US President Donald Trump's announcement this week that the United States will ease wide-ranging sanctions on Syria sparked celebrations in the capital, Damascus. Syrians are hopeful for relief after years of impoverishment by civil war and restrictions. The sanctions were a major obstacle to Syria's economic recovery and post-war reconstruction, and their lifting can bring much-needed investment to the country.

A touring documentary tells the story of Maya Gabeira, the first woman to surf the giant wave in Nazaré, Portugal. She nearly drowns in her early attempts but goes on to become the first female surfer honoured with a Guinness World Record in big wave surfing.

The man behind the camera was Australian cinematographer Tim Bonython whose life-long passion has been capturing local and international surfing - all the beauty, fear and drama of the aquatic landscape.

The leadership of the Liberals, Nationals and Greens and the division of roles on the Labor frontbench are all still up in the air after a turbulent post-election week.

The Liberals will meet to decide between Angus Taylor and Sussan Ley on Tuesday, the same day the new ministry will be sworn in, with the Greens to meet on Thursday

A post election wrap with Jane Norman, ABC National Affairs correspondent and Professor Mark Kenny, Australian Studies Institute, ANU

The Liberal party room has agreed "in principle" to the four policy demands issued by Nationals leader David Littleproud, leaving open the possibility of a reconciliation of the Coalition just days after it appeared to have broken up.

In the restoration of Donald Trump, many historians see echoes of ugly chapters in the American story. The 1830s, and the presidency of Andrew Jackson,  a Democrat who rode roughshod over Congress and the Supreme Court and the 1930s, which saw a resurgence of the American far right. Ahead of her talk at Sydney's UTS Vice-Chancellor's Democracy Forum, renowned historian Sarah Churchwell unpacks the national narratives that have shaped the U.S.

As Israel announces plans to seize all of Gaza under an expanded military operation, its former prime minister Ehud Olmert has unveiled a new peace plan at this week's People's Peace Summit in Jerusalem, seventeen years after he drew up an ambitious plan for a two state solution.

Guest: Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert

India and Pakistan are locked in their most intense military conflict in decades, as the US and other countries urge both sides to de-escalate

The two nuclear-armed states have been exchanging gunfire and shelling across their borders while also deploying missiles and drones, causing civilian casualties on both sides. 

Pope Leo XIV has held his first mass as leader of the Catholic church. Robert Francis Prevost, the first American born pope,  has delivered his much anticipated first homily as pope. The 69-year-old, who has spent much of his life in Peru, was elected by his fellow cardinals this week, during a secret conclave after the death of his predecessor, Pope Francis.

In 1998 writer David Malouf delivered a profound reflection on Australian democracy as part of the ABC Boyer Lectures. He spoke of the country’s “citizenship, lightly but seriously assumed” and described election day as a ritual suffused with neighbourliness and calm; a defence against political extremism. 

As Australians head to the polls today, David Malouf reflects on the distinctiveness of the nation’s democratic model, his changing views on compulsory voting and whether that same “spirit of holiday” still hovers over the ballot box. 

Polls have opened in Melbourne's bayside electorate of Goldstein where there'll be a highly anticipated rematch between Teal independent MP Zoe Daniel and Liberal candidate Tim Wilson.