ABC News Daily

From a press secretary who lasted just five days to a dramatic pivot to Putin, Donald Trump has unleashed a fresh wave of chaos inside the White House. So, with the US midterms looming, is he still holding out for a so-called 'October surprise' that could turn things around. Today, staff writer at The Atlantic, David A. Graham on a woeful past week for the US President and whether voters are simply sick of the chaos.

Melbourne-born academic Tristan Buckmaster says he was maybe just one month away from solving the Navier-Stokes equation, a maths problem so difficult there was a million-dollar prize on offer for anyone who could. But just as the New York University professor and his collaborator, a mathematician affiliated with AI company Anthropic, were closing in on a solution, OpenAI claimed a breakthrough of its own. Today we speak to Tristan about his dispute with Open AI and the future of mathematics.Featured: Dr Tristan Buckmaster, Professor of Mathematics at New York University

The US president says he’s still deciding whether to livestream the execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 unarmed US soldiers in a 2009 shooting. It comes as Tennessee officials grapple with the aftermath of the botched execution of death row inmate Christa Pike last month. Today, law and capital punishment expert, Austin Sarat, on what these two cases say about the future of capital punishment in the US. Featured: Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College

With the military campaign failing to force Iran to backdown, Donald Trump has been turning up the economic pressure, hoping to cripple the country’s economy and force an end to the war. But despite Iran’s currency plunging to record lows, the regime is showing little sign of capitulating. Today, an expert on Iran’s economy Djavad Salehi-Isfahani on how long the regime and the Iranian people can hold on. Featured: Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, Professor of Economics at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

An electric car is now being sold every 100 seconds, with sales roughly doubling in the second quarter of this year and outstripping petrol and diesel cars for the first time in August.But as motorists look to escape soaring fuel costs, partly due to the Iran war, do we have the chargers needed to sustain the rapid surge? Today, ABC energy reporter Daniel Mercer on the plans for a mass rollout of EV infrastructure and who should pay for it. Featured: Dan Mercer, ABC energy reporter

Donald Trump has told voters to ‘pretend’ he is on the ballot at the midterm elections which are now less than a month away. But that’s not useful for some Republican candidates who’ve been trying to distance themselves from the President, given his declining polling numbers. Today, staff writer at the Atlantic magazine, David A. Graham on whether there’ll be a blue wave come November with the Democrats taking control of the House and the Senate.Featured: David A. Graham, The Atlantic magazine staff writer

Donald Trump says the US is in an AI race against China and he doesn’t want regulation that would risk American dominance. But Beijing is taking a very different approach with the Chinese Communist Party exerting tight control over the sector. Today, Alvin Wang Graylin from Stanford’s Human-centered AI institute on what that means for which country is best place to stop AI going rogue. Featured: Alvin Wang Graylin, Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute and a digital fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing renewed political scrutiny after media investigations reported that he and his government were warned about an impending large-scale Hamas attack before October 7. The reports say Egypt’s former intelligence chief travelled to Jerusalem days before the attack to issue a warning, while the UAE president allegedly alerted Netanyahu personally. Netanyahu has dismissed the claims as ‘absolute lies.’Today, Hussein Ibish from the Arab Gulf States Institute on what the allegations could mean for Netanyahu, with an election due in Israel this month. Featured: Hussein Ibish, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute.

Donald Trump has promised he can use his negotiating skills to end wars.But his approach is facing a major test on two fronts.He’s rejected Iran’s latest proposal to halt the fighting and reopen negotiations, while there’s still no breakthrough in efforts to get Russia and Ukraine back to a peace deal.Today, international relations expert Rajan Menon on whether the president can actually deliver peace in either conflict.Featured: Rajan Menon, Professor Emeritus of International Relations at the City College of New York

The Australian government is grappling with how to safeguard sensitive data, after revelations an AI agent controlled by OpenAI accessed private Medicare statistics. It took months for a breach to be identified and alerted to the highest levels of government and comes as the world grapples with controlling the rapid growth of AI technology. Today, national security and AI policy expert Olivia Shen, on whether governments can keep up with the accelerating advance of AI. Featured: Olivia Shen, Director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.

Another string of suspected domestic violence attacks across a single weekend has once again seen the number of women and children killed this year climb. And, once again, their deaths have turned up the volume of calls for governments to do more to prevent domestic, family and sexual violence. Today, ABC political reporter Claudia Long on why, despite decades of effort, federal and state governments are still struggling with how to stop these tragic outcomes. Featured: Claudia Long, ABC political reporter

Robotaxis have arrived on the streets of London, San Francisco and Beijing as rideshare companies expand into driverless transport. But the roll out hasn't been without speedbumps.So, when could we see this innovation in transport arrive in Australia, and are our roads and regulations ready for it?Today, Michael Milford, professor of robotics and director of the QUT Centre for Robotics on why autonomous taxis could soon be on our roads.Featured:Michael Milford, Director of the QUT Centre for Robotics

Pauline Hanson has spent the week offending everyone from Andrew Hastie to the Prime Minister and Indigenous Australians, drawing widespread condemnation. But is hitting back at her personally the best way to respond? Today, Sean Kelly, columnist and former adviser to Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd on the way major parties are shifting their approach to Pauline Hanson and One Nation. Featured: Sean Kelly, columnist for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald and former Labor prime minister advisor.