The Morning Edition

This week, the federal Opposition ruled out co-operating with the government on legislation to cap the number of international students coming to study at Australian universities.  Both Labor and the Coalition say that international student numbers need to come down, to ease pressure on housing and infrastructure. But Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said Labor’s bill was flawed because it favoured the big Group of eight universities at the expense of regional unis.  Dutton promised the Opposition will impose bigger cuts on international students than Labor, and he said that the best way to bring down migration numbers is to vote for the Coalition at the next election. So what will the central issues of the next election be? When is it likely to be? Joining Jacqueline Maley to discuss is political correspondent Paul Sakkal and federal politics reporter Natassia Crysanthos. Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter [https://www.smh.com.au/link/follow-20170101-p5apym]. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ [https://subscribe.smh.com.au/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

A new geopolitical order has been slowly rearranging itself, beneath our feet. Though many of us might not have been looking closely enough to notice it. It’s a new, so-called “axis of evil”, made up of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. For the first time since the Cold War ended, these four autocracies are working together in an aggressive military partnership. In the latest instance, it’s to fight a proxy war against Ukraine.  Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher, on how a Donald Trump presidency might impact the West’s fight against this “axis of evil”. And the events in the last week that illustrate what Australia and its allies are up against.   Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ [https://subscribe.smh.com.au/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Health officials have warned us of the potential health risks of vaping for a while now. But, a joint investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and 60 Minutes has uncovered an even bigger problem. Organised criminals, infuriated pharmacists and a government struggling to crack down on vaping, particularly among young Australians, are at war. Today, investigative journalist Eryk Bagshaw, on whether this perfect storm is creating a new generation of nicotine addicts. And undoing decades of work by health officials, who have, until now, caused cigarette usage to plummet. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ [https://subscribe.smh.com.au/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

On the same radio station that Alan Jones wielded his extraordinary power, his arrest played out live on air. Just after 8am, during the middle of his old radio spot, investigative journalist Kate McClymont broke the news that the former broadcaster - who was the most successful and feared of his time - was in the custody of police.  McClymont, whose work sparked the police investigation, revealed in our mastheads last year that the controversial broadcaster allegedly indecently assaulted, groped or inappropriately touched multiple young men. Today, Kate McClymont brings us the latest on this significant development and what happens from here. And just a warning, this episode contains descriptions of alleged sexual assault. Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service [https://www.1800respect.org.au/]  [https://www.1800respect.org.au/](1800RESPECT) on 1800 737 732.   Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ [https://subscribe.smh.com.au/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Women in Afghanistan have had their freedoms crushed by the Taliban, which has enacted rules that chip away at their basic human rights. They’ve long been banned from studying, working, going to a salon or a gym. But over the last few months, the regime has cracked down even further, by implementing a raft of new “vice and virtue” laws. Women are now forbidden from speaking or even praying in public. They’re also not allowed to show their bare faces in public, or to be heard singing or reading aloud. Even from inside their own homes. Today, Australian National University scholar Susan Hutchinson, and human rights lawyer Azadah Raz Mohammad, on what these new laws have made life like for women in Afghanistan. And the global push by countries, including Australia, to hold the Taliban to account. Read/watch/listen * 'If we can't speak, why live?' - BBC meets women after new Taliban law [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20rq73p3z4o]. * Malala: what’s happening to Afghan girls and women is ‘gender apartheid’ [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgINZlkN30s], MSNBC. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ [https://subscribe.smh.com.au/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.