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3 December 2025
America’s justification for attacking Venezuela: Part 1 – a calculated insult to us all
The United States’ escalating actions against Venezuela reveal more about imperial power, criminal methods and strategic denial than any genuine concern about drugs or rule of law.
3 December 2025
Brave ACT shows restorative justice for sex offenders can work
A major Australian Institute of Criminology evaluation shows restorative justice in the ACT has improved victim wellbeing and significantly reduced reoffending in domestic and sexual violence cases.
3 December 2025
Expert independent evidence-based assessment
This month we are asking readers to support our work through a tax deductible donation via the Australian Cultural Fund. Regular author, Michael Keating writes about the value of Pearls and Irritations.
Launching Pearlcasts
The 50th Anniversary of the Dismissal of the Whitlam Government
We kick off with a topic close to our hearts, the 50th anniversary of the Dismissal of the Whitlam Government. We have three of the best sources in the nation taking part: our editor-in-chief John Menadue – the living link to the scandal and the nation’s top public servant at the time; Jenny Hocking, author of The Palace Letters and Australia’s pre-eminent Dismissal historian; and Brian Toohey, the journalist who has dug deepest into the darkest elements of the events.
Go to Pearlcasts
3 December 2025
Coalition’s Australian values test is the ultimate dog whistle
Sussan Ley’s so-called “values test” exposes the Coalition’s desperation to court the far-Right under the guise of patriotism.
3 December 2025
The politics of forgetting: Australia, Gaza and moral silence
From the “Great Australian Silence” to Gaza, deliberate forgetting has long provided political cover for injustice. Silence, not ignorance, is the problem.
3 December 2025
Global campaign amplifies call for the release of jailed Palestinian leader Barghouti
An international campaign is calling for the release of Palestinian political figure Marwan Barghouti, arguing his freedom could reshape Palestinian politics and revive peace efforts.
3 December 2025
Afghanistan silence is a dangerous illusion
As Afghanistan disappears from global headlines, media neglect enables extremist resurgence, regional instability, and a deepening humanitarian crisis.
3 December 2025
UK–US drug deal risks turning the NHS into a casualty of Trump trade politics
A new agreement with the Trump administration would force Britain’s National Health Service to pay billions more for medicines to avoid tariffs – prompting outrage from MPs, health experts and patient advocates.
3 December 2025
What charges does Benjamin Netanyahu face, and what’s at stake if he is granted a pardon?
Benjamin Netanyahu has requested a pardon while still on trial for corruption. The move raises serious questions about legal accountability, judicial independence and political survival.
3 December 2025
What the ICJ’s climate law decision means for Australia
A landmark advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice clarifies that states have a duty under international law to prevent climate harm – with serious implications for Australia’s fossil fuel approvals and future litigation.
2 December 2025
Charting Trump's decline
New polling reveals a clear and sustained decline in public approval of Trump and his policies that is already reshaping US electoral prospects, with significant implications for Congress and beyond.
Latest on Palestine and Israel
3 December 2025
Global campaign amplifies call for the release of jailed Palestinian leader Barghouti
An international campaign is calling for the release of Palestinian political figure Marwan Barghouti, arguing his freedom could reshape Palestinian politics and revive peace efforts.
3 December 2025
What charges does Benjamin Netanyahu face, and what’s at stake if he is granted a pardon?
Benjamin Netanyahu has requested a pardon while still on trial for corruption. The move raises serious questions about legal accountability, judicial independence and political survival.
1 December 2025
‘Genocide is not over,’ Amnesty leader says as Israel keeps bombing Gaza
“So far, there is no indication that Israel is taking serious measures to reverse the deadly impact of its crimes and no evidence that its intent has changed.”
29 November 2025
Gaza’s true death toll could be 126,000 or even higher
New research suggests Gaza’s death toll may be far higher than widely reported, with devastating implications for life expectancy, poverty and accountability.
25 November 2025
The ceasefire that isn’t: 400 violations in 40 days
Israel has violated the ceasefire in Gaza hundreds of times since October, using vague or unverified justifications to carry out strike in a recurring pattern of escalation and impunity.
23 November 2025
The UN embraces colonialism: the Security Council and the US Gaza plan
The Security Council's backing of the Trump plan for Gaza ignores international law, punishes the Palestinians, and rewards those responsible for genocide.
21 November 2025
UN Members complicit in genocide
UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese discusses why, in her most recent report, she called out more than 60 nations for their collective-crime roles in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
20 November 2025
UN approval of Gaza ‘Stabilisation Force’ slammed as ‘Denial of Palestinian self-determination’
CodePink said the plan “will leave Palestine in the hands of a puppet administration, assigning the United States, which shares complicity in the genocide, as the new manager of the open-air prison.”
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
1 December 2025
How soybeans became a fault line in China’s food security
China now buys 60 per cent of the world’s soybeans. That dependency shapes its food security strategy – and its trade battles with the United States.
30 November 2025
New architecture, old assumptions: Australia and the China question
Foreign Minister Penny Wong speaks of balance, equality and a new regional order – yet Australia’s China policy still carries Cold War assumptions that risk strategy, prosperity and peace.
29 November 2025
A Chinese visit, a security panic, and a silent media
The visit of China’s third-ranking leader should have prompted serious discussion about diplomacy and economic relations. Instead, Australia’s media fixated on security theatrics and fed a familiar cycle of fear.
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Latest letters to the editor
Sir Humphrey and international law
Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041
A simple solution
Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041
Can he stay or will he go
Hal Duell — Alice Springs
Government funding of private schools should be phased out
Elizabeth Sprigg — Glen Iris, Victoria