In the first week of summer, dozens of homes have been destroyed in bushfires; at Dolphin Sands in Tasmania, on the New South Wales Central Coast, and at Bulahdelah, north of Newcastle where a firefighter also died. A local builder at Koolewong in New South Wales noted that a recently constructed home, built to modern fire safety standards, was left standing while others around it burned to the ground. Today, the ABC’s Central Coast reporter Sarah Forster on the homes that were lost in Saturday’s fire and an expert on building houses in high bushfire risk areas.Featured: Sarah Forster, ABC Central Coast reporter Colin Wood, member of the Standards Australia committee for the construction of buildings in bushfire-prone areas
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15:33
The e-bike problem on our roads (and footpaths)
They’re a cheaper and convenient alternative to driving a car, but some e-bike riders are causing massive headaches for other road users and police. A string of serious injuries and deaths in e-bike crashes, particularly involving children, is fuelling calls for a crackdown. Today, Geoff Rose from the Monash Institute of Transport Studies on the influx of illegal e-bikes on the roads.Featured: Geoff Rose, Adjunct Professor in Transport Engineering at Monash University
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15:23
The reality of the teen social media ban
Parents and teens are preparing for life cut off from social media when Australia’s world first ban for under-16s officially starts on Wednesday. The government has admitted it will take time to remove everyone aged under 16 from the platforms and it’s becoming clear older users could get caught in the net. So, how can you prove that you’re old enough to use the 10 platforms being targeted and how will teens get around the restrictions? Today, Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson, a tech reporter at the Australian Associated Press on what you need to know as the ban kicks in and why it could get messy.Featured: Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson, AAP technology reporterCorrection: The social media ban officially starts on Wednesday 10th December, not Thursday.
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Is Trump about to go to war with Venezuela?
The United States has deployed 15,000 troops and sent warships to the Caribbean in the biggest military build-up there since the Cuban Missile Crisis.It follows months of deadly US strikes on boats from Venezuela it says are smuggling drugs.Today, Latin America expert Orlando Pérez from the University of North Texas on why Donald Trump is turning up the pressure on Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro and why toppling him won’t be easy.Featured: Orlando J. Pérez, Professor of Political Science at the University of North Texas in Dallas
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Can farmers take on transmission towers and win?
Australia’s renewable energy transition is well underway with new poles, wires and transmission towers planned across the country.But some farmers say they’re being pressured and harassed to hand over land for the infrastructure to get electricity from where it’s generated to where it’s used. Today, reporter Alysia Thomas-Sam from ABC’s 7.30 program on the farmers pushing back at the farm gate and climate reporter Jess Davis on why transmission towers need to run through farmland.Featured: Alysia Thomas-Sam, 7.30 reporterJess Davis, ABC climate reporter
ABC News Daily is the podcast that helps you understand the issues affecting your world. Every episode, host Samantha Hawley walks through one story with the help of an ABC colleague or expert in under 15 minutes. When you want coverage you can trust, listen to ABC News Daily.
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