
21 June 2025
A new cold war is sweeping across Europe – with global repercussions
The last three and more years have seen the bloodiest war on European soil for the better part of 80 years.

21 June 2025
IDF actions in Gaza directly contradict Jewish ethical tradition
The Israeli response to the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 has been massive and all-encompassing.

21 June 2025
Thai Government in turmoil over embarrassing call – Asian Media Report
In Asian media this week: Party quits Thailand’s governing coalition. Plus: Cambodia named a global cyberscam hub; Japanese PM empty-handed after Trump meeting; US tariff regime a critical test for ASEAN; New efforts to ease two-Koreas tensions; Indonesia revises history of anti-Chinese riots.

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21 June 2025
Australia’s trade survival depends on beating Trump’s tariff contagion
How does Canberra cope in a world that threatens to spin off into competing blocs and help shape a world that preserves multilateralism, even if the United States is not a constructive part of it?

21 June 2025
News Corp’s China obsession: why beating the drum is easier than thinking
Introducing our new columnist Fred Zhang, who brings you his take on the way the Australian media reports and/or mis- and under- reports on China.

21 June 2025
AUKUS submarines would be obsolete before Australia gets them
Before the drawings have been completed, new detection technology has already made RN SSN AUKUS obsolete.

21 June 2025
Beyond the rhetoric: Youth and anti-corruption efforts in Indonesia
If Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo was known for his Nawacita (nine goals), his successor Prabowo Subianto is introducing Astacita — an approach centred on eight strategic agendas, one of which focuses on eliminating corruption.

21 June 2025
Australia must turn promising refugee pilots into bold policy to meet the moment
Today, on World Refugee Day 2025, close to one in ten Australians is a refugee or descendant of someone displaced.

21 June 2025
Centrifugal forces have been unleashed in Iran
The US-Israeli surprise attack on Iran is literally and figuratively designed to unleash centrifugal forces in the Islamic Republic.

21 June 2025
What if the UN Charter fails? A world without rules is closer than we think
“We the peoples of the United Nations are determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind…” — Preamble to the UN Charter, 1945

20 June 2025
Speaking out from within: Jewish voices confront Israeli aggression
As Israel's military campaign in Gaza reaches unprecedented levels of destruction, a global wave of protest has emerged.
Latest on Palestine and Israel

21 June 2025
IDF actions in Gaza directly contradict Jewish ethical tradition
The Israeli response to the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 has been massive and all-encompassing.

20 June 2025
Speaking out from within: Jewish voices confront Israeli aggression
As Israel's military campaign in Gaza reaches unprecedented levels of destruction, a global wave of protest has emerged.

20 June 2025
Now is the time for humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza
Israel recently launched a brutal new offensive in Gaza, followed by an expanded ground offensive, killing and injuring thousands of beleaguered Palestinians.

19 June 2025
Stop Netanyahu before he gets us all killed
We could soon see several nuclear powers pitted against each other and dragging the world closer to nuclear annihilation.

17 June 2025
Imposing meaningful sanctions against Israel is not difficult
For decades, the Israeli Government has revealed itself impervious to pressure from international bodies like the United Nations and the International Criminal Court of Justice.

17 June 2025
Why targeted measures on Israeli officials won’t stop the war in Gaza
On 14 June 2025, five Western nations — Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Norway, and the United Kingdom — jointly imposed sanctions on two senior Israeli ministers: Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

16 June 2025
Australian society and the conflict for Palestine
Australia’s symbolic actions on Palestine may not change the course of the conflict, but they matter deeply at home.

15 June 2025
Sanctioning Ben-Gvir and Smotrich is but a tiny, sad step in ending the Gaza massacre
Alas and alack! Woe be unto us, for we have sinned: Five countries have imposed sanctions on Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. The war in Gaza will now stop immediately, and maybe the occupation, too, certainly the apartheid.

Israel's war against Gaza
Media coverage of the war in Gaza since October 2023 has spread a series of lies propagated by Israel and the United States. This publication presents information, analysis, clarification, views and perspectives largely unavailable in mainstream media in Australia and elsewhere.
Download the PDFLatest on China

21 June 2025
News Corp’s China obsession: why beating the drum is easier than thinking
Introducing our new columnist Fred Zhang, who brings you his take on the way the Australian media reports and/or mis- and under- reports on China.

20 June 2025
People of Pacific Rim say 'no' to US-China war
The Pacific and Pacific Rim countries have a geographical commonality. They are encircled by, or have a border with, the vast, blue, peaceful Pacific Ocean.

18 June 2025
Australia’s defence and intelligence agencies are US outposts
More than ever, Australia should have the objective capacity to determine its own defence and intelligence requirements, instead of being heavily influenced by American interests and perspective.

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