SBS News In Depth

Some of the biggest names in technology are backing calls for greater caution over the development of artificial intelligence, amid warnings increasingly powerful systems could become difficult to control. The head of Anthropic, Dario Amodei, has called for stronger safeguards, while Elon Musk and OpenAI chief Sam Altman have publicly backed elements of his proposal. And the debate has reached Australia, where political leaders, technology experts and security specialists are examining what increasingly powerful AI could mean for the country and the wider Indo-Pacific.

Springtime doesn't just bring a shift in weather and more sunshine; it also marks the beginning of snake season. Australia is home to over 170 land and sea snake varieties, including around 100 venomous species and 12 that are likely to inflict a wound that causes death. In 2024-25, more than 2,100 Australians presented to hospital due to a snake bite, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. But WIRES, the Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service, says snakes generally don't attack people unless provoked. For more on this, SBS chatted with WIRES spokesperson and snake enthusiast, John Grant.

Nine years after hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people fled Myanmar, the crisis has entered a dangerous new phase. As neighbouring countries push for their repatriation, UN experts are warning it isn't safe and their home country is in a deepening humanitarian crisis.

Animation fans around the world have a rare chance to own a piece of British cinematic history as Aardman auctions off over 220 iconic puppets and memorabilia. Aardman is the studio behind such famous animated creations as Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep. The sale coincides with the studio's 50th anniversary with profits being reinvested in training a new generation of animators.

This week we have been bombarded with video footage and memories of the 9-11 terror attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. For those of us who reported on it at the time, it remains a defining moment in our lives - we will never forget it. And for many people around the world, as they watch the Twin Towers crumble and the almost incredible change in the world as a result, it is understandably something that is seared in their memories. And for many people, not just in America but around the...

Four years ago, sports fan Neha Kumar stumbled across an advertisement for the NRLW and realised she barely knew the women’s competition existed. So she decided to do something about it. The Fijian-Indian Australian created Watch Her Footy, a social media platform dedicated to women’s rugby league that now has around 23-thousand followers.

August 2026 was the world’s joint hottest month ever recorded, pushing global temperatures back above 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels. In Italy, glaciologists say that heat is accelerating the retreat of Alpine glaciers, with one Lombardy glacier losing 31 metres this year and some monitoring delayed because the melt season hasn’t yet ended.

More home sellers are abandoning auctions

More vendors are switching to private treaty after testing the changing property market.

Hosted by Ricardo Gonçalves, this episode examines why more home sellers are moving from auction to private treaty. Domain’s Nicola Powell explains the changing sales strategy in a conversation with Tom Kennedy, while Peak Asset Management’s Niv Dagan unpacks the ASX 200’s 1 per cent fall and the pressure from oil prices above US$100 a barrel.

A new report by the Climate Council has projected that sea level rise will threaten more than 267,000 Australian properties over the next century. Rising sea levels are forecast to impact every state and the Northern Territory, with researchers saying coastal Queensland is at particular risk.

The AfD wins big in German elections, the first time for a far-right party since World War II. 12 countries, including the UK, France and Canada have announced a trade ban on all goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, will others follow suit? And Nepal struggles to grapple with the scale of devastation from flash floods. Plus, the award-winning research into cockroach milk.

Royal Life Saving Australia and Surf Life Saving Australia have released their national drowning report, revealing 313 lives lost in Australian waterways over the past 12 months. The figures have prompted calls to address growing inequalities, with drowning rates significantly higher in regional and remote areas than in major cities.

Last year, Australian police recorded almost 40,000 reports of sexual assault, down one per cent from the record high recorded in 2024. Six out of ten occurred outside family or intimate partner relationships, highlighting sexual assault as a distinct national problem. These are some of the statistics highlighted in the Domestic, Family and Sexual Commissioner's annual update to parliament. It's the Commission's third update since 2022, when Labor launched its plan to end gender-based violence in a generation. To hear more, SBS reporter Tee Mitchell spoke to Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner, Micaela Cronin.

Reports of sexual violence in Australia have reached their highest level in 33 years, according to the latest report by the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission. Experts say that migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum can face higher barriers to disclosing domestic and family violence. It's sparked calls for more education and funding to support culturally-responsive support services. And a warning, this story contains references to family and domestic violence.

Independent Fatima Payman earlier this year became the first ever WA senator to give birth while serving parliament. While she isn't the first person in the Parliament to find a way to make it work, it's always a challenge to balance the requirements of Parliament with the needs of a young baby. Now, as Canberra sits once agai, she's been talking to SBS reporter Chris Tan to talk about motherhood, politics and in a political environment that's highly charged around the topic of multiculturalism and migrants... the kind of Australia she wants to leave for her daughter.

Oil nears $US100 a barrel after attacks on Saudi infrastructure, raising inflation fears and the Australian dollar.

Ricardo Gonçalves examines the forces pushing oil prices higher and what they could mean for motorists, with Betashares Senior Investment Strategist Cameron Gleeson. They also unpack the Australian sharemarket’s six-week low, changing interest rate forecasts and the Australian dollar’s rise against major currencies.

More than 30 medical research institutes have joined forces for Australia’s first Medical Research Giving Day, amid warnings about the financial sustainability of the sector. Researchers say funding shortfalls could slow the search for new treatments, earlier diagnoses and better care for patients and families across Australia.

Before sunrise on the French Riviera, inside a quiet hilltop museum once home to Pierre‑Auguste Renoir, thieves slipped through a garden fence and into the headlines. They intended to take 12 Renoir Paintings, but managed to get four. And as police swarmed in, dropped two while making a panicked escape. Now the art world is once again asking: Who steals masterpieces they can never sell?

It's been 25 years since nearly 3,000 people were killed in the September 11 attacks, which triggered the US-led War on Terror and drew Australia into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. A quarter-of-a-century later, former prime minister John Howard and security experts say the terrorist threat has evolved into something far more complex.

It's been 25 years since nearly 3,000 people were killed in the September 11 attacks, which triggered the US-led War on Terror and drew Australia into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. A quarter-of-a-century later, former prime minister John Howard and security experts say the terrorist threat has evolved into something far...

Major sporting events have always had a special place in Melbourne. It's the home of the AFL grand final, Australian Open tennis, Formula One's season opening race and the Melbourne Cup, just to name a few. And this Friday morning it will become the host of an historic NFL game. It's the culmination of sporting connections between a major American sport and Australia that goes back to 1908.

New research has put a dollar value on the benefits of providing settlement supports to humanitarian migrants. A report from Deloitte Access Economics found providing support early is the key to improving economic outcomes, as well as education, skills and well being. Here's what you need to know.

In this episode of SBS On the Money, Ricardo Gonçalves speaks with Matt Hassan, Senior Economist at Westpac, about how Australia’s residential property wealth has fallen for the first time in four years, and what it means for homeowners, spending and interest rates. The Australian sharemarket also hits a six-week low, with Stuart Roberts from Stocks Down Under unpacking the market moves, while a weaker French wine harvest could soon mean higher prices for champagne as wine economist Kym Anderson tells Tom Kennedy.

One Nation has proposed a policy to allow homeowners and renters to unlock some of their super to pay pressing bills. The government has moved to scuttle the policy, while the opposition and economists have warned it will drive up inflation, and cause more interest rate rises that will increase cost of living pressures further.

Daniel Martin from Alvia Asset Management goes through today's Australian share market action including plans for Kogan.com CEO Ruslan Kogan to restructure his pay, which would see him receiving the minimum wage.

As Australia settles into spring, experts are urging people not to let their guard down against seasonal illnesses. Respiratory illnesses continue to circulate among populations, with higher spring pollen levels also expected to trigger asthma and allergy symptoms. Here's what you need to know.

Veterans’ advocate groups have descended on Canberra to protest against a proposed cap on allied health services. A series of decorated former service members laid down their medals in a symbolic show of resistance. The government continues to resist the pressure, as the Coalition throws its weight behind veterans.

The Alternative for Germany Party, or AfD has celebrated surging into first place in exit polls from the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt putting a far-right party on the cusp of power at state level for the first time since World War Two. It has emerged as the strongest political force in the eastern German state but apparently has fallen short of the absolute majority it had sought to govern alone.

Eleven days after an ice-rock avalanche triggered a deadly mudslide in Nepal, two more survivors have been found alive. It's a rare sign of hope in a disaster that has killed more than 1,300 people and left nearly 4,900 others missing, including 36 Australians.

SBS reporter Natalie Poyhonen speaks to Professor Leslie Loble from UTS, previously a deputy secretary in the NSW department of Education, about for the future of teaching, research and learning in the age of Artificial Intelligence.

Housing affordability in Australia has fallen to its worst level on record, with new data showing homeowners in some capital cities are spending more than 60 per cent of their income on mortgage repayments. SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves speaks with HIA Senior Economist Tom Devitt about what's driving the affordability crunch and whether easing home values could bring relief. Plus, with the Australian sharemarket closing lower despite an early lift from Wall Street and the Australian dollar hitting a four-month high, Jacqui Newman, Head of Capital Markets at Sharsies, breaks down the day's key market moves.

In the first national study of its kind, a new report by the University of Melbourne's BlakAbility team, examined the experiences of Indigenous people with lived experience of incarceration and disability. SBS reporter Yasmine Alwakal speaks to researchers Dr Sharon Kerr and Ngiyampaa and Wiradjuri woman, Dr Roslyn Sackley on their findings.

It was a week of diplomacy dominated by security, climate change and growing competition for influence in the Pacific. But as issues involving China and Taiwan repeatedly pushed their way onto the agenda of the forum - are the regional tensions a litmus test for the 18-member forum?

Tributes have poured in from around the world hailing Gloria Steinem as a "hero" after her death at the age of 92. Steinem is being remembered as one of the trailblazers for women's equality.

SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves speaks with Tony Weber, of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, about the latest trends shaping Australia’s car market. Then, as the Australian sharemarket snaps a three-day losing streak with gains led by the banking sector, David Lane from Focus Partners joins the podcast to unpack the day’s market action and what investors should watch next.

Nepal’s new government struggles under a cataclysmic landslide and blames climate change. Iceland says no to even considering EU membership and the Pacific Islands Forum in disarray over Taiwan’s presence. Plus, a very un-Norwegian royal.

More than four years into the war, fighting between Russia and Ukraine is reaching new heights.

Pill testing is set to be rolled out at a range of music festivals in New South Wales this summer. But there are now questions about how the rest of Australia will handle the issue - and whether it goes too far or not far enough.

Australia’s economy grew 0.4 per cent in the June quarter, but Westpac senior economist Ryan Wells explains why weak productivity and inflationary labour costs could still bring another interest rate rise. Plus, Perpetual Head of Investment Strategy Matt Sherwood breaks down the Australian sharemarket’s 1 per cent fall as rising oil prices reignited global inflation concerns.

At the Pacific Islands Forum, the government announced a $600 million dollar package to fight fight trans-national drug trafficking in the Pacific. Political correspondent Naveen Razik speaks to leading crime expert from Honiara - Virginia Comolli about the situation on the ground and how it's caused in part by the huge market for illicit substances in Australia

As bird flu takes hold across Australia, experts are warning of widespread mortality in native species, based on how the virus has ripped through environments overseas. The disease rarely infects humans, but it could drive a rise in eco-anxiety, especially among communities that are closely connected with nature.

The United States and Iran are talking about diplomacy, while exchanging increasingly severe threats and attacks. Washington says its latest strikes are retaliation, Tehran says its response is not over, and countries across the Gulf are trying to stop the confrontation escalating further. But as the diplomatic language continues, so too does the human cost.