Saturday Extra - Separate stories podcast

This week, Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers brought together the "Economic Reform Roundtable" in Canberra to canvass ideas about to improve productivity and how to generate more prosperity.Twenty-five participants found common ground on how to speed up home building, environmental approvals, and abolish some nuisance taxes. Now the stage is set for greater tax reform to improve intergenerational inequity. 

Katherine Bennell-Pegg is one of only about 100 “space-ready” astronauts in the world. She’s also the first to be trained under the Australian flag. And this weekend she’s in Melbourne at the Now or Never Festival, speaking about The Future of Space and exploring some of the cultural moments that shaped our view of the cosmos. 

President Trump has called Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell a "numbskull" and a "stubborn mule," as he bunkers down on pressure to reduce interest rates.Last night Powell gave a much anticipated speech, responding to a challenging economic situation, insurgency within his own institution, and a hostile political climate.

Israel is calling up tens of thousands of extra reservists as it prepares to send troops to occupy Gaza City.Human rights groups and the UN warn the offensive will deepen the humanitarian crisis, with many civilians saying nowhere in Gaza is safe.Meanwhile, Hamas and Arab mediators have backed a proposed 60-day ceasefire. However Israel is yet to respond, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists on Hamas's total defeat before any deal.

After the Putin Trump summit in Alaska, Europe's most influential leaders travelled to the White House with Ukranian President Zelensky.Talks of a security guarantee for Kyiv still have little clarity, and in the last couple of days Russia has launched one of its biggest offensives on Ukraine yet.So where to from here for Ukraine?

Italy has approved plans to build the world's largest suspension bridge, to link the mainland with Sicily. The 13.5 billion Euro infrastructure project has been long delayed by debates over its scale, earthquake threats, environmental impact, and the spectre of mafia interference.The Italian government forecasts the project will create 120,000 jobs a year, and boost southern Italy's lagging economy.  Thousands of locals have been marching in protest against the plan, vowing to stop the bridge from going ahead. 

This morning Trump and Putin will give a rare joint press conference, a coup for the Russian leader who has long been isolated by the West. But how did the Alaska meeting come about, and what promise does it hold?Trump gained the ear of the Kremlin through an unlikely messenger, Belarusian dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko. Time Magazine journalist Simon Shuster sat down with President Lukashenko in July this year to understand the role he has played in brokering Trump's summit with Putin.

The Federal Labor government is insisting it will not deviate from its election mandate when it comes to economic reform.The government has instead asked others for big ideas to boost flagging national productivity and Australia's declining standard of living.Plenty of practical ideas have been offered, but can this small summit with very divergent interest groups open up space for genuine reform?

Currently, only a small percentage of known marine fish species have had their genomes sequenced. Scientists from The Minderoo Foundation in WA and Parks Australia want to change that, and have been delving into the oceans depths to capture and record floating DNA, called eDNA (environmental DNA).eDNA can reveal the presence of rare, cryptic, deep-sea or hard-to-observe species without needing to catch or see them. Scientists have discovered fish living in very unexpected places in Australian waters and have launched a public facing digital platform to show where each species were traced. 

Friday 15 August is the 80th anniversary of VP Day.But the end of World War II didn't necessarily mean peace. It ushered in a new era of conflict and violence in many parts of Asia. Phil Craig's new book 1945: The Reckoning reinterprets the impacts of World War II in Asia, focusing on how it crystallised independence movements in colonies including India, Burma, Indonesia and Taiwan.