Abandoned Cliff Head oil platform off Dongara sparks cleanup dispute after owners enter administration
An abandoned oil platform off the coast of Dongara in Western Australia has become the focus of a dispute over who will pay for its cleanup and decommissioning. The Cliff Head platform, which has operated since 2006, now sits idle about 11 kilometres offshore after its owners entered voluntary administration in July. Local fishers and conservation groups are urging the federal government to act before the structure poses a risk to crayfishing grounds and marine life.Pilot Energy had been working with Triangle Energy on plans to repurpose the platform, but both companies went into administration in July. The combined value... [Continue Reading]
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Day News Recap: Wildfires, regional violence and Trump Iran warnings dominate a crowded day
Wildfires dominated the day across Europe and North America, with more than 250,000 people forced from their homes in France and Spain as fast moving blazes stretched emergency services, while thousands of tourists and residents sheltered in Bordeaux after evacuations near the city. đź”— đź”—In Britain, firefighters were still battling a moorland blaze on Tintwistle Moor in the Peak District more than a month after it began, and police in Scotland declared a major incident as the Cairngorms wildfire widened evacuation zones and smoke warnings. In Essex, 20 firefighters were taken to hospital after a blaze at Highlands Farm near... [Continue Reading]
Breakfast News Recap: Pakistan attack, West Bank violence and Iran tensions dominate a grim global briefing
Pakistan faced one of its deadliest attacks in years after a suicide bombing hit a security checkpoint in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing 27 people as the search for those behind the assault continued. đź”— The country was also battling deadly monsoon flooding and landslides, with at least 37 people killed in rain related incidents and India rejecting Pakistani allegations over the Chenab river. đź”—In the Middle East, Israel said it is preparing a wider military operation in the occupied West Bank after clashes near Tal left four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers dead. đź”— The violence came as Netanyahu confirmed he... [Continue Reading]
Australian Labor conference rejects Gaza debate push and adopts platform
Australian Labor delegates have adopted the party's Israel and Palestine platform without a floor fight at the end of the party's 50th national conference in Adelaide. The move came after Labor MP Ed Husic failed to secure enough support to debate his proposed amendment on Gaza. The newly adopted platform will guide party policy for the next three years.Mr Husic's push sought to add language acknowledging a United Nations inquiry that found Israeli authorities had deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide and atrocity crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank. According to the conference... [Continue Reading]
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UK complacent about war threat, warns BAE Systems chief
The UK has been too complacent about the risk of foreign attack, according to the head of Europe's biggest defence contractor, BAE Systems. In a rare interview, Dr Charles Woodburn said the level of threat was the highest he had seen in his lifetime. He said the country needed to adapt more quickly to the changing reality of modern warfare.Woodburn welcomed the recent increase in defence spending, but said much more would be needed to meet the government's commitment to spend 3.5% of GDP on defence by 2035. He also warned that countries could soon deploy autonomous lethal weapons while... [Continue Reading]
White House adviser accuses China's Moonshot AI of stealing model capabilities
A White House adviser has accused Beijing-based Moonshot AI of carrying out a large-scale effort to steal the capabilities of leading US artificial intelligence models. Michael Kratsios, the science and technology adviser to President Donald Trump, said the company used a technique known as distillation to extract answers from a stronger model and apply them to its own Kimi K3 system. He also said Moonshot may have used restricted Nvidia servers to train its models.Kratsios said on social media that the US government has information suggesting Moonshot AI distilled capabilities from Anthropic's Fable AI for the development of Kimi K3.... [Continue Reading]
Jaishankar meets Quad counterparts in Manila as India raises China border and trade concerns
India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Manila on Wednesday and raised concerns over supply chain predictability, fair market access, trade imbalances, and the need to facilitate official and people-to-people exchanges. He said peace along the border remains a prerequisite for normalising bilateral relations, placing the talks against the backdrop of the long-running India-China military standoff that began in May 2020. Jaishankar also said the meeting gave both sides a chance to review bilateral ties and discuss regional and global developments.The meeting took place on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit and ASEAN... [Continue Reading]
US 25% tariff on Brazilian exports takes effect, covering about 3,000 items
A new 25% additional tariff imposed by the United States on part of Brazil's exports has taken effect, marking a fresh escalation in trade tensions between the two countries. The measure began on Wednesday and applies to about 3,000 product lines entering the US market. It excludes several major Brazilian exports, including oil, coffee and beef.The tariff was confirmed by the US government last week after an investigation concluded that Brazil uses practices that "burden or restrict" trade with the United States. The investigation cited Brazil's PIX payment system and rules for digital platforms among its examples. Brazilian officials have... [Continue Reading]
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Carney and Trump agree to intensify trade talks after tariff threat
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he and United States President Donald Trump have agreed to intensify trade negotiations after Trump threatened 50% tariffs on a wide range of Canadian imports. Carney said the two leaders spoke on Tuesday and that discussions would begin again immediately. He also warned that Canada would consider all options if the tariffs go ahead.Trump announced the tariff plans on Monday, saying they were a response to what he described as discriminatory treatment of US-made cars, alcohol and dairy goods. Carney told reporters that the first objective was to reach a comprehensive agreement, while also... [Continue Reading]
Delhi protests continue after police crackdown on youth-led education movement
Thousands gathered again in the Indian capital Delhi a day after police used batons and tear gas to disperse supporters of the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party. The movement is demanding education reforms and the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and had tried to march on parliament despite a police ban. The latest gathering came after Monday's confrontation near Jantar Mantar, where the protest drew large crowds and ended in violence.According to the supplied material, at least 60 protesters were wounded, 70 were detained and 118 police personnel were also injured during the crackdown. Police also tore down the stage... [Continue Reading]
Israel publicly criticises Labor draft Palestine policy ahead of Adelaide conference
Israel's embassy in Canberra has publicly criticised a draft Australian Labor Party policy platform on Palestine, in an unusual intervention into the party's internal decision-making ahead of this week's national conference in Adelaide. The embassy issued a four-page statement challenging proposed language on Palestine, Hamas, settler violence and annexation of Palestinian territory. The draft is due to be debated by delegates at the conference later this week.The embassy said the draft risked placing responsibility for the conflict on one side while giving insufficient attention to Hamas and Palestinian leadership. It also said the policy motions were still in draft form... [Continue Reading]
The Mirage of the Umbrella: The Shifting Sands of the U.S.-Israel-GCC Alliance
As I sat in a recent debate at the historic Carlton Club in London, listening to Faisal Abbas, the Editor-in-Chief of Arab News, I felt a tangible shift in the room, not because a new fact had been revealed, but because an old illusion had finally lost its last breath. The old-world order has not merely changed, it has evaporated, leaving the Gulf to realize it is no longer watching a distant fire from the safety of marble towers and air-conditioned ministries, but is instead standing directly inside the smoke. The GCC today is caught in a lethal crossfire between... [Continue Reading]
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The Proving Ground, When “Decent” Reporting Meets High-Tech Warfare
For two decades I have watched wars unfold not only on battlefields, but on screens. Today’s incident over Kuwait, involving the downing of a U.S. F-15 Strike Eagle, is not just another headline in the Iran conflict. It may be a signal that something larger is unfolding behind the noise. Iranian state outlets rapidly circulated imagery of an ejected pilot. Washington responded cautiously. But beneath the spectacle lies a deeper question, whose technology was truly being tested? The Gulf as a live-fire laboratory For years, China has refined export-ready variants of its air defense systems, particularly the HQ-9 family and... [Continue Reading]



