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An investigation into alleged torture by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the West Bank has been closed without charges. It comes amid record settler violence and almost no accountability, Stephen Prager writes. #WestBank #Israel #Palestine

Israel is losing the public opinion battle in the US. Refaat Ibrahim warns that Netanyahu’s attempt to present Gaza as a war fought for all Jews risks fuelling the very anti-Jewish hostility Israel claims to oppose. #Gaza #Israel #USPolitics

Israel is losing America – and endangering JewsIsrael’s war in Gaza has eroded support across the US political spectrum, while Netanyahu’s claim to act for all Jews risks fuelling the very anti-Jewish hostility Israel says it opposes.pearlsandirritations.com

“Terrorism” is applied to enemies of the US and its allies, but rarely to western-aligned state violence. That selective language obscures power, corrupts public debate and normalises genocide, John Menadue writes. #auspol #Gaza #Terrorism

“Terrorism” is applied to enemies of the US and its allies, but rarely to western-aligned state violence. That selective language obscures power, corrupts public debate and normalises genocide, John Menadue writes. #auspol #Gaza #Terrorism

Tony Fauci’s COVID advice was shaped by evidence as it emerged. The Republican attempt to criminalise that advice is not accountability – it is vindictive politics dressed up as science, John Dwyer writes. #COVID19 #Trump #Science

The hounding of Tony Fauci shows Trump’s ugly AmericaThe attacks on Tony Fauci over COVID-19 advice, masks, gain-of-function research and rejected treatments are vindictive politics dressed up as accountability.pearlsandirritations.com

Australia spends more than $1.3 billion a year on disability employment, yet many people with high support needs remain excluded from mainstream jobs – and some can legally earn as little as $3.31 an hour, Alistair McEwin writes. #auspol #Disability #Employment

Australia is failing disabled workers – and it doesn't have toAustralia spends more than $1.3 billion a year on disability employment, yet people with high support needs remain excluded from mainstream work and can still legally be paid a fraction of the minimum wage.pearlsandirritations.com

Self-funded retirees compare term deposits, shares and managed funds. Charles Coppel argues they should also consider home electrification – an investment that cut his household energy bills by more than 80%. #auspol #Renewables #Electrification

Home electrification is an investment hiding in plain sightFor self-funded retirees, home electrification can cut energy bills, reduce exposure to petrol and gas prices, and add value to the home.pearlsandirritations.com

Comparison is not competition. The government appointed envoys for Islamophobia and antisemitism, and Muslim communities are entitled to ask whether both responses reflect equal protection, Sara Cheikh Husain writes. #auspol #Islamophobia #Antisemitism

The Hormuz crisis has exposed a stark divide: countries with fiscal, industrial and administrative capacity can shield farmers from fertiliser shocks. Poorer import-dependent states often cannot, Jianbo Wu writes. #FoodSecurity #Hormuz #Geopolitics

The Hormuz crisis has become a test of state capacityThe Hormuz crisis shows that food security now depends not only on harvests and markets, but on whether governments have the fiscal, industrial and administrative capacity to secure fertiliser supplies.pearlsandirritations.com

A new round of inquiries may expose more than corruption and mismanagement. The deeper danger is what money, secrecy and insider access have done to public trust in politics and institutions, Jack Waterford writes. #auspol #Integrity #Corruption

The truth, forced out, is more damaging than coming cleanA new round of royal commissions and public inquiries may expose not only corruption and mismanagement, but the deeper erosion of public trust in politics, parties and institutions.pearlsandirritations.com

Australia champions Indigenous rights abroad, yet the militarisation of northern Australia raises urgent questions about consultation, consent and the use of Indigenous lands for defence purposes, Henry Reynolds writes. #auspol #PineGap #IndigenousRights

The weakly supported Hague ruling anniversary statement exposed how isolated the US and Australia have become on the South China Sea. ASEAN is choosing diplomacy, not grandstanding, Geoff Raby writes. #auspol #China #ASEAN

Has China won the South China Sea?The weakly supported anniversary statement on the Hague ruling showed how isolated the US and Australia have become on the South China Sea, with ASEAN preferring diplomacy over confrontation.pearlsandirritations.com

In the final part of his six-part series on AUKUS infrastructure, Peter Briggs argues Pillar 1 cannot deliver on schedule or budget – and Australia should pause the HEU pathway and assess proven LEU alternatives. #auspol #AUKUS #Defence

AUKUS Infrastructure, part 6: It is not too late to change courseIn the final part of a six-part series on AUKUS infrastructure, Peter Briggs argues that Pillar 1 cannot deliver on schedule or budget, and that Australia should pause its HEU pathway and assess proven LEU alternatives.pearlsandirritations.com

Green steel is not just a climate opportunity. Done strategically, it could unlock investment, create regional jobs, strengthen sovereign capability and make the energy transition a national security multiplier, Elizabeth Thurbon writes. #auspol #GreenSteel #Renewables

Australia needs green energy statecraftAustralia’s iron and steel sector shows why climate policy, industrial strategy and national security now need to be governed together, not treated as separate problems.pearlsandirritations.com

China is not abandoning globalisation. It is trying to reshape it around technological self-reliance, industrial resilience and reduced strategic dependence on the West, G Venkat Raman writes. #China #Globalisation #Geopolitics

Britain’s railways helped transform the modern world, but in colonial Ghana they also carried conquest and extraction. History is harder than choosing either pride or shame, Komla Tsey writes. #History #Colonialism #WesternCivilisation

Australia cannot control wars and political upheavals overseas. But it can choose whether those conflicts are allowed to fuel suspicion, hatred and division at home, Mainul Haque writes. #auspol #Multiculturalism #SocialCohesion

AI is advancing faster than societies, laws and institutions can absorb. National regulation is not enough: the world needs international oversight, verification and shared rules, Ana Palacio writes. #AI #Technology #Governance

AI needs its own Paris AgreementAI is advancing faster than societies, laws and institutions can adapt, making international governance, verification and shared oversight essential.pearlsandirritations.com

Australia’s sky-high cigarette excise and restricted legal access to vaping have helped fuel a vast illegal nicotine market. Harm reduction, not prohibition-style denial, should guide tobacco control, Alex Wodak writes. #auspol #PublicHealth #Vaping

Time to reform Australia’s failed policy on smoking and vapingAustralia’s sky-high cigarette excise and severely restricted legal access to vaping have helped fuel a vast illegal nicotine market, undermining public health, law enforcement and government revenue.pearlsandirritations.com

Hyperscale data centres can use as much water as a small town. As AI demand grows, governments face a new test: how to allocate, monitor and protect already-stressed water resources, Delia Paul writes. #AI #Water #Sustainability

With hyperscale data centres, water governance faces its biggest challengeHyperscale data centres are adding new pressure to already stressed freshwater systems, testing whether governments can allocate, monitor and protect water fairly.pearlsandirritations.com