Well, the Reserve Bank finally answered our fiscal prayers this week, and announced an interest rate cut of 0.25 percent, providing relief to stretched mortgagees across the land.

But arguably no one was sweating on the rate cut more than the Albanese government, which desperately needed a strong sign that the cost of living crisis has turned a corner, and things are going to get easier for working Australians.

But is the rate cut enough, and will they reward the government for it by voting Labor at the next election? And what about the curious anomaly in the figures that has stumped even the experts.

Senior economics correspondent Shane Wright unpacks this with Jacqueline Maley, while national security correspondent Matthew Knott discusses the landmark national security speech given by ASIO boss Mike Burgess.

Audio credit:

• 'Everything everywhere all at once': ASIO details multiple security threats to Australia. SBS News.

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There is one political taboo in Germany that is so strong, it’s stood since the end of World War II. Never to allow a far-right party to rule. But as Germans head to the polls this weekend, to choose a new national leader, many do so with great anger over immigration and rising prices.

Today, Europe correspondent Rob Harris, on who is likely to win this weekend’s election. And whether the rising power of the AfD, which has used rhetoric tinged with Nazi overtones, marks the country’s return to its dark past.

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We already knew that many Australians are often eager consumers of illicit drugs, with Sydney sometimes referred to as a Cocaine Capital. The only place where it’s more expensive to buy cocaine, in the world, other than Australia, is Saudi Arabia. That’s how sought after it is.

But our police now have a new frontier in cocaine trafficking that’s keeping them on their toes.

Today, crime reporter Sally Rawsthorne on the most fearsome drug cartels that are using submarines and other methods, to bring massive amounts of cocaine into Australia.

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