Category: International

Greens Offer Labor Billion Dollar Olive Branch on Housing Fund

The Greens have held out an olive branch to the federal government over the stalled Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) bill offering to halve their demands and pass the bill if the Labor will take an immediate interim freeze on rent increases and provide billions in funding for public, community, and affordable housing. The $10 billion…


PM Rules Out Referring $3 Million Higgins Compensation Payment to Anti-Corruption Body

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out referring Senator Katy Gallagher to the anti-corruption commission over a reported $3 million (US$2 million) compensation payment to former political advisor Brittany Higgins. Higgins received the payment from Gallagher’s department—in her capacity as finance minister—in December after a drawn-out saga involving rape allegations against former Liberal Party…


Kherson Residents Evacuating on Both Sides of River Frontline Following Dam Breach

Local residents in the Kherson region continued to struggle with rising floodwaters one day after a critical hydroelectric dam was breached by as-yet-unknown causes. “Everything is submerged in water: all the furniture, the fridge, food … everything is floating,” one 53-year-old resident of Kherson City, the Ukrainian-held regional capital, told Reuters. The Nova Kakhovka dam,…


We Can Celebrate Women’s Success Without Downplaying Men’s

Commentary The crowd in the open-air tourist bus gazed up at the massive granite wall towering over us in the Yosemite Valley. This was El Capitan, the setting for the movie Free Solo’s nail-biting documentary of Alex Honnold’s infamous climb. The bubbly female ranger working as our tour guide had a clear agenda for outlining the…


Economy Is in ‘Precarious State’ as New Hazards Loom, Warns World Bank

The World Bank has slashed its 2024 economic growth forecast for the United States by half, predicting that the resilient U.S. consumer is about to weaken “substantially” while warning of “new hazards” that threaten to “make matters worse” for the world. The group’s latest Global Economic Prospects report paints a gloomy picture of economic growth…


Australia Signs Deal With US to Accelerate Vaccine Development

Queensland is hoping to create home-grown vaccines and become a major international vaccine hub after a partnership was announced at an international biotech conference in the U.S. on June 7. The partnership between the University of Queensland (UQ) and Emory University in Atlanta would make Queensland a centre for the Asia Pacific region, and a significant player…


US, Japan, Philippines Hold 1st Ever Trilateral Sea Exercise to Strengthen Defense Ties

The coast guards of the United States, Japan, and the Philippines conducted their first ever trilateral exercises in the South China Sea to strengthen defense cooperation amid China’s growing assertiveness. Around 400 coast guard personnel from the three nations participated in the week-long Kaagapay maritime exercise, which began on June 1 in the Philippine waters…


Media Barred From Australian Premier’s Address to Chinese Dinner

Victorian state leader Daniel Andrews will not release speech notes from an address he delivered to Chinese dignitaries at Melbourne’s Park Hyatt on June 6. The Labor premier’s decision comes after a reporter from the Herald Sun newspaper was barred from entering the Post-Pandemic China-Australia Economic Cooperation Forum, where Andrews spoke for 30 minutes. There…


Is Vegetable Flavoured Ice Cream the New Way to Get Your Vitamins?

Vegetable-flavoured gelatos starring cauliflower and pumpkin have stirred up heated debates this week at Australia and New Zealand’s largest horticulture conference and trade show, Hort Connections, where innovative businesses used foods that would’ve otherwise been thrown away to address food waste. Three thousand attendees there sampled two flavours that were a harmonious combination of salty…


Sweeping Changes Proposed to NZ Electoral System ‘Straight From Green Party Manifesto’: ACT Leader

A panel reviewing New Zealand’s electoral system has published a set of recommendations that some politicians have said will set the stage for the country to have a permanently undemocratic government. The draft report (pdf), released on June 6, proposed major changes to modernise electoral processes and create a “fairer, clearer, and more accessible” voting…