Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Noah Eliot Vanderhoeven, PhD Candidate, Political Science, Western University

The next major international sporting event, the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup hosted jointly by the United States, Canada and Mexico, is already garnering international scrutiny. There have been numerous calls to boycott it.

Calls for a boycott were amplified recently following U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland from Denmark, prompting soccer officials in Germany and France to broach the possibility of both countries boycotting the tournament.

Both countries’ soccer federations have pushed back against calls to boycott the World Cup for now, although recent events in Minneapolis have heightened concerns about the U.S.’ role in hosting the tournament and what that will mean for visitors.

Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter — who was suspended by FIFA in 2015 and replaced by current FIFA president Gianni Infantino amid a corruption scandal he was later acquitted of — recently voiced concerns over the marginalization of political opponents and violent crackdowns on immigration in the U.S.

The World Cup has historically been an event that brings together fans from across the world. Many fans rely on tourist visas, and ICE is expected to be responsible for security at the World Cup. ICE’s director has refused to commit to pausing the agency’s operations during the tournament.

Human rights groups have raised concerns over whether World Cup visitors will be detained and handed to ICE if they engage in actions deemed critical of the U.S. government.

Boycotts at international sporting events

In the history of international sporting events, boycotts have been far less common than bans.

Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary and the Ottoman Empire were not invited to attend the 1920 Olympic games after losing the First World War.

South Africa was invited to the 1964 Tokyo Games but saw their invitation rescinded due to apartheid, and only rejoined Olympic competition in 1992. Rhodesia saw its invitation to the 1972 Games rescinded due to its government enacting a white supremacist regime.

Notably, both instances of rescinded invitations to the Olympic Games came after other African nations threatened to boycott the Games if South Africa and Rhodesia were invited to participate.

There were also partial boycotts at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Several nations announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics to protest China’s mistreatment of the Uyghur Muslims, prohibiting many government officials from attending in an official capacity, while still permitting athletes to compete. Russia has been banned from most major international sports competitions since it invaded Ukraine in 2022.

However, the most famous boycott of an international sporting event occurred in 1980 ahead of the Summer Olympics in Moscow following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. More than 60 countries boycotted those Games, led by the U.S. In turn, 19 countries boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, led by the Soviet Union and other Eastern bloc countries.

Yet there has never been a World Cup boycott by qualified teams on political grounds. In 1934, Uruguay famously chose not to travel to the second-ever World Cup in Italy because several European teams, including Italy, declined to travel to Uruguay for the inaugural tournament in 1930.

Prior to the 1966 World Cup, all African teams withdrew from qualifying in protest because FIFA had only allocated all of the teams from Africa, Asia and Oceania one combined place at the tournament. There were calls for Norway to boycott the 2022 Men’s World Cup in Qatar, but they did not qualify for the tournament.

How likely is a boycott?

As of yet, no leaders of major soccer federations have endorsed calls for their country to boycott the tournament, despite pressure from some executives and politicians. It would likely take decisive action from a federation head, akin to the action President Jimmy Carter took prior to the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, to arrive at a country boycotting.

Furthermore, given the relationship Trump has built up with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, the effect of a boycott, or any credible threats of one, on the United States’ immigration policy or hosting responsibilities would likely be rather limited, making a boycott an unpopular decision that may not achieve the desired goal of any boycotting nation.

Infantino attended Trump’s inauguration and controversially awarded Trump FIFA’s inaugural Peace Prize. More recently, he signed an agreement with Trumps’ Board of Peace on behalf of FIFA.

Infantino was also a staunch defender of Qatar’s building practices in the face of heavy human rights criticism and was willing to change FIFA’s policies at the last minute to acquiesce to Qatar’s demands for limited alcohol sales during the 2022 Men’s World Cup.

Trump could still escalate geopolitical tensions enough to spark further boycott discussions. But for now, a boycott remains unlikely, and even credible threats would likely do little to shift Infantino and Trump from the status quo.

– ref. Calls for a boycott of the 2026 FIFA World Cup are growing, but how realistic is one? – https://theconversation.com/calls-for-a-boycott-of-the-2026-fifa-world-cup-are-growing-but-how-realistic-is-one-275785

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milan Klöwer, NERC Independent Research Fellow, University of Oxford

Air travel is famously one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise, and the number of air passengers keeps increasing. Electric planes and “sustainable” aviation fuels are still a long way off making a dent in the industry’s emissions – if they ever will.

But new research by me and my colleagues shows aviation could still cut its climate impact dramatically, simply by using planes more efficiently. In fact, rethinking cabin layouts alone could slash emissions by up to half.

From 1980 to 2019, the share of occupied seats in commercial air planes increased from 63% to 82%. Airlines already have strong commercial incentives to sell every seat – empty ones cost money as well as carbon.

For any given level of passenger travel, carrying more people on each flight means other planes can stay grounded and fewer flights are needed overall. It’s planes that make the big difference, not people – the additional weight of a passenger and their luggage is negligible relative to the aircraft and its fuel.

Aviation is responsible for 2%-3% of global CO₂, but its contribution to global warming is about 4% when secondary effects like condensation trails (which trap heat) are factored in. This impact is dominated by rich people flying frequently, often long-haul in business and first class or even private.

Efficiency in aviation is often thought of as an engineering challenge: how much thrust an engine generates for a given amount of jet fuel. But operational efficiency – the amount of passenger-kilometres per unit of CO₂ emitted – has received far less attention.

In our research, my colleagues and I calculated this operational efficiency for the year 2023, for every flight route, by airline, aircraft model and airport. We found that efficiency gains available in the short term could reduce aviation’s climate impact by more than half.

Short empty flights are the least fuel-efficient

On average, aviation emissions fell from around 260 grams of CO₂ per paying passenger-kilometre in 1980 to 90 grams in 2019. That’s a big difference, but for comparison, electrified rail powered by low-carbon energy can emit less than 5 grams.

Our analysis shows that CO₂ efficiency varies enormously across routes, regions, airports, airlines and aircraft models. Some flight routes emit more than 800 grams per passenger-kilometre, others less than 50. This variability is staggering but also yields a large potential to reduce emissions if efficiency across the industry increased towards that of the most efficient routes we analysed.

Among the highest emitting countries, many of the least efficient flights start or land in the US, followed by China, Germany and Japan. Inefficient flights are common elsewhere, particularly from or to smaller airports, and in Africa and Oceania, often exceeding 140g per passenger-kilometre.

By contrast, more efficient flights – below 100 grams per passenger-kilometre – are common in Brazil, India and south-east Asia, particularly on high volume routes. Europe contains a mix of both.

These differences can be explained by the share of occupied seats, the aircraft models used on a route and the cabin layout – especially the space allocated for business and first class.

Budget airlines tend to be more efficient as they seat as many passengers as possible. Spacious business or first class seats are often removed and revenue is instead generated through services such as baggage, food or booking flexibility – all of which add little to flight emissions.

We also found a few newer aircraft models to be the most efficient in operation (Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus 320neo, both in several variants) averaging less than 65 grams of CO₂ per passenger-kilometre. However, they are not (yet) the most widely used, partly because aircraft typically remain in service for around 25 years.

Long-haul flights are on average more efficient than shorter flights. Take-off emissions only occur once, and larger aircraft with more seats are typically used on longer routes. For similar reasons, larger airports tend to have lower average emissions per passenger.

Increasing air travel efficiency

We modelled three hypothetical scenarios to illustrate the potential of certain operational changes, recalculating the total emissions after each change.

First, we increased the average passenger load factor from 80% to 95%. This alone would cut emissions by 16%, as fewer flights would be needed to carry the same number of passengers. While this is already in airlines’ interests, creating additional incentives – such as emissions-linked airport charges or fuel taxes – could encourage further gains.

Second, we imagined only the two most efficient aircraft (Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A321neo) were in operation. Aircraft cannot be replaced overnight, given their long service lives, and the industry hasn’t built enough 787-9 or A321neo yet anyway. But choosing already existing aircraft highlights the potential of replacing older aircraft with newer and more efficient ones – in our calculations, it would save between 27% and 34% of global emissions. This would also require overcoming logical and commercial constraints, again potentially incentivised by airport or fuel charges.

Third, we analysed the impact of an all-economy cabin layout. Business and first class seats are up to five times more CO₂-intensive than economy seating because they occupy far more space per passenger. Operating all aircraft at the manufacturers maximum seating capacity would reduce global aircraft emissions by between 26% and 57%.

There are already large differences between airlines. Some chose to set up their Boeing 777-300 ERs with more than 400 economy seats, while others have as few as 200, despite a maximum seating capacity of 550.

Our findings highlight how strongly aviation emissions are shaped by travel inequality between occasional economy fliers and frequent business and first class travellers. Many of those may complain about the inconvenience of economy class. But perhaps that’s not a bad thing: it could create an even stronger incentive to reduce the number of non-essential journeys.

– ref. Scrapping business class could halve aviation emissions – new study – https://theconversation.com/scrapping-business-class-could-halve-aviation-emissions-new-study-275474

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Hazell, Professor of British Politics and Government & Founder of the Constitution Unit, UCL

Following the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor for possible misconduct in public office, both the palace and the government will be hoping that his case might be brought to a swift conclusion. There are three main reasons why this is unlikely.

1. The vagueness of the offence

The offence Mountbatten-Windsor is being investigated for – misconduct in public office – is famously vague. This complicates the task for the prosecution, who will have to devote more time and effort to understanding the elements of the offence, and then ensuring that they can prove each element.

Misconduct in public office is not set out in an act of parliament, it is an offence under the common law. The public office (accountability) bill (also known as the Hillsborough law) currently going through parliament is meant to give it a statutory definition. But that will be too late for any prosecution of Mountbatten-Windsor, which will have to be for the common law offence, developed in a series of court judgements going back centuries.

In medieval times, the offence was intended to catch those in trusted public office who did something to betray that trust. It later fell into disuse, but was recently revived to catch corrupt police officers whose misconduct (such as selling information to journalists) did not fit easily into well-established offences.

The court of appeal in 2004 reframed the judge-made law for modern times, summarising four elements of the offence. It must be committed by:

• A public officer, acting as such, who

• wilfully misconducts himself

• to such a degree as to abuse the public’s trust in the office holder

• without reasonable excuse or justification.

Readers must judge for themselves whether this makes the offence any less vague. In careful understatement, the Crown Prosecution Service guidelines state that “the offence should be strictly confined, and it can raise complex and sometimes sensitive issues”.

2. Multiple police forces involved

Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested by Thames Valley Police, but they are not the only force looking into revelations from the millions of documents in the Epstein files. Mountbatten-Windsor denies any wrongdoing in relation to Jeffrey Epstein.

The Metropolitan Police, Essex Police (for flights in and out of Stansted) and Surrey Police are also assessing claims. Some of those investigations are for possible trafficking into or outside the UK for sexual exploitation, which if proved would be offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The National Police Chiefs Council has announced a national group to support the investigating forces.

Police enquiries will inevitably take some time. In addition to the scale of the Epstein files, when looking for evidence of misconduct in public office, the police will want to search through UK government files.

Mountbatten-Windsor was trade envoy from 2001 to 2011. Much of the evidence is likely to be retrieved from his emails and the files of agencies like UK Trade and Investment, and government departments like the Department of Trade (now Business and Trade), the Foreign Office, Cabinet Office and Number 10. Government record keeping is not what it was, and records from that long ago will take time to find and produce.

3. Difficulties facing the CPS and the courts

If the police have gathered sufficient evidence, they will submit all the evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service. The CPS in turn will need time to consider whether there is a sufficient case to prosecute, for a common law offence whose definition is still vague and complex.

The CPS code states that they will only prosecute an alleged crime if there is a “realistic prospect of conviction”. This means that a jury, “properly directed in accordance with the law, will be more likely than not to convict the defendant of the charge”.

The main legal difficulties may lie in proving that when acting as trade envoy Mountbatten-Windsor was the holder of a public office, and that his conduct was such as to abuse the public’s trust. In trying to clarify the latter test, the court of appeal said that abuse of trust must amount to “an affront to the standing of the public office held. The threshold is a high one requiring conduct so far below acceptable standards as to amount to an abuse of the public’s trust in the office holder.”

The CPS will also need to liaise closely with the team investigating Peter Mandelson, who is also under investigation for alleged misconduct in public office, related to evidence that he passed confidential government information to Epstein. If the police pass a file on Mandelson to the CPS, there will be similarities in the evidential and legal difficulties in proving misconduct in each case.

It could be a very long time before any trial takes place. One of the biggest obstacles to a swift conclusion is the state of the courts. The recent review by retired senior judge Brian Leveson found a backlog of almost 80,000 cases awaiting trial in the crown court last September, and forecast the backlog would reach 100,000 cases by November 2027.

Some defendants are already being told their cases will not be heard until 2030. To avoid any further suggestions that Mountbatten-Windsor is above the law, his case may have to wait in the queue, just like everyone else’s.

– ref. Misconduct in public office: three reasons why the case against Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is so complex – https://theconversation.com/misconduct-in-public-office-three-reasons-why-the-case-against-andrew-mountbatten-windsor-is-so-complex-276556

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Georgia Phillips, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Adelaide University

In Burnt Norton, the opening section of T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets, the poet moves down a passage “we did not take” and passes through a door “never opened” to arrive in a mythic rose garden. Here, in the thorny cradle of mournful innocence, a bird delivers the famous line:

                                     humankind
Cannot bear very much reality.

That inability to “bear much reality” reverberates in Claire-Louise Bennett’s experimental new novel, Big Kiss, Bye-Bye.

The novel dissects the mind of a young woman reckoning with the psychological upheaval of a romantic separation. As the unnamed narrator grieves and reflects, she unpicks the patchwork of illusions that sustained her relationship with a peculiar elderly man named Xavier.

At the centre of this thrillingly interior work, almost entirely denuded of sentimentality, is the collision of these two deeply self-involved characters, both of whom are more wedded to their fantasies about one another than their actual selves. One of the most intriguing elements of the novel is witnessing their failure to connect in the middle point between their incongruent psychological worlds.

Review: Big Kiss, Bye-Bye – Claire-Louise Bennett (Fitzcarraldo)

Bennett’s brilliant debut Pond (2015) wove together stories narrated by a reclusive woman living in a remote cottage in Ireland. Her second book, Checkout 19 (2021), was a novel that examined a young woman’s maturation through her engagement with literature, combining elements of autofiction and the Künstlerroman (artist’s novel) to navigate material that might have fallen flat in the hands of a writer with less flair and ambition.

The playfully titled Big Kiss, Bye-Bye is Bennett’s third book and her most desperate, intelligent and irreverent to date. It resonates stylistically with modernist predecessors in its scrutiny of consciousness and often overlooked complexities buried within the quotidian.

This characteristically modernist concern with the mind’s mysterious workings and its convoluted relationship with material reality is reflected in the narrator’s interest in dreams. She takes pleasure in recounting and interpreting her dreams to uncover the self-knowledge she believes they hold in uncanny suspension.

‘Some sort of Hell’

As in Bennett’s previous novels, the unnamed narrator at the centre of Big Kiss, Bye-Bye resembles the author. She is a writer at a similar age and stage of life. In the beginning, however, her occupation is an ancillary detail. The event that monopolises her attention and nervous energy is her recent separation from her beloved Xavier, with his dentures and his time-hardened eccentricities.

Early in the novel, it is revealed that the catalyst for the breakup was an email he sent about the narrator’s recently published book, in which he described her work as “some sort of Hell”.

With this email, a line is crossed. The plainness of Xavier’s lack of regard for her feelings is laid out so clearly and uncompromisingly that nothing can atone for his insensitivity. Any illusions the narrator might have nurtured about him being sensitive (albeit socially clumsy) are shattered.

What follows is a forensic examination of the illusions that fuelled their partnership. As the novel progresses through its solipsistic textual landscape, the narrator’s non-linear recollection of events provides intimate access to her time with Xavier. It is only with the clarity of hindsight that she is able to reconstruct a nuanced portrait.

Xavier is a wealthy Christian scientist with a limp grip on reality. He believes “sickness is an illusion” and that friendship is for children. When he and the narrator are together, he wants to be with her all the time. He cannot seem to fathom “why she did so many things that didn’t involve him”.

Beyond his neediness, Xavier is comically self-interested. He has written a book on the topic of himself, which he affectionately refers to as his “bio”. He dreams of having it made into a film. It contains intimate details about the narrator and he has no regard for why this might concern her.

A polite but painful man, Xavier has a penchant for undermining the narrator with compliments. When she hands him a copy of her book (the one he calls “some sort of Hell”), he notes “how smart it was”. He then turns straight to the author photo on the jacket and says “cute little ears”, shifting the focus away from her intellectual achievement and back to her physical appearance.

The extent to which illusions have sustained the partnership between the novel’s two unlikely lovers is perhaps most explict in their final encounter – depicted at the beginning of the work.

They attend the races. It is Lady’s Day – which, the narrator reflects, Xavier enjoys because “he likes to see women dressed up”. She is nevertheless certain that Xavier won’t stare at them, because “too much scrutiny might spoil the illusion of sophistication and Xavier isn’t interested in having his illusions dispensed with”.

The narrator reflects that Xavier is rather fond of illusions “and is of the opinion that there isn’t much else”:

“Life is an illusion,” he’ll say, “but then you already know that, don’t you.”

Yet he also believes his take on reality is authoritative. “I don’t see you as your friends see you,” Xavier tells the narrator. “I see you as you really are.”

She humours his belief, in what reads as an attempt to remain palatable.

Illusions reinforced

Throughout the novel, the narrator reinforces the illusions Xavier projects onto their relationship. At one point, she reassures him the dress she is wearing was purchased with money he gave her, even though it wasn’t.

She mulls over which flower arrangements she should buy at his expense – a detail makes her appear somewhat petulant. Xavier believes it is normal to spend a significant sum on a routine bouquet; the narrator desires a more modest arrangement. But she panders to his desire to provide for her and, in doing so, assists in preserving his fantasy. She permits him an artificial sense of accomplishment in supplying her with something that is not wanted.

The narrator shares Xavier’s tenuous grip on “reality”. Over the course of the novel, she comes to realise that she was more invested in the ideas she manufactured about Xavier than the man himself.

She confesses that her attachment had been “very much predicated upon” the idea of “staying close during his final days and hours”. Her belief in the statistical likelihood that she was destined to be “his last love” inspires a mock-heroic degree of psychological fortitude.

Along with the exquisite prose, one of the most satisfying elements of Big Kiss Bye-Bye is Bennett’s delicate depiction of the conflict that stems from the narrator’s competing desires. The feminist yearning for equality in a heteronormative partnership is sometimes incompatible with the more universal longing to be loved and desirable.

Beyond her reflections on her inflated sense of responsibility for Xavier, she examines her relationships with other men. This includes ruminating over a letter she receives from a past English teacher, which stirs dormant memories.

Despite her keen awareness of Xavier’s potent self-assuredness, the narrator struggles with her own sense of self-awareness. She confides that she is the type of writer who doesn’t like to be aware of herself when she is writing. She goes on to acknowledge that this is nonsensical, given that so many of her sentences begin with the singular pronoun “I”.

She is also self-aware enough to recognise that she is riddled with anxiety. She recalls a period in her life when she was convinced all the men in her world – even frail old Xavier – were trying to kill her. She acknowledges the creative impulse in this paranoia, reflecting that “all my life I’ve felt something was after me and to my own irritation I looked behind too often and kept seeing things”.

Again, the novel returns to the disjuncture between how things are and how the mind perceives them, and reminds us of the human tendency to seek shelter in illusions.

– ref. Desperate, intelligent, irreverent: in Big Kiss, Bye-Bye, Claire-Louise Bennett breaks up with illusions – https://theconversation.com/desperate-intelligent-irreverent-in-big-kiss-bye-bye-claire-louise-bennett-breaks-up-with-illusions-269905

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Martin Kear, Sessional Lecturer, Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney

In the aftermath of the Bondi terrorist attack at a Hanukkah celebration that killed 15 people, the New South Wales government is moving toward banning phrases it argues incite hatred. The Queensland government has said it would do the same.

Chief among these are “globalise the intifada” and “from the river to the sea”.

The meaning and intent of both of these phrases are hotly contested between the Jewish and Muslim communities and their supporters.

The main reason they are so contentious is because they form part of the broader debate over the legitimacy of Israel and Palestine, and whether they can or should exist simultaneously in a two-state solution.

On one side, proponents of these phrases say they are expressions of Palestinian nationalism and their right to equality, freedom and dignity. They indicate support for Palestinians’ right to self-determination and their right to resist Israel’s nearly 60-year occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, known as the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which the International Court of Justice has ruled is illegal.

On the other side, those arguing against these phrases say they are antisemitic because they incite violence towards Israel and Jewish people more broadly, and are catchcries for the destruction of Israel.

Given these binary positions and the legislative moves towards banning them, it is important to understand the history and nuances of the phrases, separate from the emotive rhetoric and, at times, disinformation surrounding this debate.

Globalise the intifada

One of the first times this phrase was reportedly used was at an anti-war protest in Washington in 2002.

It has become much more commonplace after Israel’s devastating response to Hamas’ October 2023 terrorist attacks. The war has caused the deaths of more than 75,000 Palestinians in Gaza and is being investigated by the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

According to the American Jewish Committee, one of the oldest Jewish advocacy groups in the United States:

The phrase is often understood by those who are saying and hearing it as encouraging violence against Israel, Jews and institutions supporting Israel. While the intent of the person saying this phrase may be different, the impact on the Jewish community remains the same.

Key to understanding this phrase is the term “intifada”. In Arabic, the word means “uprising” or “shaking off”. There have been two intifadas against Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories, from 1987–93 and 2000–05.

Both intifadas were spontaneous eruptions of discontent and revolt by Palestinians against the violence, harassment, and social, political and economic deprivation they experienced in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Additionally, one of the primary motivations of the First Intifada was Palestinian frustration at the inability of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) to advance the cause of Palestinian statehood.

Notably, the violence of the First Intifada was confined to the Occupied Palestinian Territories and consisted mainly of stone throwing, tire burning, demonstrations and civil disobedience. According to the Jewish human rights group B’Tselem, around 1,400 Palestinians and 270 Israelis were killed.

The Second Intifada has more relevance to how the global Jewish community perceives the term “intifada” today. This is because the Palestinian groups Hamas, Fatah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad launched suicide attacks that deliberately targeted civilians in Israel. According to B’Tselem, more than 680 Israeli civilians and 3,300 Palestinians were killed during the violence.

These attacks caused immense fear and feelings of vulnerability among Israelis. Jews were deliberately targeted – a hallmark of antisemitism.

Indeed, the very reason Israel exists is because of the institutionalised antisemitism and political persecution of Jews in Europe, which culminated in the Holocaust. This is the reason Theodor Herzl established the Zionist movement – the realisation that the only way European Jews could be free from this rampant violence and antisemitism was to have a state where they would form the majority. To Jews, this makes Israel more than simply a state – it is an ideal, a sanctuary – a place where they can feel safe.

The memory of the attacks during the Second Intifada – in concert with this long history of persecution and the Holocaust – drives the opposition to this phrase among many Jewish people.

However, Palestinian supporters argue that both intifadas were centred on expressions of Palestinian nationalism, their demands for statehood and resistance against Israel’s occupation.

There is a growing fear among Palestinians that the increasing permanence of Israel’s occupation and creeping annexation of the territories destroys any hope of achieving a state – a place where they can be safe from Israeli violence and persecution.

Therefore, Palestinian activists argue the phrase has legitimacy. According to Ben Jamal, leader of the UK’s Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the phrase is used as a “call for worldwide support for an end to the oppression of the Palestinian people through all means of legitimate resistance”.

He added:

That’s not a call for violence against civilians or Jewish people – and to say that is actually, in my view, a form of anti-Palestinian racism.

From the river to the sea

A similar debate rages over the meaning of the phrase “from the river to the sea”. Again, this taps into the broader debate concerning Palestinian nationalism and advocacy for a Palestinian state, with the full phrase being “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.

The geography refers to the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea where Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories now sit.

Many Israelis and Jews around the world believe the phrase is antisemitic because of the perception that the establishment of a Palestinian state extending across this entire territory would signal the destruction of Israel. This is not just the state, but more importantly, the ideal.

The phrase was first used around 1964 by the newly formed Palestine Liberation Organisation to advocate for a unitary Palestinian state along the borders of “Mandatory Palestine” – the administrative territory ruled by the British from 1920–48 – that would include Palestinians, Jews and Christians. This would mean the elimination of the state of Israel, but not the Jewish people.

But it’s necessary to unpack how the meaning has changed over time. A key question here: what is the geography of a future Palestinian state?

The PLO accepted the two-state solution in 1988, meaning it acknowledged that any future Palestine would consist only of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, meaning the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

Read more: Explainer: what is the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

Hamas’ position on the phrase has also evolved over time. While its 1988 charter never mentioned the phrase specifically, it did state “[Hamas] will strive to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.”

However, in its 2017 Declaration of Principles, Hamas officially tolerates the idea of a two-state solution. It states:

Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea. However, without compromising its rejection of the Zionist entity and without relinquishing any Palestinian rights, Hamas considers the establishment of a fully sovereign and independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital along the lines of the 4th of June 1967 to be a formula of national consensus.

This refers to the ceasefire lines between Israel and the Palestinian territories before the Six-Day War in 1967, when Israel captured and occupied the Palestinian Territories.

Therefore, Hamas’ position is consistent with United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 (1967) that is used by the international community as the basis for the two-state solution.

The 2017 declaration also highlights the compromise position within Hamas between those who believe Palestine should exist “from the river to the sea” and those willing to tolerate a Palestine only in the Occupied Territories. Hamas now officially treats the former as a guiding principle, not an organisational objective.

As former Hamas Chairman Khaled Meshaal explained in 2017:

Even though we accept and welcome that eventuality of [the two-state solution], this does not mean we would have to recognise Israel or surrender our principle that all of Palestine belongs to the Palestinian people.

Given this, there is an argument that the term’s use is not a call for the destruction of the Israeli state and the expulsion of Jews, but a demand that Israel dismantle its illegal occupation and allow Palestinians the freedom to establish their own state.

Adding to the phrase’s controversy is the fact that Israel’s Likud party, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, used a variation of it in its 1977 party platform:

Between the Sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty.

Though Likud has dropped the phrase from its current platform, it continues to vehemently oppose any Palestinian state.

Read more: Geography and politics stand in the way of an independent Palestinian state

Charting a way forward

This brings us back to the central questions at the heart of the debate over these phrases.

Does support for the Palestinian people and Palestinian statehood, as expressed in these phrases, equate to the threat of violence against Israel as a state and an ideal, and against the Jewish people?

Or are they part of legitimate political debate about Palestinian self-determination?

As Australians, we face a stark choice about whether to criminalise these phrases. Favouring one side will only inflame tensions with the other. It will only entrench – not resolve – societal discord.

Charting a middle course based on democratic ideals will be difficult. Finding a way forward will require a level of political and moral courage from our leaders that has been sadly lacking since the current round of violence began more than two years ago.

– ref. Why are the phrases ‘globalise the intifada’ and ‘from the river to the sea’ so contested? – https://theconversation.com/why-are-the-phrases-globalise-the-intifada-and-from-the-river-to-the-sea-so-contested-275668

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura de Zwaan, Senior Lecturer, School of Accountancy, Queensland University of Technology

After just three rate cuts in 2025, interest rates have risen again in Australia this year. It’s unwelcome news for many borrowers – particularly those still struggling with the increasing cost of living.

Currently, the average new loan size for owner-occupied homes is about A$736,000. On a 30-year mortgage this size, an increase of 0.25 percentage points in the official cash rate could mean paying about $120 more each month.

When assessing home loan applications, lenders are required by law to check a borrower could still make their repayments if interest rates were to rise by a certain amount. This “serviceability buffer” is currently three percentage points.

Across the country, borrowers are showing remarkable resilience. At Commonwealth Bank, for example, Australia’s largest mortgage lender, latest results show 87% of home loan customers are ahead of their scheduled repayments.

That offers little comfort to other households already struggling to make ends meet who may not be able to find the extra money required to meet increased repayments.

So, what options are available when homeowners can’t stretch their budget any further?

Ask for help

If you’re experiencing mortgage stress, the first step should always be to talk to your lender – as soon as you realise you are not going to be able to make a payment, or if you have missed a payment.

In Australia, consumer protection laws mean you can ask your lender for financial hardship assistance, which can come in a few different forms.

It may be able to offer a pause on repayments for a short period, or negotiate reduced repayments for a few months.

However, this sort of assistance is aimed at helping with a short-term problem. If your mortgage repayments are unaffordable for the foreseeable future, you will need to look at other options.

Longer-term options

Your lender can help identify if there are other ways it can help reduce your repayments.

One option may be extending your loan term to reduce the repayments for the rest of the loan. A lender could also consider moving you into another product, such as an interest-only loan, to lower repayments.

You can also apply to access your superannuation on compassionate grounds, to prevent foreclosure or the forced sale of your home.

Further assistance may be available in certain jurisdictions. For example, if you are in Queensland or the Australian Capital Territory, you might be able to access mortgage relief through state government schemes.

Looking at the bigger picture

If your mortgage is still unaffordable, and you want to keep your home, then you will need to cut back in other places to afford your repayments in the long term.

There are many guides to help get you started on finding ways to reduce your expenses.

If a particular household bill is of concern, you can also talk to utilities providers about your financial hardship and see if you can pay these bills in instalments.

Depending on your situation, there could be other options to help keep up with repayments, such as renting out a spare bedroom or parking space.

Read more: Shop around, take lunch, catch the bus. It is possible to ease the squeeze on your budget

Selling a home

If you cannot manage your repayments, it might be time to consider selling. Generally, you will get a better price for your home if you sell it, rather than letting the bank take possession and selling it to recover any outstanding loan balance.

Again, it’s important to talk to your lender as it can arrange hardship assistance that allows you time to sell.

It’s important to act early

If you are struggling financially, your best bet is to talk to your lender. Ignoring your mortgage repayments will not make them go away, and will make your situation worse.

Early communication with your lender ensures it is aware of your financial hardship and can provide advice on how best to proceed.

You are not the first person to suffer financial stress, and you should know you are not alone. In 2024–25, there were more than 280,000 financial hardship notices (borrowers advising lenders they were struggling).

Lenders know your circumstances can change, so use your legal right to ask for support to help you manage your mortgage stress.

Help is available

If you or someone you know is in financial distress, support is available:

• The National Debt Helpline provides free advice on how to manage your debt, and you can talk to a financial counsellor about your situation. The counsellor can help with budgeting and can also provide advocacy services to help you manage your debts.

• For First Nations people, Mob Strong can provide legal advice and financial counselling.

• The Financial Rights Legal Centre has tools to help you manage your debts and can provide free financial counselling or legal help.

• The Australian government’s MoneySmart website has straightforward information on what to do if you are struggling with your mortgage repayments. It also has information and tips on all other aspects of personal finance, including superannuation and insurance.

– ref. What are your options if you can’t afford to repay your mortgage? – https://theconversation.com/what-are-your-options-if-you-cant-afford-to-repay-your-mortgage-275924

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Trelease, Senior Lecturer in Communication Studies, Auckland University of Technology

If you’ve spent much time on the internet, you probably know how to yell “I was rooting for you!” The clip from “Cycle 4” (iykyk) of America’s Next Top Model which aired in 2005 went uncontrollably viral.

It became a foundational reality TV meme – an enduring moment that has fed pop culture for two decades.

Now, America’s Next Top Model is back in the headlines thanks to a three-part Netflix series, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model. This docuseries is supposed to offer a “look back at the reality show’s complicated legacy”.

In reality, there’s a clear self-serving intention here.

A cultural juggernaut

Running from 2003 to 2018, each season or “cycle” of America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) follows a group of young women learning the skills of a top model. Each episode includes a task, a photoshoot and an elimination.

The series incorporated elements from other successful reality shows such as Fear Factor (with models posing in photoshoots with cockroaches, dripping in fish guts and wearing meat as clothes); Survivor (backstabbing cast mates and bitchiness) and, unfortunately, The Swan (drastic makeovers sometimes resulting in chemical burns or lengthy surgeries).

Created, produced and hosted by veteran supermodel Tyra Banks, ANTM taught millennials how to extend the neck, angle their face for the camera and “smize” (smile with the eyes).

Who is to blame?

Those who held creative power on the show deliberately distance themselves from Banks in the documentary. Banks herself participates for seemingly no other reason than to soft launch a new season after eight years off air, and boldly justify her mistreatment of contestants.

Jay Manuel, ANTM Creative Director and judge – and consultant on this new documentary – claims “reality TV is a bitch. If it doesn’t bleed and lead it doesn’t work”. This is fundamentally untrue. There are many shows that don’t rely on the “villain edit”.

As an ex-participant on The Bachelor New Zealand, I have experienced first-hand the negative physical effects of being on such a show – as well as the fear of legal persecution and financial penalties for speaking out.

Documentaries that revisit old reality shows ought to be spaces for former contestants to share their experiences. That doesn’t happen here. There is no honest critique or reflection on the part of the production team. Instead, we see producers once again exerting their own narrative to counter contestant testimonials.

Last year’s Fit For TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser was similarly problematic. Instead of explaining, apologising and taking accountability, the crew reasserted their power by using “it was a different time” as an excuse.

Banks offers no sincere apologies in Reality Check. At one point, she describes an apology in the past tense, and it’s not clear whether it was directly given to the contestant. “I have actually apologised for the issue with Dani,” she says, regarding past behaviour that coerced 2006 contestant Dani into getting dental surgery for a tooth gap.

In another “apology”, Banks doesn’t refer to the victim, Keenyah, by name: “Boo Boo. I am so sorry.” Tyra had fat-shamed and lectured Keenyah in a 2005 episode after Keenyah politely called-out on-set sexual harassment by a male model.

Who, then, does Banks think is responsible for the harm inflicted on contestants?

Across three episodes, we hear “gen Z”, “social media”, viewers “that were demanding it”, co-creator Ken Mok, judge Janice Dickinson, UPN network President Dawn Ostroff, CW President Mark Pedowitz, CBS CEO Les Moonves, the fashion industry, the reality TV industry, “the culture at the time” and the contestants.

She blames everyone but herself.

Tyra Banks and lateral violence

In the documentary, Banks says her intention with ANTM was to respond to an industry that constantly demonstrated abuses of power throughout her career:

I wanted to fight against the fashion industry […] for this show to represent not all white, not all skinny, but just showing all the differences, and all the different types of beauties. I had a feeling that I was going to change the beauty world. This was my way to get back.

Whether it was her ethnicity, weight, forehead, or media-fueled rivalry with Naomi Campbell, only once Banks was “established” could she speak of her experiences of mistreatment.

Despite this intention, Reality Check shows us how, once Banks accrued her own cultural capital, she took her frustration out on contestants rather than the industry. As journalist Zakiya Gibbons, an independent voice within the documentary, points out:

Tyra wants to challenge the fashion industry’s ideals around what is beauty, but is also still upholding ideologies and attitudes that oppressed her.

What Gibbons captures here is an example of lateral violence: when someone directs their rage at their own minority group, rather than their oppressor.

ANTM became Banks’ own sub-industry in which to dole out her harshest verbal and emotional violence on Black contestants. Her chosen forms of violence included body shaming, fat shaming, coercion into medical surgery, and verbal and emotional abuse.

A public relations project

Social media now allows former reality TV participants an unfiltered opportunity to speak their truth, despite the threat of non-disclosure agreements.

In 2023, former Real Housewives participant Bethenny Frankle banded together with other ex-Housewives in a “reality reckoning” against American TV network Bravo – exposing how even non-eliminating shows are unethical.

That same year, we saw the launch of the UCAN Foundation, a support and advocacy foundation for people on reality TV.

These were steps in the right direction. Reality Check is an example of a major platform giving airtime and an opportunity for redemption to the perpetrators of violence: it’s a step backwards.

There are already accusations that former ANTM contestants were not compensated for appearing in the docuseries.

Live appearances, social media, and documentary exposé are the few remaining spaces where reality TV contestants can share experiences. They should not be reclaimed by producers.

– ref. Reality check: America’s Next Top Model docuseries never apologises for abuse of contestants – https://theconversation.com/reality-check-americas-next-top-model-docuseries-never-apologises-for-abuse-of-contestants-276167

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James S. Crampton, Professor of Paleontology and Stratigraphy, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

We know Aotearoa New Zealand is home to many geographically and biologically special features. Yet few of us know it also has its very own measure of “deep time”.

Known as the New Zealand Geological Timescale, it has just undergone its most comprehensive revision in 20 years.

Like the periodic table, the geological timescale brings order to Earth’s deep history, measuring millions of years of time recorded in the rocks beneath our planet’s cities and towns, mountains and rivers.

It has been described by American writer Marcia Bjornerud as “one of the great intellectual achievements of humanity”.

For more than a century, New Zealand geologists and palaeontologists have maintained their own scale because the international timescale, developed largely in Europe and North America, has been difficult to apply elsewhere.

Even today, most boundaries in deep time are defined using fossils. Most New Zealand fossils, as with our living plants and animals, are found nowhere else.

The revised New Zealand version updates the ages of the timescale’s divisions and removes many long-standing ambiguities in how they are defined.

As a result, it will improve our understanding of both the geological gifts and the geohazards of life on the “shaky isles”.

Looking beyond the human timescale

In one sense, deep time is the antithesis of the short-term view that drives political and economic cycles.

To properly understand climate change, mass extinction or ice-sheet collapse – processes that carry profound implications for humanity hundreds to thousands of years from now – we need to step beyond the limited perspective of direct human experience.

This is also important for how we think about natural hazards.

The explosive eruption of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcano in January 2022, for instance, seemed to unfold over just a few minutes. But that impression of brevity can be misleading.

For a volcano to erupt, tectonic plates must first align and magma must form deep within the Earth, rise toward the surface and evolve in underground chambers before any lava is finally released – a process that takes hundreds of thousands to millions of years.

Consequently, the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai explosion was only a fleeting moment in a story that began long before humans settled in the Pacific, possibly before humans existed at all.

As scientists, we measure the pace of such processes using the geological timescale – and we want those measurements to be as precise as possible.

A land millions of years in the making

Why is this so important? Consider some major findings from recent studies that utilised the previous New Zealand timescale to determine the ages and rates of key events and processes.

One 2021 study mapped the widespread but largely buried volcanic system of Canterbury, characterising 185 volcanoes that have erupted at various stages over the past 100 million years.

These pulses of volcanism were shown to align with major tectonic events, including the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana and later changes in tectonic plate motion.

The study showed how volcanic activity in New Zealand has repeatedly been shaped by deep, slow-moving plate-tectonic processes – and how present-day landscapes and seascapes can conceal a dynamic geological past.

Geological elements such as the Canterbury volcanic system are the basic building blocks of our island nation; the composition, arrangement and properties of such elements determine the distribution of resources and hazards within New Zealand.

Another recent study explored how long-term tectonic processes continue to shape modern earthquake hazards.

Focusing offshore from the eastern North Island, geologists examined how rocks and fluids behave along the boundary where the Pacific Plate is being forced beneath the Australian Plate at the seismically active Hikurangi Subduction Zone.

Their modelling suggests that unusually high underground fluid pressures can strongly influence how earthquakes behave, and that these pressures are driven mainly by tectonic squeezing over the past three million years, rather than simply by the weight of sediments piling up.

In other words, earthquakes in this region are shaped by geological processes that have been building for millions of years.

Measuring the past to understand our future

Deep time is equally important for understanding life on Earth.

Recent discoveries in the fossil record show that, three million years ago, close relatives of modern emperor penguins were living in a subtropical climate in the New Zealand region.

This finding challenges the assumption that these large penguins are forced to live along the icy coasts of Antarctica today by some climatic inevitability, and suggests other factors play a decisive role in shaping where species live.

Such understanding from the fossil record is key to predicting how life and species distributions might change in response to warming climate and disturbances to Earth systems.

In further separate studies, researchers reconstructed 100 million years of geographic history of the largely submerged continent from which our home, New Zealand, emerges.

Their studies show how shifting landmasses, rising and sinking terrain and changing coastlines have shaped the iconic landscapes we see today.

Ultimately, deep time helps explain the origins of New Zealand’s distinctive plants and animals.

It frames how we think about using – and sustainably managing – the resources we depend on. And it underpins our understanding of geological hazards and what we can do to mitigate them.

Taken together, all of these studies show why having an accurate, up-to-date geological timescale matters – and why our actions today will affect the planet and our descendants for hundreds of thousands of years to come.

– ref. Delving into ‘deep time’: what NZ’s ancient past reveals about its present – https://theconversation.com/delving-into-deep-time-what-nzs-ancient-past-reveals-about-its-present-270447

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Webb, Lecturer, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology

One of the largest known stars in the universe underwent a dramatic transformation in 2014, new research shows, and may be preparing to explode.

A study led by Gonzalo Muñoz-Sanchez at the National Observatory of Athens, published in Nature Astronomy today, argues that the enormous star WOH G64 has transitioned from a red supergiant to a rare yellow hypergiant – in what may be evidence of impending supernova.

The evidence suggests we may be witnessing, in real time, a massive star shedding its outer layers, shrinking as it heats up, and moving closer to the end of its short life.

A very special star

WOH G64 was first discovered in the 1970s as as star of interest in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way.

It turned out the star was not only extremely luminous, but also one of the biggest ever discovered: more than 1,500 times the radius of the Sun.

In 2024, WOH G64 was the first star beyond our galaxy ever photographed in detail, thanks to the Very Large Telescope Interferometer. The image showed a clear dusty cocoon around the central giant star, which confirmed it was losing mass as it aged.

From supergiant to hypergiant, big is big

WOH G64 is a young star in the grand scheme of the cosmos, with an estimated age of less than 5 million years old. Unlike our Sun (currently about 4.6 billion years old), WOH G64 is destined to live fast and die young.

WOH G64 was born big, forming from a huge cloud of gas and dust collapsing until the pressure made it ignite. Like our Sun, it would have burned hydrogen in its core by nuclear fusion.

Later it would have expanded and burned helium, becoming what is called a red supergiant.

Not all supergiants become hypergiants. It’s been theorised that hypergiants form when very large stars quickly burn and evolve from burning hydrogen to burning helium.

During this transition, these stars start to shed their outer layers, while their cores begin to shrink inwards. Once a star becomes a hypergiant, it is destined for a quick death in the fiery explosion of a supernova.

What has caused this change seen in WOH G64?

So what happened to WOH G64 in 2014? The new study proposes that a large part of the original supergiant’s surface was ejected away from the star.

This may have been due to interactions with a companion star, which the authors have confirmed exists by looking at the spectrum of light from WOH G64.

Another theory: the star is getting ready to explode. We know stars this big will inevitably go kaboom, but exactly when it will happen can be hard to determine in advance.

One possible scenario is that the transition we’re seeing is due to a pre-supernova “superwind” phase. This in theorised to occur due to strong internal pulsations as the fuel in the core is spent quickly.

Only time will tell

Most stars live for tens of millions or even tens of billions of years. It was never a given we would witness and be able to document so much transformation in a star, let alone one outside our galaxy.

If we are lucky, we will see the death of WOH G64 in our lifetimes – not only providing an incredible intergalactic spectacle but also helping scientists complete the puzzle of this fascinating star.

– ref. One of the biggest stars in the universe might be getting ready to explode – https://theconversation.com/one-of-the-biggest-stars-in-the-universe-might-be-getting-ready-to-explode-276519

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John (Eddie) La Marca, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)

If you’re feeling worn out or have suddenly lost some weight, your doctor might send you for a blood test.

Blood tests are a common way health-care professionals detect, diagnose, and monitor a range of medical conditions.

But can they help us detect more serious conditions such as cancer? Let’s dive into the research.

How do blood tests work?

Blood tests are a technique used in the field of pathology, which is the study of the nature and causes of disease.

Blood tests assess what cells, proteins, and molecules are present in the blood. Health-care professionals use them to monitor things like organ health, nutrition levels, immune system function, and the presence of some infections.

To test for anaemia, for example, you would take a blood test and count the number of red blood cells in that blood sample. Another example is blood sugar testing, which is used to measure the glucose levels of a patient with diabetes.

What can blood tests tell us about cancer?

Currently, we can’t reliably diagnose most cancers using a blood test. One major reason is it’s often difficult to distinguish between cancer cells and normal, healthy cells. This is especially true when it comes to early-stage tumours.

But blood test results can give us clues about whether certain cancers are present in the body. So how do they do this?

1. By revealing abnormalities in your blood

Blood cancers will often cause clear changes in the number and types of cells in the bloodstream. We can measure these changes using a complete blood count, also known as a “full blood examination”.

This type of blood test counts all the different types of cells present in the blood: red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and more. Blood cancers arise when your body produces an abnormal amount of any type of blood cell. White blood cells, which fight infection, are the most common example. So a high number of one or more of these cell types may suggest the presence of a blood cancer.

But complete blood counts aren’t enough to make a conclusive diagnosis of blood cancer. We need to perform other tests to confirm whether the problem is a cancer or a different disease. These tests may include a biopsy or imaging techniques such as an MRI, CT scan, or X-ray.

2. By identifying “tumour markers”

We can also use blood tests to detect specific proteins which cancer cells often produce in greater numbers. These proteins are known as “tumour markers”.

One example of a tumour marker is prostate-specific antigen. This antigen is a protein made exclusively by the prostate gland. A healthy male will have only a small amount of prostate-specific antigen in his blood. In contrast, a male with prostate cancer will often produce abnormally high levels of this antigen. In this way, the prostate-specific antigen can serve as a “marker” of prostate cancer.

There are many different tumour markers used to identify different cancers. However, measuring tumour markers is not a foolproof solution. This is because they can be influenced by other factors. For example, an injury to or inflammation of the prostate gland could cause prostate-specific antigen levels to increase. So your doctor may perform additional tests to confirm if a person has cancer.

Read more: Do I have prostate cancer? Why a simple PSA blood test alone won’t give you the answer

3. By locating rogue cells

For other types of cancer, blood tests can look for circulating tumour cells. Circulating tumour cells are produced when cancer cells break off from the original tumour and then enter the bloodstream. This usually only happens when a cancer reaches a more advanced stage and is metastatic, meaning it has spread to other parts of the body.

But this type of test is usually prognostic, rather than diagnostic. This means we can only use it to monitor the progression of a cancer which has already been diagnosed. So if a blood test does identify circulating tumour cells, it is best to conduct additional tests before proceeding with treatment.

So, are we close to creating a cancer-detecting blood test?

Unfortunately, we are yet to find a way to detect cancer with a single blood test. It’s a very difficult task, but researchers are making progress.

Circulating tumour DNA is a current topic of interest. These DNA molecules have mutations which distinguish them from healthy cells and can give information about the cancer they came from.

In one 2025 trial, Australian researchers measured the amount of circulating tumour DNA in 441 people with colon cancer to determine which patients would respond to chemotherapy. Another study from 2025 used circulating tumour DNA to monitor how 940 patients with lung cancer responded to different treatments.

One test did claim to successfully use circulating tumour DNA to detect more than 50 types of early-stage cancer. It’s known as the “Galleri test” and was first trialled in the UK in 2021. However, some experts have since raised concerns about the test’s effectiveness.

Researchers are also exploring other ways of using blood tests. In one 2025 study, Australian researchers adapted an existing test to use blood instead of tissue samples to identify known markers of ovarian cancer.

Another Australian study from 2025 investigated whether molecules other than proteins could serve as cancer markers. It found certain fats in blood can indicate if a patient with advanced prostate cancer will respond to treatment.

So, it looks like we’re still a while away from creating a cancer-detecting blood test. But with some time, effort, and robust research, it could be a possibility.

– ref. Can blood tests really detect cancer? – https://theconversation.com/can-blood-tests-really-detect-cancer-269906

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University

All animals need to eat to survive, grow and reproduce. To do so, they also need to avoid being eaten. This is a big challenge for many of Australia’s native mammals, because when they search for food, they must also escape the attention of introduced predators, namely, feral cats and red foxes.

Tragically, many have been unable to overcome this test of survival, becoming one of the 40 native mammal species driven to extinction since European colonisation.

But what happens if we reduce the numbers of introduced predators? Do our surviving native species think there is less risk of being the next meal for a cat or fox? How do they respond? And how might we tell? With peanut butter balls, of course!

A deadly game of hide and seek

Natural environments contain predators and prey engaged in a deadly game of hide and seek, and – from the prey’s perspective – a landscape of fear. The extent to which the two groups are aware of each other and able to respond (hunting vs hiding and escape) varies across time and space. Prey might perceive some areas as a riskier proposition, such as more open habitats or times when predators are most active. They therefore reduce their activity to minimise the likelihood of being eaten.

But avoiding being eaten comes at an energetic cost. It may mean preferred areas or times to feed are reduced, which in turn limits rates of growth, reproduction and survival of prey species. Prey animals are constantly weighing up this tradeoff of risk vs reward as they go about their lives.

Tasty treats can assess risk appetite

We can’t know for sure how much animals fear being eaten, but we can assess it indirectly, through their willingness to eat. In our recently published study, we measured how much food animals don’t eat as a indicator of their fear of being eaten. The more food they give up, the greater the risk of predation those animals are assumed to perceive. These experiments are made easier by the fact many mammals are mad about gobbling up peanut butter.

French Island has long been fox free, but had thousands of feral cats. In 2010, authorities began a feral cat eradication, which made it a perfect place for our research.

Importantly, we were able to start our experiment prior to an eradication program of feral cats, which began in 2010 on French Island, Victoria. This means we were able to measure changes in long-nosed potoroos and eastern barred bandicoots habitat use and foraging as cat numbers and activity fell.

So, on fox-free French Island, we placed balls of peanut butter, rolled oats and golden syrup into trays with soil and dug them into the ground, ensuring they were below the soil surface. We did this in more open grassland areas (likely riskier habitat, with less cover and protection from feral cats) and more densely vegetated areas (less risky habitat, due to increased cover).

We used camera traps to measure how often potoroos and bandicoots visited these feeding trays to dig up the tasty treats, and how much of the peanut butter balls they left behind in different habitats and at different periods throughout the ongoing feral cat eradication program.

When feral cats are away, native animals play (more)

As the number of feral cats on French Island was reduced, potoroos and bandicoots used both open and closed habitat types more frequently, and they increased their activity, giving up less food over time. This suggests bandicoots and potoroos do recognise feral cats as a threat, and are able to fairly rapidly change their habitat use and foraging accordingly.

Aside from the obvious benefits of fewer feral cats killing and eating potoroos and bandicoots on French Island, our study suggests there may be substantial benefits for native wildlife — namely increased access to habitats and foraging opportunities — even before the ultimate longer-term goal of cat eradication can be achieved.

Our study’s results are encouraging. Outside the safe havens of invasive predator-free islands and fenced sanctuaries, feral cats are notoriously hard to eradicate from large areas, and there is a constant threat of their return.

To change this, new and more effective ways to control and eradicate feral cats are needed. But until then, reducing and keeping feral cat numbers lower, while also carefully managing habitats to benefit wildlife, can still give native animals the helping hand they need to survive.

We would like to acknowledge that this work was led by former Deakin University Honours student, Te Ao Marama Eketone, and it occurred on the unceded Country of the Bunurong/Boonwurrung peoples.

– ref. When feral cats are away, potoroos and bandicoots are more likely to play – https://theconversation.com/when-feral-cats-are-away-potoroos-and-bandicoots-are-more-likely-to-play-271736

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Peden, NHMRC Research Fellow, School of Population Health and Co-founder UNSW Beach Safety Research Group, UNSW Sydney

It is swimming carnival season in Australia. This typically means children from about Year 2 and up are asked to swim a distance of 50 metres or one length of an Olympic-size pool – if they say they can.

As a parent of primary school kids, I recently went to my child’s carnival to show my support.

As a drowning prevention researcher, I was already well aware of the dire state of children’s swimming abilities – and so wasn’t expecting all children to be able to compete. But I was shocked to see numerous rescues during the day. This is where children are unable to finish events and need help to get out of the pool.

What is going on?

A drop in swimming ability

We know swimming ability is declining in Australia.

One in four schools no longer holds a swimming carnival at all, citing low swimming skills at the main reason. When they run carnivals, teachers estimate 50% of eligible children do not participate.

In a 2025 report, surveyed teachers told Royal Life Saving Australia almost half of Year 6 students cannot swim 50m and tread water for two minutes – the minimum water safety requirements for their age.

Parents reported 46% of children aged 11–12 (years 5 and 6) can’t swim 50m. An estimated 46% of children aged 7–14 do not have the minimum safety skills set for children aged 6.

Teacher survey responses identified about 31% of schools no longer offer swimming skills programs due to cost, resourcing and time. Parents report similar barriers to enrolling their children in private swimming lessons.

Are parents overestimating ability?

But the rescues at our school carnival led me to wonder whether there was something else at play.

At my child’s school, parents were asked to assess their child’s swimming ability on the carnival permission note. The information was used for lane allocation with weaker swimmers to race in outer lanes, closer to lifeguards.

So perhaps some parents were overly optimistic about how well their child can swim. Research shows parents often overestimate their child’s swimming ability and therefore underestimate their drowning risk.

But in defence of parents, children rarely have the opportunity to swim 50m, non-stop. Lessons are often held in smaller, learn-to-swim pools or those that are only 25m in length.

For residents in country areas with seasonal pools (like my home town), their outdoor 50m pools are also closed for half the year.

What can parents do?

So, as a country that’s supposed to be a “nation of swimmers” with a strong lifesaving history, how can we counter this decline and avoid children needing to be rescued at their carnivals?

• Encourage parents to prioritise swimming lessons over other sports wherever possible. This recognises learning to swim is a non-negotiable life skill that both reduces drowning risk as well as opens up the joys of swimming for fitness and fun. Even if your child is in high school and you’ve let swimming lessons slide, it is not too late for them to learn and improve.

• Check your child’s ability against the national standards. If you’re not sure their ability is where it should be for their age, consider some top-up lessons or a holiday intensive program.

• Observe how your children are doing in swimming lessons. Ask for feedback from their teachers. Where are they up to in terms of water safety?

• Get in the water with your child, preferably at a 50m pool. Swim alongside them and see how they go at completing a length non-stop. Explain what to do if they feel like they can’t make it, either practising floating on their back or holding onto a lane rope.

This is vital

We don’t want the swimming carnival to disappear forever.

Nor do we want it to be just for the top swimmers. My kid’s swimming carnival was described as being for “competitive swimmers only”, which is part of a growing trend among schools.

Amid record drowning deaths in Australia, and during a summer when 79 people have lost their lives to drowning, ensuring our kids know how to swim safely has never been more important.

– ref. I’m a drowning prevention researcher – my kid’s school swimming carnival shocked me – https://theconversation.com/im-a-drowning-prevention-researcher-my-kids-school-swimming-carnival-shocked-me-276531

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

Among today’s leaders, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns is notable in a couple of ways.

As a Labor leader, his views are a mix of the extremely tough and the very empathetic and compassionate. His handling of the antisemitism crisis illustrates the point.

Also, Minns usually speaks his mind, and answers questions, with a frankness many of his contemporaries shy away from.

These features were evident in Minns’ Monday comments about the cohort of 34 ISIS brides and their children that has the Albanese government tied in knots and new Opposition Leader Angus Taylor responding with a knee-jerk proposal for draconian legislation.

Minns told a Monday news conference: “I’ve got no sympathy for someone who makes a decision to go and join a dangerous ideology like Islamic State”, but “I do have sympathy and concern for the children”.

He said he’d been briefed late last year on state-federal consultations about possible arrivals from Syria.

“It’s been on an official-to-officials level, and it has to do with what happens if or when they return to New South Wales. That was a situation for previous cohorts that came back to Australia [under the Morrison and Albanese governments]. He estimates about a third of the cohort would go to NSW.

In relation to the children, Minns points out that if they stayed in their present environment, when they did return the position would likely be worse.

“I think most Australians […] would say, “well, what is going to happen to these children in the years ahead if they end up in Australia, if they are Australians? What happens to them when the media moves on and we’re two to five to ten years down the line?”

He said the NSW government would take care of the education of returning children (in a context of Australian values), while the “full force of the law” would be applied to the adults (who could face charges).

Minns’ combination of commonsense, concern and directness is in contrast to the stance of the federal government. It has toughened its rhetoric, presumably mainly to avoid being wedged by the opposition and One Nation. It may have also been less than fully transparent about federal officials’ involvement.

Minns’ views about the children are in line with comments of then home affairs minister Clare O’Neil in 2022, after a group of ISIS brides and children had been brought back. “The question for us is: is the safest thing for these 13 children to grow up in a squalid camp where they’re subjected to radical ideologies every single day and then return to Australia at some point when they’re an adult, or is it safer for us to bring them here so they can live a life around Australian values?”

Now Anthony Albanese and current Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, when referring to the children, basically say their situation is the parents’ fault and that’s that. They are more interested in keeping out the remaining cohort as long as possible – therefore pushing the problem down the track – than focusing publicly on the practicalities of when the families can no longer be stopped from returning.

The opposition’s proposal to make it a criminal offence “to facilitate the re-entry of individuals linked to terrorist hotspots or terrorist organisations, or who have committed terror related offences” is preformative politics.

These people are Australian citizens and have a right to return to Australia (with some qualifications – the government applied for an exclusion order against one person on security grounds). To make it a crime for an individual or organisation to assist them in some presently lawful manner would seem highly dubious in principle.

When we come to the practicalities: those helping have been Save the Children and respected Muslim figure Jamal Rifi. Rifi was a prominent supporter of Burke in last year’s election. In earlier years he has defended Scott Morrison against accusations of racism and is much respected by Morrison.

But home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam said: “This is not about targeting a particular group or individual or organisations. It is about targeting anyone who breaks the law”.

The opposition says the private member’s bill, to be introduced in the coming sitting fortnight but destined to go nowhere, will provide that “humanitarian or security-based repatriation could continue with the express permission of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Home Affairs”.

It is about keeping repatriation formally in the hands of government, attempting to stymie self-managed returns and those who might assist them.

But we don’t have any detail, leaving exactly who would be hit as clear as mud.

Mat Tinkler, CEO Save the Children Australia, told the ABC his organisation had done two main things: provided humanitarian relief for the cohort, and advocated for the government to get them home.

“What we haven’t done is engage in any extraction or operation on the ground – that is not within our mandate and not something we would do.

“But I’m really concerned about the sentiment that this seems to express, that somehow supporting women who haven’t been charged, they haven’t been put on trial, they haven’t been convicted of any crime, and their children, who by nature and definition are innocent, trying to criminalise conduct of people seeking to bring those Australian citizens back to Australia – I think it’s a very slippery slope if we go down that path.”

– ref. View from The Hill: Chris Minns makes sense on ISIS brides’ children, while opposition adds to scaremongering – https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-chris-minns-makes-sense-on-isis-brides-children-while-opposition-adds-to-scaremongering-275913

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Austin, Senior Lecturer in Theatre, The University of Melbourne

In the shadow of Franz Kafka’s visionary dystopian fiction, the faceless, hierarchical machinery of bureaucracy has long served as a symbol of quiet, grinding despair. Kafka’s institutions are at once impenetrable and absurd, systems that trap individuals in a perpetual tension between resignation and the faint, flickering hope of change.

Playwright Jean Tong’s Do Not Pass Go sits in this tradition, offering a sharp, often darkly comic examination of conformity and resistance within the modern corporate structure.

Penny (Belinda McClory) and Flux (Ella Prince) are an unlikely duo thrown together on a surreal production line. Flux is a new recruit, still learning the rhythms and unspoken rules of the nameless organisation. Penny is a seasoned employee who has survived the most recent round of redundancies.

From the outset, they appear mismatched, an odd couple divided by age, temperament and philosophy. Penny embodies corporate compliance. She has internalised the company’s expectations so completely they seem to govern her every action. She has never taken a day off, faithfully performs the recommended workplace exercises during her breaks and refuses to take personal calls on company time. For Penny, survival depends on obedience.

Flux, by contrast, views employment as transactional, a means to an end. They are unafraid to take a mental health day and openly question procedures Penny accepts without hesitation. Their early exchanges crackle with tension, shaped by suspicion and incomprehension and the differences that seem to define them.

A sterile environment

The set (from Jacob Battista) reinforces this emotional and ideological divide. The action unfolds almost entirely within a stark white room bathed in fluorescent overhead light (lighting by Harrie Hogan), a space hovering ambiguously between factory floor and science laboratory.

It is clinical, anonymous and faintly menacing.

In this sterile environment, Penny is aghast to learn Flux did not complete the online training modules before their official start date. Flux, perplexed, asks why they would work before being paid. This small but telling disagreement encapsulates the broader philosophical gulf between them.

Tong allows the narrative to unfold at a deliberate, contemplative pace. Katy Maudlin’s direction is considered and deft. Time stretches and folds in on itself; days and months blur together in the purgatory of workplace monotony. Boxes arrive through a mysterious “box door”. Penny and Flux methodically open, catalogue and repack their contents. Pool floaties are inflated and deflated. Ribbons are measured and cut. Plastic fir tree Christmas ornaments are checked and counted.

There is no rationale or meaning to this work. As the play progresses, the boxes accumulate, slowly encroaching upon the white space. The endless stocktake becomes both a literal task and metaphor for existential stasis and ultimately reveal how difficult the rhythm of the workplace can be to resist.

Building a friendship

Initially their exchanges are stilted; Penny’s clipped, interrogative responses set against Flux’s fluid, stream-of-consciousness reflections. But the dialogue gradually softens. Each begins to absorb something of the other.

Flux helps Penny navigate her teenage daughter’s climate anxiety, gently introducing language and empathy where Penny once defaulted to confusion. In turn, Penny becomes an almost maternal figure to Flux, offering reassurance, steadiness and concern beneath her rigid exterior, specifically in relation to Flux obtaining a credit card to support their desire for costly gender affirmation surgery.

Although Penny is confused about Flux’s desire to change their body, Penny’s concern is more about Flux finding themselves in a difficult financial position. Penny and Flux’s bond becomes an act of quiet rebellion against the isolating logic of the institution.

The unseen corporate overlords loom throughout. A performance review instructs Flux to increase their productivity. At one point, a cake arrives unannounced through the box door. Penny reacts with alarm: cake preceded the last wave of redundancies, and so she promptly throws it in the bin, despite Flux’s delight. The gesture captures the atmosphere of paranoia cultivated by opaque management practices.

Beneath the humour lies a deeper inquiry into institutional oppression. As Flux encourages Penny to pursue an ADHD diagnosis, the play probes the tension between social and medical models of disability. Penny muses her suburb reportedly has a high proportion of neurodiverse residents. Is the environment producing neurodivergence, she wonders, or do neurodivergent people gravitate there because it offers belonging? The question lingers, unresolved. Flux convinces Penny to ask for workplace adjustments; Penny is unsurprised when management denies her requests.

In a powerful scene toward the end of the play, Flux offers a monologue: a compelling metaphor on difference, desire and longing, deciding not to go ahead with their surgery… yet.

The moment marks a shift in the sterile surrounds. The characters move outside of the tight confines of their workplace and a warm orange glow envelopes them. Their shared humanity – the messiness, chaos, care and connection troubling the corporate machine – is highlighted.

Do Not Pass Go is a quietly devastating meditation on labour, conformity and the fragile human connections persisting, despite them.

No easy solution is offered. Instead, the suggestion is resistance may begin in smaller, subtler acts: questioning a rule, taking a longer break, making an offer of solidarity or care to a work colleague, choosing compassion over compliance. In doing so, the play honours Kafka’s legacy while speaking urgently to the anxieties of the modern workplace.

Do Not Pass Go is at Melbourne Theatre Company until March 28.

– ref. Jean Tong’s Do Not Pass Go is Kafka for the modern corporate age – https://theconversation.com/jean-tongs-do-not-pass-go-is-kafka-for-the-modern-corporate-age-274979