he will join Italy in sending a military warship to protect an international flotilla seeking to deliver aid to Gaza, after it was attacked by drones off Greece.

On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Mr Sanchez has told reporters that the citizens of 45 countries were on board to deliver food to the population of Gaza and express solidarity with their suffering.

• Guest: Greta Thunberg, political activist 
• Producer: Luke Siddham Dundon 

As more nations recognised Palestinian statehood this week, world leaders have met at UN headquarters in New York City to discuss a roadmap to end Israel's bombardment of Gaza.  

Most nations called for an immediate ceasefire and an influx of humanitarian aid, but the new US Ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, has described the talks as a disappointing “charade”.

For hostage families, the deadlock means another delay in efforts to secure the release of captives still held in Gaza.

• Guest: Ruby Chen, father of 19-year-old IDF soldier Itay
• Producer: Anne Barker

Bathurst lawyer Emma Mason will today tell the story of her late teenage daughter to the UN General Assembly in the hope that other nations will follow Australia's lead on restricting access to social media for teenagers. 

Her 15 year-old daughter Tilly died by suicide after a prolonged period of bullying on social media, which included the use of fake nude imagery. 

Emma Mason speaks to us ahead of her UN address.

A warning that today's program discusses suicide. 

Then, the US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee tells us that Australia has made a very serious mistake in recognising the state of Palestine and has described US-Australia relations as reaching a "point of stress".

We'll also get reaction to yesterday's interview with a Gaza doctor with Australia's former foreign minister Bob Carr. 

And then as international calls for a ceasefire in Gaza mount, concerns have been raised about the role of Australian citizens fighting in the Israel Defense Forces.

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

In the past decade, a dramatic surge in satellite launches has left space cluttered with junk.

From Soviet-era rockets to astronaut family portraits and the ashes of Star Trek's creator, space has become earth's dumping ground. So what are we doing to clean it up?

• Guest: David Coward, Associate Professor with the International Space Centre at the University of Western Australia.
• Producer: Grace Stranger

Australians lose $32 billion a year on gambling, the highest per capita rate in the world.

And new research out this morning shows a rise not just in the numbers of Australians gambling but in the associated harm as well.

The Australian Gambling Research Centre reports more than 3 million adult Australians experienced gambling harm in the past year — from financial hardship to mental health impacts and domestic violence.Guest: Liz Neville, Director of the Australian Institute of Family Studies

Heart disease is one of Australia's biggest killers yet there's a gender gap in how best to treat the disease.

Cardiologist Dr Clare Arnott is trying to close that gap, conducting groundbreaking research using AI and mammograms to predict a woman's risk of heart disease.

She's also set up Australia's first heart clinic for women to improve the timely diagnosis and treatment of all heart conditions.

Guest: Associate Professor Clare Arnott, cardiologist, Pagent Director of Heart Lung Clinical Research at St Vincent's, Director of the Cardiovascular Program at The George Institute for Global Health

Australia is at a turning point in the fight for gender equality — that's what the Sex Discrimination Commissioner will tell the National Press Club today.

Dr Anna Cody is marking two years in the role. Noting that while there's been some progress in that time — rates of domestic, family, and sexual violence are still on the rise.

• Guest: Dr Anna Cody, Sex Discrimination Commissioner
• Producers: Grace Stranger, Lexie Jeuniewic