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The declaration was made by the leaders of the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Palau following discussions in Nadi, Fiji, on Friday in light of the looming energy crisis as a result of the illegal US-Israel war on Iran.

The meeting brought together the incoming Chair, President Surangel Whipps of Palau, and outgoing Chair, the Prime Minister of Tonga, Lord Fakafanua.

On a social media post, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele noted that Solomon Islands continued to experience the impact of global fuel price volatility and highlighted the importance of practical regional solutions to support vulnerable Pacific economies.

Leaders noted that Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands had declared energy emergencies, while Solomon Islands, Fiji, Nauru, Vanuatu, the Cook Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia were implementing national mitigation measures.

Other Forum members remain on a regional watch phase, with ongoing monitoring by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.

New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is aware the Forum Troika has invoked the Biketawa Declaration to respond to the current global fuel and energy challenges.

A spokesperson for MFAT said they are supportive of regional efforts to respond to regional crises, including through the Biketawa Declaration.

They said they are working closely with Pacific Islands Forum partners to understand the fuel supply situation, and potential needs, across the region and how they could assist.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Britain’s Daily Telegraph is being acquired by a German-based media giant — and now its journalists are formally expected to support Israel.

The Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, has cleared the takeover by Axel Springer SE. Its CEO, Mathias Döpfner, has written to Telegraph staff “outlining his commitment” to the paper.

An employee at The Telegraph has sent me that letter. It is deeply revealing.

Döpfner insists that the values of The Telegraph and the publishing house founded by late tycoon Axel Springer — dubbed “Germany’s Rupert Murdoch” — are aligned. They are, he says, “Freedom, free markets, individual freedom and freedom of speech”.

He goes further. Axel Springer, he explains, is “guided by a clear editorial compass.” Its employees are rooted in its “Essentials” — “core values to which we are firmly committed”.

There is, he adds, “no such thing as neutral journalism”: only journalism that is “pluralistic and surprising, fair, and fact-based.”

And yet, having invoked “freedom of speech” as a foundational principle, he insists these Essentials are not partisan — but rather “define a socio-political framework within which maximum journalistic freedom and intellectual independence can flourish.”

‘We support the right of Israel to exist’
Döpfner then sets out those ‘Essentials’:

1. We stand for freedom, freedom of expression, the rule of law, and democracy.
2. We support the right of Israel to exist and oppose all forms of antisemitism.
3. We advocate the transatlantic alliance between the United States and Europe.
4. We uphold the principles of a free-market economy.
5. We reject political and religious extremism, as well as all forms of discrimination.

Note where “we support the right of Israel to exist” sits: second.

‘Freedom’ — within limits
Döpfner emphasises that editorial independence will be protected, including from pressure by politicians, celebrities, or advertisers. “I value debate in the spirit of pluralism and freedom of expression,” he writes.

But the description of the Essentials is, frankly, Orwellian.

It is not reconcilable to argue that these tenets create the conditions for “maximum journalistic freedom” while simultaneously requiring adherence to a political position on a specific foreign state.

Out of 193 UN member states, only one is singled out in this way.

No state has a “right to exist” under international law. Peoples have a right to self-determination — a right denied, in this case, by Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land, and by subjecting its people to apartheid, colonisation and genocide.

A Telegraph journalist put it to me bluntly:

To be firmly told by our new parent company-to-be’s CEO that the second most important guiding principle is affirming the right of a country committing genocide and ethnic cleansing is more than a little concerning.

It also raises the question of how any reporting from the paper can be considered factual if that is our core principle.

As they note, this principle comes before any explicit rejection of discrimination.

What ‘Israel’s right to exist’ means in practice
In practice, the phrase “Israel’s right to exist” has been repeatedly deployed by Israel’s cheerleaders across the West to justify Israel’s crimes — from occupation and colonisation to apartheid and, now, mass destruction in Gaza.

It is also telling what is not said. The Essentials do not prohibit racism in general, despite later rejecting “all forms of discrimination”. There is no explicit rejection of Islamophobia, for example, or anti-Arab racism.

Instead, “oppose all forms of antisemitism” is fused directly with “support the right of Israel to exist”.

That conflation matters.

Because we know that defenders of Israel have repeatedly blurred the line between antisemitism and opposition to the actions of the Israeli state.

So how, exactly, might Axel Springer SE interpret “oppose all forms of antisemitism”?

‘Free Palestine’ is a ‘pro-Hamas topic’
There are very strong clues, let’s put it that way.

The late Axel Springer himself declared:

It is the task of our generation to stand firmly by Israel’s side, even if this causes difficulties for our policies elsewhere.

He further added:

The country does not need encouragement, but advocacy, wherever and whenever it can be provided – in the European Community, in the United Nations, in diplomatic relations, at work, in the family.

He described this as a “German duty”.

In June 2021, when employees complained about the Israeli flag being raised at company headquarters, Mathias Döpfner responded:

I think, and I’m being very frank with you, a person who has an issue with an Israeli flag being raised for one week here, after antisemitic demonstrations, should look for a new job.

He was referring to demonstrations against Israel’s assault on Gaza that May.

In October 2023, a Lebanese employee at Welt TV — part of the Axel Springer empire — was dismissed: he says it was after he challenged the outlet’s pro-Israel positions. Axel Springer SE refuse to comment on “individual personnel matters”.

In an internal email which was leaked that year, Döpfner reportedly summarised his political worldview with the phrase: “Zionism über alles” — “Zionism above all.”

He has penned repeated pro-Israel polemics. “Will we stand with Israel against the enemies of freedom despite the risks, or will we allow fear and opportunism to prevail?” he wrote in October 2023, demanding “massive, unstiting political, financial and military support”.

On a podcast for his employees, Döpfner claimed “a majority on Instagram, on other social media, and in particular on TikTok, took sides for the Hamas’ actions.” He argued that “an almost global wave of Anti-Semitism suddenly showed its ugly face”, which he described as a shock, despite knowing “that it is here and there, well hidden or presented in a politically correct manner as Anti-Zionism or “Woke-ism” or whatever.”

And he said something deeply revealing about TikTok:

“Concretely, more than 4 million posts until today have been published under the hashtag of #FreePalestine or other kind of pro-Hamas topics. And only 50,000 something, 53,000 posts basically standing by Israel.”

“Free Palestine”, he argued, was a “kind of pro-Hamas topic”.

Conflating antisemitism with critique of Israel
When Israel launched its first war on Iran last June, Döpfner declared it was “surprising that Israel is not being celebrated worldwide for its historic, extremely precise and necessary strike.” Instead, he claimed:

the public response is dominated by anti-Israel propaganda. The intelligence and precision of Israel’s actions are not admired but are instead used here and there to perpetuate blatantly antisemitic stereotypes. This attitude is characterised not only by racist undertones, but also by a strange self-forgetfulness.

In other words, he directly conflated critique of Israel’s war with antisemitism.

A few months ago, he quoted claims about atrocities committed on October 7th which included: “A first responder testified before the Knesset that he had seen the severed skulls of three children.” The claims that Israeli children were beheaded have been comprehensively debunked.

He went on to write that:

justified criticism of decisions made by an Israeli government is mixed with deep-rooted hatred of Jews and that, as a result, instead of an obvious global wave of compassion and solidarity, a global wave of cold-heartedness and increasingly aggressive anti-Semitism has emerged.

The piece further criticised the German government — Israel’s most loyal European defender — for “massively” restricting arms sales to Israel. Tellingly, he said that decision meant that “From now on, unconditional support for Israel’s right to exist is effectively subject to conditions.”

He described the recognition of Palestinian statehood “as a reward for the barbarism of October 7″.

Last October, Al Jazeera published an investigation into German tabloid Bild, a cornerstone of Axel Springer SE, headlined “The Story of Israel’s Propaganda Machine Specialising in Anti-Palestinian Incitement’.

Al Jazeera reported that the newspaper had suggested that a Palestinian journalist killed by Israel was a “terrorist”, denied famine in Gaza, and published a lengthy report it claimed had been found on the computer of late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. It transpired that the document was old, not authored by Sinwar, and had reportedly been leaked by Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

The newspaper, reported Al Jazeera, had also “consistently demonised pro-Gaza demonstrators in Germany, labelling them as “mobs”, “Israel-haters”, and “anti-Semites”.

Israel’s supporters in the West have launched the biggest assault on free speech since the height of McCarthyism.

We can see where the Telegraph’s new owners stand on that.

Extracted and republished from Owen Jones’ article on his Battlelines substack. Read the full article here.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Fiji Police Force has confirmed that a man who was taken in for questioning by the Republic of Fiji Military Forces in Suva has died in custody.

Fijian media are reporting that the man was a wellknown “drug lord” known to local authorities.

The man was among a group allegedly linked to gang activity who were taken in for questioning by the military on Thursday night, fijivillage.com reports.

Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro said an investigation into the incident was underway.

The incident comes amid ongoing joint operations between the police and the military.

This week, the Fijian military warned that individuals responsible for “any attempt to destabilise national security” and those who aid “individuals engaged in criminal activity” had been put on notice.

The death also comes as Fijians mourn the passing of the former President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, who has been accorded a state funeral today.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

It is the people of the Global South, not governments, who must resist this subversion of the concepts of the “nation’ and of non-alignment.

The Indian government’s position on the US-Israeli war against Iran shows an unbelievable degree of pusillanimity.

India attended the recent meeting of about 50 countries called by the United Kingdom where Iran was strongly criticised for closing the Strait of Hormuz, but not a word was uttered against the US-Israeli aggression on Iran.

Likewise, India was one of the sponsors of a resolution at the UN General Assembly which criticised Iran for attacking other countries in the Gulf (though Iran was attacking only the American military bases located in those countries). Yet again, not a word was uttered in that resolution condemning the US-Israeli aggression on Iran.

It is also noteworthy that India took several days before expressing any grief over the assassination Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and several weeks before expressing any shock over the brutal killing of 175 innocent schoolgirls in Minab.

Such pusillanimity, however, is not confined to India: as many as 135 countries were co-sponsors of the dishonest and duplicitous UNGA resolution mentioned above, afraid that they would otherwise offend the Americans.

In fact, apart from a handful of countries in the entire world, none has had the gumption to condemn unambiguously the blatantly illegal and immoral war unleashed by the US-Israeli combine against Iran.

Extreme concern
This is a matter for extreme concern, for the attack on Iran abrogates the concept of sovereignty of nations that had been the core concept in the struggle for decolonisation and had underlain the entire post-colonial order. It destroys, in other words, the very rationale for decolonisation.

This pusillanimity on the part of Third World countries is also a matter of great puzzlement. After all, these are countries that have had long and arduous anti-colonial struggles to achieve the status of independent and sovereign states; how can they remain silent when this very sovereignty is being violated in the case of a fellow Third World state by the armed might of US imperialism?

The answer to this question, no doubt complex, must nonetheless incorporate recognition of at least two fractures that neoliberalism has introduced into our world. One is the fracturing of the concept of the “nation” whose coming into being had been accomplished by the anti-colonial struggle.

This concept of the “nation” had differed fundamentally from the European concept that had developed in the wake of the Westphalian Peace Treaties in at least three ways: first, it was inclusive and did not identify any “enemy within”; second, unlike European nationalism it shunned any imperial ambitions of its own, in the sense of having designs over the resources of distant lands; and third, it did not apotheosise the nation as standing above the people whose “duty” supposedly was to serve it.

The coming into being of this inclusive concept of the “nation” was in turn a reflection of the fact that the anti-colonial struggle was a multi-class struggle; and the dirigiste economic regime that was erected after independence, though it promoted capitalist development, also sought to put curbs on rampant capitalism in the name of achieving “national” development.

This was in the interests of preserving its multi-class support base, which even the monopoly capitalists were not averse to at that time, since they had wanted a trajectory of development where the state exercised relative autonomy vis-a-vis imperialism. The existence of a large public sector was a part of this trajectory.

Further, the policy of non-alignment pursued by these dirigiste regimes had complemented this quest for development in relative autonomy from imperialism. Michal Kalecki, the Polish Marxist economist, had erred in calling such regimes “intermediate regimes” and suggesting that the middle classes held decisive power in such regimes; but he had been right in identifying state capitalism (public sector) and non-alignment as the two most distinctive features of these regimes.

Monopoly bourgeoisie
With globalisation of capital, however, things changed. The domestic monopoly bourgeoisie integrated itself with globalised capital and abandoned its agenda of pursuing a development trajectory that was relatively autonomous of the metropolis.

Sections of the upper professional and bureaucratic segments of society, keen to send their children to study and settle down in the metropolis, joined in as supporters of the neoliberal regime that emerged under the aegis of this globalised capital.

The landed rich too sought their fortunes within this new neoliberal order, which not only promoted rampant unrestrained capitalism, but came down heavily against workers, peasants, agricultural labourers, petty producers and the lower salariat. A schism was effected within the class alliance that had been forged in the course of the anti-colonial struggle.

It was no longer the “nation” against the metropolis that was in focus, but big capital including multinational capital against those social groups which stood in the way of instituting rapid “development” defined exclusively in terms of GDP growth-rates.

The interest of big capital was, by a sleight of hand, identified as “national interest”, and the duty of all classes was to promote it.

This shift in the meaning of the term “nation” meant in effect a fracturing of the “nation” whose coming into being was the desideratum of the anti-colonial struggle. Freedom of the “nation” from imperialist domination, far from being the over-riding objective, was no longer even a desired or a relevant objective for the government within a neoliberal setting.

This is the first instance of “fracturing” referred to above. Because of this fracturing, the criterion on the basis of which the government of a neoliberal regime takes decisions is not whether a particular stance defends national sovereignty, but whether it promotes the material interests of big capital which are considered identical with those of the “nation” in its new meaning.

Deafening silences
Siding with the US-Israeli alliance appears, on balance, more advantageous than standing with Iran, the victim of aggression, from the point of view of the interests of big capital in countries of the Global South. This would go some way to explain the deafening silences, mentioned earlier, in the UNGA and other resolutions.

There is also a second “fracture” brought about by the neoliberal regime. While the neoliberal regime is “sold” to the Global South as ushering in export-led growth that would bring about a higher GDP growth-rate for all countries compared with the earlier dirigiste regime, this claim is completely false.

Since the growth rate of aggregate world demand does not increase when more countries pursue an export-led growth strategy, the neoliberal regime that generalises this strategy among all countries is, in effect, forcing them to engage in Darwinian competition against one another, that is, to pursue a “beggar-thy-neighbour” strategy.

Some countries’ higher growth-rate than before under the export-led growth strategy, it follows, must be at the expense of other countries that now experience lower growth-rate than before.

Countries engaged in a race to outdo one another can scarcely be said to be “co-operating” with one another. The effect of a general pursuit of the neoliberal strategy, therefore, is a de facto abandonment of non-alignment, of a trajectory where countries of the Global South stood with one another to face up to imperialism.

Now, countries of the Global South, each obsessed with achieving higher GDP growth and hence, within the neoliberal paradigm, obsessed with drawing in larger metropolitan investment for this purpose, would rather curry favour with imperialism in order to outdo their neighbours.

This leads to a fracturing of the non-aligned movement, which is the second fracturing we mentioned earlier.

The silence of most countries of the Global South in the face of the US-Israeli aggression on Iran, which may appear puzzling at first sight, is not so puzzling after all.

Subverting both ‘nation’, ‘non-alignment’
Neoliberalism has been at work for quite some time in subverting both the concept of the nation and the concept of non-alignment, abandoning the anti-imperialist core that characterised these concepts, and substituting in their place alternative concepts that prioritise the task of currying favour with imperialism over everything else.

The outcome of this process is what we see today.

Capitalism is invariably hostile to any collective praxis against it, even if this collective praxis takes the form of just trade union action. It believes in atomising economic agents.

Neoliberal capitalism, which represents a return to unrestrained and uncontrolled capitalism once more, brings to the fore this tendency toward the atomisation of economic agents, through a break-up of the class alliance that had participated in the anti-colonial struggle, and through a subversion of the non-aligned movement that had stood for collective opposition by countries of the Global South to imperialist hegemony.

It is for the people of the Global South, not the governments currently promoting the interests of the ruling big bourgeoisie, to extend solidarity to the people of Iran. The struggle of Iran against the US-Israeli alliance is of crucial importance for recovering the sovereignty of the Global South.

Dr Prabhat Patnaik is professor emeritus, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The views are personal. This article is republished from Newsclick.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

After weeks of bombardments in southern Lebanon that have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced more than one million residents, Israel has announced a ten-day ceasefire with Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, vowed to keep Israeli troops in southern Lebanon to create a ten-kilometre “security zone”, raising immediate questions about whether the ceasefire would actually stop Israeli attacks against Hezbollah.

After a previous ceasefire in late 2024 ended 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli troops continued to launch airstrikes and carry out targeted killings of Hezbollah fighters.

People like to bound events such as wars with tidy dates and years. It makes them easier to understand and entertains the fantasy that historic events are neat, with understandable beginnings, middles and eventual ends.

But in reality, the messiness and complexities of war rarely hold to these manmade boundaries.

Instead, even after a ceasefire or a peace agreement is in place, many dynamics of war continue. This is the paradox of such agreements: they might end one phase of a conflict, but they inevitably usher in another.

The good and bad of ceasefires

Take Israel’s war in Gaza as an example.

The war came to an end after Israel and Hamas signed the Gaza Peace Plan, a 20-point deal brokered by the Trump administration, in October 2025.

The terms are relatively broad, vague and aspirational. But the deal has had many benefits. The ceasefire decreased Israel’s bombardments of Gaza. The remaining Israeli hostages captured on October 7 2023 were swapped with Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Somewhat more aid now enters the strip than during the war.

However, the agreement also created other negative dynamics and enabled many problems caused by the war to continue.

For example, after the deal was signed, the public and media attention shifted away from the violence continuing to be committed by Israel to other events. This has meant that in the wake of the peace deal, near-daily Israeli attacks have continued, but with much less scrutiny. Israeli-supported violence against Palestinians in the West Bank has also escalated.

Humanitarian aid entry into the Gaza Strip also remains vastly below the levels delineated by the peace agreement. And serious discussions about the future governance or development of Gaza – mandated under the peace plan in multiple points – remain uncertain amid the noise of other wars and global events.

We can see similar dynamics in Iran, barely a week after another vaguely worded ceasefire agreement was signed between the US and the Iranian regime.

It appears the regime has taken the opportunity provided by a two-week “peace” to crack down on internal dissent. And in what appears to be an attempt to enhance its negotiating position for future peace talks, the Trump administration has launched a naval blockade of Iranian ports.

The short-term truce between Lebanon and Israel might offer Lebanese civilians some level of reprieve. However, it may also provide Israel with a quiet week away from the media spotlight to reinforce its military occupation of southern Lebanon.

To create Israel’s security zone, Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military would demolish buildings in Lebanese towns near the border and prevent displaced Lebanese from returning to their homes. Netanyahu made clear Israeli troops would remain.

This can all be more easily accomplished with a ceasefire deal in place.

Short attention spans

Globally, dozens of countries are currently experiencing armed conflict. Many people scan the news regularly as a way of keeping informed and bearing witness to the dynamics of these wars, casualty figures and how they might potentially end.

This glorified horror plays into our current “headline culture”, which tends to encourage clickbait, sensationalised content and virality. It also means public attention on a particular conflict is not necessarily driven by the scale of suffering, but by media coverage. Because of digital media, we have now a proximate and persistent view of human suffering and death that does not always translate into ongoing attention and action.

Whether parties to a conflict will reach a ceasefire or peace agreement is certainly worthwhile and important news. However, once a deal is signed, media and public attention often shifts to other more “active” (and also worthy) conflicts. There is currently no shortage of wars to choose from.

Because we believe a conflict has “ended” with a deal, what comes after the ceasefire or peace agreement tends to remain obfuscated or under-reported.

The peace agreement paradox

Ceasefires and peace agreements are certainly not always a harbinger of peace or a neat full-stop to a war story.

Arguably, the parties to these deals are increasingly aware of the “peace” agreement paradox and are making their political and military calculations accordingly.

If we truly want to grapple with what war and peace directly entails for millions of people in an increasingly complex and volatile world, we need to broaden our understanding about what we mean by ceasefires and peace agreements – and keep up a level of scrutiny long after the deals are signed.

– ref. Israel and Lebanon have a ceasefire, but global attention shouldn’t move on. This isn’t a tidy end to the war – https://theconversation.com/israel-and-lebanon-have-a-ceasefire-but-global-attention-shouldnt-move-on-this-isnt-a-tidy-end-to-the-war-280816

The pill is the most common way Australian women avoid getting pregnant. Almost 30% of Australian women who use contraception take the pill.

Now, several state and territory governments are giving women greater access to the pill. Just this week, New South Wales announced it would allow eligible pharmacists to prescribe it to women aged 18 and above, without them needing to see a GP first.

But around the country, the rules governing how women can access the pill through pharmacies vary. And certain types of the pill still aren’t available under pharmacy prescribing schemes anywhere in Australia.

How does the pill work?

The combined oral contraceptive pill is a daily medication that women can take to avoid unwanted pregnancies, or plan when they want to conceive.

The pill contains two hormones, typically oestrogen and progestogen or derivatives of these hormones, which stop the ovaries from releasing an egg each month. These hormones also makes a woman’s cervical mucus thicker, which helps prevent sperm from entering the uterus.

The pill is the most common kind of contraceptive. However, other types are also available. These include progestogen-only pills, otherwise known as the “mini pill”, and intrauterine devices that are implanted in the uterus to prevent pregnancy.

In addition to preventing pregnancy, the pill can also help women manage other medical conditions. These include menstrual disorders, such as heavy bleeding or painful periods. Women who have severe acne or endometriosis may also have less pain when on the pill.

So, what’s changing?

Until recently, women could only access the pill by following three strict steps.

1. visit a GP for a script
2. go to a pharmacy to get a supply of this medication
3. return to the GP when this supply runs out, asking them for a new prescription.

However, federal and state governments are working to simplify this process.

In March, Victoria announced that from July this year, it’d allow women taking the pill for the first time to get it from pharmacies, without a GP prescription. This applies to women aged 18 and older.

Soon after, the federal government said it’d allow concession card holders to access subsidised contraceptives prescribed by qualified pharmacists, without the need to see a GP. This change will come into effect across Australia from January 2027, pending approval from all states and territories.

Most recently, NSW has announced trained pharmacists will be able to prescribe a range of oral contraceptives from June 1, 2026. However, this is only to women aged 18 and above who have a low risk of complications.

These announcements come as trained pharmacists take on a greater role in caring for people with acute and chronic health conditions. Researchers around Australia are currently investigating whether this is a safe and effective way to take pressure off GPs and the broader health-care system.

Training is key

Importantly, these new initiatives haven’t made the pill a fully “over the counter” medication.

Pharmacists who provide a resupply service in NSW, meaning a GP already prescribed the contraception in the past two years, must complete online training modules. Only then are they eligible to resupply up to 12 months of certain contraceptives. However, specific training requirements vary for each jurisdiction.

Under NSW’s new scheme, pharmacists must also have a postgraduate qualification in prescribing. That allows them to prescribe new contraceptives, or a different type of contraception, to a patient.

In certain jurisdictions, and with patient consent, pharmacists must notify the patient’s regular GP if they prescribe or resupply any contraception.

However, using contraceptives carries certain risks. People may be more likely to develop adverse symptoms, such as blood clots, because they have underlying conditions or other risk factors.

That’s why pharmacists must have thorough consultations with patients. This involves screening for risk factors, such as high blood pressure, before prescribing or resupplying contraceptives. And if their consultation raises any concerns, pharmacists must refer a patient to be reviewed by their GP.

For some people, longer-acting forms of contraception such as implants, or forms of contraception not available through pharmacists may be more suitable. It’s best to discuss these options with a GP. It’s also worth noting that seeing a pharmacist shouldn’t replace routine visits to the GP, which are key to monitoring your overall health.

In NSW, about 60 pharmacists have already completed a graduate certificate in prescribing from James Cook University. After also completing a state government reproductive health course, they’ll be eligible to start prescribing certain oral contraceptives from June 1, 2026.

Read more: Do we really need prescriptions for the contraceptive pill?

So, how can I get the pill?

You can find a participating pharmacy by visiting this website or contacting your local state or territory health department.

However, not every pharmacist can prescribe. So if you want to take the pill, it’s best to call your local pharmacy ahead of time. That way you can ask if their pharmacists are eligible to prescribe and/or resupply contraceptives, and discuss any anticipated costs. If they do, ask for a suitable time to go. But be prepared for a longer consultation, rather than a quick visit.

Importantly, seeing a pharmacist doesn’t guarantee you’ll get the pill. Depending on your jurisdiction, they may not be able to give you certain types of the pill or other contraceptives.

Instead, they may refer you to a GP to discuss other options. And if you’re using contraceptives primarily to manage another condition, such as acne, you’ll generally still need to see your GP.

Read more: How to choose the right contraceptive pill for you

– ref. Want to get the pill without seeing a GP? Here’s what you need to know – https://theconversation.com/want-to-get-the-pill-without-seeing-a-gp-heres-what-you-need-to-know-280719

When the Strait of Hormuz first closed in March and oil hit US$120 a barrel, a very old question came back: is this finally the moment electric vehicles take off for good – or just another false start?

EVs have been here before. They surged after the 1973 oil embargo, collapsed when oil fell, and surged again. Each wave died when the external pressure eased.

We think this time is different. In a new discussion paper, we argue that the economic case for electric vehicles is now improving on its own terms. This is because of what has happened to batteries, not because of the oil price. The same evidence, though, shows the transition creates new problems as serious as the ones it solves.

Why this time is different

Battery costs have fallen 93% since 2010. That is the number that changes everything. A pack that cost more than US$1,000 per kilowatt-hour in 2010 cost US$108 by late 2025, driven down by a decade of learning, investment and policy support.

Research on the global battery industry finds that every time cumulative production doubles, costs fall by around 9%. More buyers, more production, lower costs, more buyers.

Unlike the 1970s, this loop does not need an oil crisis to keep spinning. Electric cars have crossed lifetime cost parity with petrol vehicles across much of Europe; in the used-car market they now have the lowest total cost of ownership. Newer models even match petrol cars in estimated lifespan – something early EVs could not claim.

Global sales surpassed 17 million in 2024, one of the fastest technology diffusion processes in the history of transport. Norway is near-fully electrified. And Ethiopia reached around 60% EV sales share in 2024, powered by cheap hydroelectricity – some way ahead of the US, for instance, which sits at around 8%.

An economic platform, not just a better engine

The deeper reason this wave will not fade is not technical – it is economic. An EV is a platform. Its value grows as the network around it grows, just as smartphones became indispensable not because of the hardware but because of everything connected to it.

Every charger built makes the next EV more attractive. Every software update raises the value of every car already on the road. Every recycled battery feeds back into the supply chain that makes the next one cheaper. It’s part of the reason some other technologies like hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have struggled to get off the ground in numbers – the tech exists, but all the other elements aren’t quite there.

One study of 8,000 drivers in Shanghai found that range anxiety – the fear of running out of charge – has a real economic cost due to unnecessarily avoided trips. But that cost is falling sharply, not because batteries improved, but because charging networks expanded.

Making real-time charger availability visible could add 6–8 percentage points to market share by 2030. And because EV charging is far more flexible than other household electricity demand, drivers can shift away from peak hours remarkably easily when the price is right – turning the car into a grid asset, able to store and release electricity when needed. These are economic network effects, not engineering features.

Swapping one dependency for another

Ending oil dependence does not end geopolitical exposure. It relocates it.

In late 2025, China introduced rules requiring government approval for exports containing more than 0.1% rare earths. The leverage that once came from control of oil flows now comes from control of processing capacity and component supply chains.

The minerals at stake – lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite and neodymium to name but a handful – carry their own geopolitical risks and, as we have written elsewhere, serious human costs in the communities that mine them. This creates a predictable cycle of social contestation that threatens to stall the transition unless the industry commits to responsible, sustainable innovation.

The metal cobalt traditionally helped EVs travel further on the same charge. And when prices spiked, so did research into making batteries with less or even no cobalt. Today, more than half of all EV batteries sold globally are cobalt free.

Four decades of patent data show the same pattern: higher mineral prices consistently redirect research and development toward mineral-saving technologies.

Recovering lithium and cobalt from used batteries is becoming economically viable too, shifting part of the supply chain away from geopolitically exposed extraction sites. In addition, Norway and other countries are looking to exploit new critical mineral resources to diversify supplies.

The transition is real – but not risk-free

The Hormuz crisis is a reminder of what concentrated energy dependence costs. The EV transition does not need it. The learning curve keeps falling, the platform keeps compounding, the economics keep improving. That is what makes this wave different.

What it does not do is eliminate geopolitical risk. Unlike oil, where leverage comes from energy flows, EV supply chains concentrate power at materials, processing capacity, and technological bottlenecks – supply chains that are highly concentrated and carry their own serious risks. Fuel dependence becomes mineral dependence. That dependence is highly concentrated.

Traditional carmaking regions are already absorbing concentrated job losses, and history shows such disruptions leave persistent scars even if the long-term aggregate effects are positive. Yet electric vehicle assembly is proving more labour-intensive in western countries than expected – requiring more workers on the shopfloor, not fewer, at least in the ramp-up phase. Contrast this with China, where massive automation has led to the creation of “dark factories” where there are so few humans, internal lighting isn’t required.

The same regions facing losses could benefit. But the gains and losses do not fall on the same people. That is where the work remains.

– ref. Electric vehicles pass tipping point, breaking the link with oil prices – https://theconversation.com/electric-vehicles-pass-tipping-point-breaking-the-link-with-oil-prices-280655

A DemosAU poll has Labor down three points on primary votes since February to just 26%, with Labor and One Nation now tied. The total vote for the Coalition and One Nation was steady at 49% while the total for Labor and the Greens was down two points to 39%.

Other recent federal polls have been much better for Labor than this DemosAU poll, and a Morgan poll that was taken last week gave Labor a big lead.

DemosAU could be an anti-Labor outlier, or it may be picking up a shift against Labor in the last week. We will need to wait for more polls to know what is happening.

This article also includes age and gender breakdowns from a large-sample Redbridge poll, coverage of international electoral events and further analysis of the March 21 South Australian election.

The Poll Bludger reported a national DemosAU poll for Capital Brief that was conducted April 8–14 from a sample of 1,439. Primary votes were 26% Labor (down three since the February DemosAU poll), 26% One Nation (down two), 23% Coalition (up two), 13% Greens (up one) and 12% for all Others (up two).

No two-party estimate was given, but The Poll Bludger said “a seat projection suggests Labor would likely be left scrambling for a minority government with the support of Greens and independents”. Applying 2025 election preference flows would give Labor below a 51–49 lead over the Coalition, their worst result from any poll this term.

Anthony Albanese’s net approval slumped six points to -20, with 46% giving him a negative rating and 26% a positive rating. Angus Taylor’s initial net approval was -3 (28% negative, 25% positive). Pauline Hanson’s net approval was steady at -5 (39% negative, 34% positive).

By 47–28, respondents did not think the United States was a reliable military ally for Australia. By 59–22, they thought the government should distance itself from President Trump rather than closely support him (45–36 in January 2025 at the beginning of Trump’s term).

Morgan poll

A national Morgan poll, conducted April 6–12 from a sample of 1,512, gave Labor 30% of the primary vote (down 0.5 since the early April Morgan poll), One Nation 24.5% (up three), the Coalition 22.5% (down 1.5), the Greens 12.5% (up 0.5) and all Others 10.5% (down 1.5).

No Labor vs One Nation two-party estimate was provided. Labor led the Coalition by an unchanged 56–44 using respondent preferences. They led by 54–46 on 2025 election preference flows, a 0.5-point gain for Labor.

Large-sample Redbridge poll

The Poll Bludger reported on a Redbridge and Accent Research poll for The Financial Review. This poll was conducted March 6–19 from a large sample of 5,563. It did not give a national headline figure, instead focusing on demographic breakdowns.

With young men (Gen Z), Labor had 39% of the primary vote, the Greens 24%, One Nation 19% and the Coalition 12%.

Among young women, the Greens had 38%, Labor 26%, the Coalition 14% and One Nation 11%.

With Millennial men, Labor had 36%, One Nation 26%, the Coalition 16% and the Greens 13%. With Millennial women, Labor had 28%, One Nation 27%, the Coalition 19% and the Greens 15%.

For Gen X men, One Nation had 35%, Labor 32%, the Coalition 18% and the Greens 6%. For Gen X women, One Nation 31%, Labor 29%, the Coalition 21% and the Greens 9%.

For Baby Boomer men, One Nation had 31%, the Coalition 30%, Labor 27% and the Greens 4%. For Baby Boomer women, Labor 33%, One Nation 32%, the Coalition 24% and the Greens 3%.

Combining the Labor and Greens votes against the One Nation and Coalition votes gives the left a 63–31 lead among Gen Z men and a 64–25 lead among Gen Z women. Millenial men gave the left a 49–42 lead, but Millenial women gave the right a 46–43 lead.

Gen X men gave the right a 53–38 lead and Gen X women gave the right a 52–38 lead. Baby Boomer men gave the right a 61–31 lead and Baby Boomer women gave the right a 56–36 lead.

Farrer byelection has 12 candidates

The Farrer federal byelection to replace Liberal sussan Ley will be held on May 9. There are 12 candidates for this byelection, with One Nation, independent Michelle Milthorpe and the Liberals the main prospects. Labor is not contesting.

Coverage of US, Canadian and Hungarian electoral events

On Friday AEST, US Democrats retained a federal seat in New Jersey, but the 11-point swing in margin from the 2024 presidential election results in that seat was much less than the 25-point swing in Georgia in the April 7 special election. I covered this for The Poll Bludger.

Since the 2025 Canadian federal election, the centre-left Liberals have gained five MPs in the House of Commons by defections. On Monday, they won three byelections in seats they already held, and now have 174 MPs, two above the 172 needed for a majority. In swing terms from the 2025 election, the Conservatives performed dismally in all three byelections.

At the Hungarian April 12 election, Viktor Orbán’s far-right Fidesz that has governed for the last 16 years was thumped by a conservative and pro-European party. I covered these events for The Poll Bludger.

More on the SA election

ABC election analyst Antony Green has posted about the final lower house results of the March 21 South Australian state election. I previously covered these results. Only 13 of the 47 seats were “classic” Labor vs Liberal contests, while 25 were Labor vs One Nation.

Labor had big swings in its favour in Liberal and Labor-held seats on narrow margins, but One Nation had big swings against the old Labor vs Liberal margin in safe Labor seats. Labor won Light against One Nation by just 51.6–48.4, down from a 70.1–29.9 margin against the Liberals in 2022.

Preference flows suggest 80–85% of Greens preferenced Labor above either the Liberals or One Nation. Of One Nation’s preferences, 65–70% favoured the Liberals above Labor, while 55–65% of Liberal preferences went to One Nation ahead of Labor.

The primary vote leader won 45 of the 47 seats, with independents winning Finniss (from fourth on primary votes) and Kavel (from second).

We won’t get an official statewide two-party preferred result, but analyst Kevin Bonham estimates Labor won by 57.9–42.1 against the Liberals and by 58.2–41.8 against One Nation. This would be a 3.3% swing to Labor against the Liberals since the 2022 SA election.

In an embarrassment for the electoral commission, 81 additional votes for Narungga were discovered on Thursday in a neighbouring electorate. Narungga was the closest seat at the election, with One Nation defeating the Liberals by just 58 votes.

The extra votes increased One Nation’s lead to 74 votes.

– ref. DemosAU gives Labor one of its worst poll results this term – https://theconversation.com/demosau-gives-labor-one-of-its-worst-poll-results-this-term-280270

In early April, one of Australia’s most decorated soldiers, Ben Roberts-Smith, was arrested and charged with five war crimes of murder.

These charges were brought under the Commonwealth Criminal Code Act.

On Friday, a bail hearing was held in Sydney. Roberts-Smith appeared remotely from custody and his lawyers requested bail in person.

The judge granted Roberts-Smith bail based on “exceptional circumstances”.

The allegations and the arrest

The allegations against Roberts-Smith relate to five separate killings of people in various locations in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan in 2009 and 2012, where he served with the Australian Special Forces (the Special Air Service regiment, also known as “the SAS”).

Read more: Ben Roberts-Smith is accused of 5 war crime murder charges. How did we get here?

These allegations were already known in the media and through the failed defamation case that Roberts-Smith brought against Nine Entertainment.

The wider context of the alleged offending came to light in 2020 following the release of the Brereton Report which found credible information that members of the SAS had committed war crimes during operations in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.

On April 7, Roberts-Smith was arrested at Sydney Airport by Australian Federal Police officers and taken into protective custody in Silverwater Prison.

What makes bail so important?

A day after his arrest, a remote bail hearing took place. Roberts-Smith’s lawyer did not request bail. It is unclear why. Bail was then requested at a hearing on April 17.

Bail is an important aspect of fair trial. Courts must consider the rights of the accused, such as the right not to be punished prior to being found guilty.

But courts must also mitigate any potential risks from the accused’s behaviour, which may include harm to the community or interfering with the course of justice. Also considered is whether a person is likely to appear at their subsequent court hearings or if there a risk of absconding or fleeing.

It is notable, however, the general trend in Australia is towards decreasing access to bail, as courts are increasingly risk averse.

This is particularly so with serious offences.

Are there any precedents in Australia?

It is difficult to compare the idea of bail for war crimes with bail decisions for “ordinary” crimes – even murder. This is because one of the considerations for bail is whether someone is likely to reoffend if they are out on bail.

In the case of war criminals, they are obviously no longer in a warzone – they are likely not going to reoffend while on bail.

Australia has almost no war crimes prosecutions in its history, with no conviction for the only previous prosecution which related to the second world war.

But we can look to the one other case of war crimes charges currently before the courts – Oliver Schulz, another SAS soldier.

In March 2023, Schulz was arrested and charged with the war crime of murder. This relates to an alleged killing carried out while Schulz was serving in Afghanistan.

Under the Commonwealth Crimes Act, bail is not permitted to be granted for a person accused under Commonwealth law of causing the death of a person. Only in “exceptional circumstances” will bail be justified.

After being arrested, Schulz was initially refused bail. However, eight days later, he was granted bail.

His lawyer argued there were “exceptional circumstances”, namely Schulz would be vulnerable in jail. He would likely encounter Islamic extremists, which would be a security risk for Schulz. The magistrate agreed and granted bail.

Schulz’s bail came with a long list of conditions:

• a bail security of A$200,000

• surrender of his passport

• prohibition on contacting any of his fellow SAS soldiers

• barred from contacting any prosecution witnesses

• a curfew

• reporting to police daily (this was later amended due to practicalities of the station’s opening hours).

What about Roberts-Smith?

Roberts-Smith’s situation is different from Schulz.

Firstly, he is charged with five war crime murders, not one. Studies have shown chances of bail decrease when there are more charges and when the offences are serious.

Secondly, Roberts-Smith has sufficient financial means to abscond, as well as wealthy financial backers. This would support his ability to pay a bail security, which increases the likelihood of bail being granted. However, it would also provide the means for international travel.

Thirdly, Roberts-Smith is known for travelling internationally, including during court proceedings.

This indicates he may be a high flight risk.

Fourthly, the court must consider the risk of Roberts-Smith interfering with the course of justice.

A judge previously found Roberts-Smith threatened witnesses in his defamation case.

What did lawyers argue at the bail hearing?

These factors were raised by lawyers for both sides in Friday’s bail hearing.

Roberts-Smith’s lawyers argued he also met the threshold of “exceptional circumstances” in that staying in prison would not be safe. They argued he was not a flight risk, had been cooperating with authorities, and had not attempted to contact witnesses involved in the case.

Barrister Slade Howell argued for bail because the case would likely take years due to the complexity of the case and that Roberts-Smith would not be able to prepare his defence if he was in custody.

Prosecutor Simon Buchen argued against bail because of the serious gravity and scope of the charges. He also charged Roberts-Smith was a flight risk, alleging the accused had planned to move overseas and he had withheld this information from authorities.

Buchen presented the most significant risk as the potential for interference with witnesses or evidence and subversion of the court process.

Buchen acknowledged strict bail conditions could mitigate the flight risk but not the risk of interference in the course of justice.

Judge Greg Grogin found the risks presented by the prosecution would be mitigated by bail conditions, with those being:

• report to a police station three times a week
• only use a single phone and computer, which must be made available to police if requested
• a $250,000 bail surety
• permission to travel to Sydney and Perth for legal or medical reasons
• prohibited from interfering with witnesses or evidence
• surrender of passport

The decision diverges from typical bail trends in Australia which emphasise the seriousness of the crime, flight risk and the risk of interference with justice.

Schulz will face trial in February 2027. Roberts-Smith’s trial date remains to be set – we will know more at a status hearing set for June 4, 2026.

– ref. ‘Exceptional circumstances’: why was Ben Roberts-Smith granted bail? – https://theconversation.com/exceptional-circumstances-why-was-ben-roberts-smith-granted-bail-280453

More than 60% of battery system installation work inspected under a federal government green energy program is substandard and 1.2% unsafe, according to a recent report by the Clean Energy Regulator.

The Cheaper Home Batteries Program has proved hugely popular. More than a quarter of a million small-scale battery systems have now been installed under it. This equates to 7.7 gigawatt hours of installed storage capacity.

Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, says this “means less pressure at peak times, more reliability, and a cleaner, more affordable energy system”.

But the installation compliance and safety problems highlighted by the regulator’s report risk not only battery storage growth and the credibility of the scheme, but also public safety.

Substandard and unsafe installations

The Cheaper Home Batteries Program provides a discount of about 30% of the cost of an installed battery. The program is designed to accelerate the move away from fossil fuels, with energy storage critical for reducing reliance on fossil fuel generation during evening peaks.

Recent amendments to the scheme design will address issues that have blown out the cost from original estimates of A$2.3 billion to A$7.2 billion.

Between July 2025 and April 2026, the Clean Energy Regulator carried out 1,278 compliance inspections on battery systems installed under the program.

Some 60.8% of inspected system installations were found to be “substandard” and 1.2% of installs were found to be “unsafe”. The problems weren’t about the batteries themselves, but the way they had been installed.

The sample size in the regulator’s report is small – 0.5% of the total number of systems installed.

With such a small sample size, it is hard to extrapolate the level of installation non-compliance across all systems in Australia. But if similar trends continue in inspections over a larger sample size, there could be approximately 3,000 battery installs that are unsafe and a further 152,000 that are non-compliant.

From incorrect labelling to exposed wiring

Most non-compliance issues related to incorrect labelling.

Issues include missing or incorrect warning labels, unlabelled backup circuits, and missing or incorrectly positioned energy storage (ES) labels. These issues are comparatively low risk relative to issues such as loose wiring, exposed wiring, and substandard electrical work that could lead to overloading, poor battery performance or fires.

Wiring requirements for batteries are not all equal. Some battery systems come pre-assembled with all wiring and electronic equipment integrated into the battery enclosure. This reduces the electrical work required to install.

Other systems are not as integrated. They require additional wiring by the electrician to connect, and can be more challenging to install without experience. These were the systems where installations were deemed unsafe by the regulator, with reported issues such as loose connections and substandard wiring practices that pose an imminent risk.

Exposed wiring is also a common issue that needs to be addressed as a priority. If wiring is not enclosed, it can be damaged and increase the risk of a severe electric shock if touched. The independent solar energy website, SolarQuotes, highlights the exposed wiring issue well, showcasing several installations with non-compliant wiring.

For batteries, no amount of exposed cable is compliant. Cables need to be protected from mechanical damage for the full cable run, using electrical conduit or metal ducting.

Alarmingly, reports from experts in the field indicate that only 10% of installers are following these wiring practices correctly.

A quick scroll of social media groups that rate battery installation jobs visually confirms the issues. Posts of substandard installations show exposed cables, batteries placed in full sun, delicately anchored to a wall with standard masonry wall plugs or supported with loose bits of timber and pavers.

In February the Clean Energy Regulator said it was ramping up inspections of solar battery installations as part of the Cheaper Home Batteries Program.

“I’m putting installers on notice that unsafe and non-compliant work will be identified, and we won’t hesitate to use our compliance powers,” CER Executive General Manager, Carl Binning, said.

Battery installations are complex

Well-intentioned schemes have previously been compromised by bad actors – referred to as “rebate chasers”.

The regulator sets rules limiting the number of battery installations that can be completed in one day. This is aimed at reducing the likelihood of this type of accreditation misuse.

Battery installations are complex, so there are likely to be a range of reasons why non-compliance is emerging.

Conversations colleagues and I have had with electricians operating in the industry highlight just how stretched they are trying to keep up with demand. The shortage of electricians nationally is a well-known issue exacerbating the pressure placed on current trades trying to deal with the volume of work available.

The sheer scale of demand pushes skilled trades to work to their limits. This is bound to result in things falling through the cracks in some cases.

In instances of fraud, negligence or repeat non-compliance, the Clean Energy Regulator has indicated the use of strong enforcement action. This includes stripping accreditation where necessary.

In the case where repeat non-compliance highlights gaps in knowledge across the industry, the regulator has signalled an intention to fill knowledge gaps with mandatory training.

Finding accredited installers

There is a well-defined accreditation pathway for battery installers that should be reviewed by accrediting body Solar Accreditation Australia, considering the issues identified.

In the meantime, consumers can arm themselves with the knowledge to avoid being caught out. They can reduce the risk of a non-compliant or unsafe install by engaging an accredited installer that has been pre-vetted.

Ask quoting installers for images of previous installations. A neat and tidy installation, without exposed cabling, can be a good marker for compliant installation practices.

And if you have the time and technical aptitude, familiarise yourself with the Clean Energy Regulator’s Solar Battery Inspections Checklist.

– ref. More than 60% of home battery installations inspected in Australia are ‘substandard’ – https://theconversation.com/more-than-60-of-home-battery-installations-inspected-in-australia-are-substandard-280449

After weeks of bombardments in southern Lebanon that have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced more than one million residents, Israel has announced a ten-day ceasefire with Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, vowed to keep Israeli troops in southern Lebanon to create a ten-kilometre “security zone”, raising immediate questions about whether the ceasefire would actually stop Israeli attacks against Hezbollah.

After a previous ceasefire in late 2024 ended 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli troops continued to launch airstrikes and carry out targeted killings of Hezbollah fighters.

People like to bound events such as wars with tidy dates and years. It makes them easier to understand and entertains the fantasy that historic events are neat, with understandable beginnings, middles and eventual ends.

But in reality, the messiness and complexities of war rarely hold to these manmade boundaries.

Instead, even after a ceasefire or a peace agreement is in place, many dynamics of war continue. This is the paradox of such agreements: they might end one phase of a conflict, but they inevitably usher in another.

The good and bad of ceasefires

Take Israel’s war in Gaza as an example.

The war came to an end after Israel and Hamas signed the Gaza Peace Plan, a 20-point deal brokered by the Trump administration, in October 2025.

The terms are relatively broad, vague and aspirational. But the deal has had many benefits. The ceasefire decreased Israel’s bombardments of Gaza. The remaining Israeli hostages captured on October 7 2023 were swapped with Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Somewhat more aid now enters the strip than during the war.

However, the agreement also created other negative dynamics and enabled many problems caused by the war to continue.

For example, after the deal was signed, the public and media attention shifted away from the violence continuing to be committed by Israel to other events. This has meant that in the wake of the peace deal, near-daily Israeli attacks have continued, but with much less scrutiny. Israeli-supported violence against Palestinians in the West Bank has also escalated.

Humanitarian aid entry into the Gaza Strip also remains vastly below the levels delineated by the peace agreement. And serious discussions about the future governance or development of Gaza – mandated under the peace plan in multiple points – remain uncertain amid the noise of other wars and global events.

We can see similar dynamics in Iran, barely a week after another vaguely worded ceasefire agreement was signed between the US and the Iranian regime.

It appears the regime has taken the opportunity provided by a two-week “peace” to crack down on internal dissent. And in what appears to be an attempt to enhance its negotiating position for future peace talks, the Trump administration has launched a naval blockade of Iranian ports.

The short-term truce between Lebanon and Israel might offer Lebanese civilians some level of reprieve. However, it may also provide Israel with a quiet week away from the media spotlight to reinforce its military occupation of southern Lebanon.

To create Israel’s security zone, Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military would demolish buildings in Lebanese towns near the border and prevent displaced Lebanese from returning to their homes. Netanyahu made clear Israeli troops would remain.

This can all be more easily accomplished with a ceasefire deal in place.

Short attention spans

Globally, dozens of countries are currently experiencing armed conflict. Many people scan the news regularly as a way of keeping informed and bearing witness to the dynamics of these wars, casualty figures and how they might potentially end.

This glorified horror plays into our current “headline culture”, which tends to encourage clickbait, sensationalised content and virality. It also means public attention on a particular conflict is not necessarily driven by the scale of suffering, but by media coverage. Because of digital media, we have now a proximate and persistent view of human suffering and death that does not always translate into ongoing attention and action.

Whether parties to a conflict will reach a ceasefire or peace agreement is certainly worthwhile and important news. However, once a deal is signed, media and public attention often shifts to other more “active” (and also worthy) conflicts. There is currently no shortage of wars to choose from.

Because we believe a conflict has “ended” with a deal, what comes after the ceasefire or peace agreement tends to remain obfuscated or under-reported.

The peace agreement paradox

Ceasefires and peace agreements are certainly not always a harbinger of peace or a neat full-stop to a war story.

Arguably, the parties to these deals are increasingly aware of the “peace” agreement paradox and are making their political and military calculations accordingly.

If we truly want to grapple with what war and peace directly entails for millions of people in an increasingly complex and volatile world, we need to broaden our understanding about what we mean by ceasefires and peace agreements – and keep up a level of scrutiny long after the deals are signed.

– ref. Israel and Lebanon have signed a ceasefire. But this isn’t a tidy end to a war and attention moves on quickly – https://theconversation.com/israel-and-lebanon-have-signed-a-ceasefire-but-this-isnt-a-tidy-end-to-a-war-and-attention-moves-on-quickly-280816

Elon Musk’s space exploration company SpaceX has filed confidential papers ahead of a planned public company listing on the US NASDAQ stock exchange.

The initial public offering (IPO) for the company controlled by the world’s richest man is targeting a total valuation of US$2 trillion. Musk plans to list only a small fraction of the company to raise US$75 billion from public investors, which would still make it the largest IPO in history.

So, why is SpaceX planning to go public? And what does the IPO mean for investors who might want a tiny slice of the action?

The backstory

SpaceX says it aims to “make humanity multiplanetary”. You would expect no less from Musk, who founded SpaceX in 2002.

His company’s breakthrough was to re-use as much of the rocket and launcher vehicle as possible. This slashed launch costs to as little as 5% of the costs in the early 2000s, and turned commercial space flight from science fiction into reality. The company says it has now completed about 600 successful rocket landings.

Yet, for all its space ambitions, SpaceX still derives 50–80% of its revenue from Starlink, a communications business, which provides satellite internet to over 10 million users around the world.

In February 2026, SpaceX merged with xAI, the loss-making AI company behind the Grok chatbot, in what was the largest private merger transaction on record. The deal valued xAI at US$250 billion and SpaceX at US$1 trillion, creating a combined entity worth US$1.25 trillion.

The merger has helped to set the stage for the SpaceX IPO.

Musk suggested the IPO proceeds will be used for launching up to one million data centre satellites into space. The idea is that space-based data centres would be powered by abundant solar energy, and therefore bypass the constraints of electricity and water usage on Earth.

Bending the rules for the IPO

SpaceX may be the first of three mega-IPOs this year, ahead of potential listings of AI companies Anthropic and OpenAI.

If it goes ahead with plans to raise US$75 billion, that would represent just 3.75% of the company’s total value. It means the vast majority of SpaceX would remain in private hands, owned by Musk himself and a handful of early private investors. In stock market terms, this is called a low “free float”.

Normally, companies that only list such a small percentage of their total value would not qualify for inclusion in major stock market indices like the S&P 500 or the NASDAQ 100.

The NASDAQ normally requires at least a 10% free float of shares in a given company. But to allow a potential listing of SpaceX to be included in the index, the exchange has introduced a special adjustment to the weighting of shares and removed the 10% minimum.

NASDAQ also reduced the normal “seasoning period” before a newly listed company can join the index from three months to just 15 trading days. Again, this is to accommodate the SpaceX listing.

For investors in passive funds, including exchange-trade funds (ETFs), this matters a lot. Currently, more than US$600 billion of investors’ money is with passive funds that track the NASDAQ 100 index. As soon as SpaceX joins the index, these investors will automatically be buying in. The concern is that allowing giant companies such as SpaceX to enter the index too quickly could lead to big price swings, which would expose millions of investors to high volatility.

SpaceX wants investors to value it at US$2 trillion, but it only earned US$15 billion in revenue last year. At that rate, it would take 133 years of revenue just to match its current asking price.

Tesla, one of the most expensive stocks in the world, would take just 13 years — making SpaceX’s price tag ten times higher.

Other leading market indices, such as S&P 500 and FTSE Russell, are also bending their rules to fast-track the inclusion of very large, newly listed companies.

Many more investors have their money in funds that track S&P indices compared to Nasdaq 100 – more than US$16 trillion in passive funds track the S&P. If the S&P 500 follows NASDAQ’s lead and changes its own rules to accommodate SpaceX, the wave of automatic buying would be even larger.

What does this mean for investors?

Musk’s companies have long been the darlings of non-professional, retail investors, and SpaceX would be no exception. In fact, the company said it aims to sell up to 30% of its shares to non-institutional, individual investors.

With SpaceX’s sky-high valuation, investors need to stop and think before buying in. But when powerful companies can rewrite the rules in their own favour, thinking carefully becomes a luxury. Markets only work when everyone plays by the same rules, and right now, not everyone is.

– ref. Musk’s SpaceX is shaping up as the biggest IPO on record. It’s also bending the rules to do so – https://theconversation.com/musks-spacex-is-shaping-up-as-the-biggest-ipo-on-record-its-also-bending-the-rules-to-do-so-280271

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The Supreme Court of New South Wales has struck down the state’s draconian anti-protest laws, ruling they impose an “impermissible burden” on political communication and are invalid.

In a landmark decision yesterday, the court declared key provisions of the anti-protest laws introduced after the Bondi terrorist attack unconstitutional, finding they gave police sweeping powers to shut down protests across large parts of Sydney without sufficient justification.

“The impugned provisions infringe the implied freedom of political communication,” the court found.

The court held that the laws were “not compatible with the maintenance of the constitutionally prescribed system of representative and responsible government.”

Not constitutionally legitimate
“It is not a constitutionally legitimate purpose to seek to discourage all forms of public assembly across a nominated geographical area to preserve social cohesion, on the grounds that the very act of holding public assemblies is apt to cause tension and division in the community,” the court found.

The challenge centred on a suite of laws rushed through on Christmas Eve under the Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (NSW), in the aftermath of the Bondi attack that killed 15 people.

The laws allowed the NSW police commissioner to issue sweeping “public assembly restriction” declarations across broad areas.

Once in force, those declarations effectively shut down protests by preventing them from being authorised under the Summary Offences Act 1988 (NSW), cancelling existing approvals and enabling police to disperse gatherings using expanded powers under the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (NSW).

In its reasoning, the court stated:

“peaceful protest is indispensable to the exercise of political sovereignty by the people of the Commonwealth”

and the laws imposed “substantial burden” to this right.

It rejected the government’s argument that the measures were necessary to preserve “social cohesion”, finding the scheme was disproportionate.

The system of government “does not permit the state … to impose such a sweeping and indiscriminate restriction on all public assemblies,” the court said.

The constitutional challenge was brought on behalf of Blak Caucus, Palestine Action Group and Jews Against the Occupation ’48.

‘A big win for everyone’
Josh Lees, a spokesperson for Palestine Action Group Sydney, said the ruling was “a big win for everyone who cares about the right to protest”.

“These laws were terrible. They were so wide-ranging, and that is what the court has found today, that they unfairly and disproportionately burdened our rights to political communication,” he said.

Lees said the laws had been used by NSW Premier Chris Minns to violently suppress protests against Israel’s genocide in Gaza and called for Minns to “take accountability” and resign.

The challenge came against the backdrop of heavily policed protests in early 2026, including the violent crackdown on the Sydney Town Hall protest against the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

Enabled police violence
Nick Hanna, solicitor for the plaintiffs, said the laws had enabled “the most violent crackdown … against protesters in decades”.

“Today’s decision makes clear that, in my view, it is inevitable that prosecutions of every single person who attended that protest will be unsuccessful, and they will be found not guilty if they proceed to hearing,” he said.

“The maintenance of these prosecutions is untenable, and it’s time for police to do the right thing and discontinue them.”

Hanna is currently representing a number of protesters who were arrested during the Herzog protest.

Chris Minns responsible
NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson said the ruling raised serious questions about police conduct during those protests.

“What we saw … was police brutality on a scale we have not seen for decades in this state,” she said.

“I hold Chris Minns responsible for that violence because it was his unconstitutional laws upon which the police acted.”

Higginson said the state could now face “tens of millions of dollars in civil liability claims” arising from the policing of protests under the invalid laws.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz