Australia doesn’t want to be AI’s landlord - POLITICO

Canberra wants clean energy, local training and a bigger share of the AI economy...

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/18/australia-doesnt-want-to-be-ais-landlord-01039921

 

The household battery revolution that could change energy bills … and the world

Alison Reeve, the energy and climate change programme director at the Grattan Institute thinktank, says it neatly illustrates how the energy system has been rewritten, almost overnight. Under the new model, households are producers and players in the market, not just consumers. Older forms of generation are increasingly being squeezed out. And the advent of batteries with longer durations means past criticisms of solar energy – that the sun doesn’t shine at night – is being “blown out of the water”...

 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2026/may/31/cheaper-energy-bills-battery-revolution-climate-crisis

 

Trump steps up pressure on European allies to help protect strait of Hormuz

US president says it is 'only appropriate' for Europe to help, and warns failure to do so would be 'very bad' for Nato…

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/16/strait-of-hormuz-australia-japan-no-ships

 

Twelve killed after gunshots fired at Sydney park hosting Jewish festival

Police say one alleged shooter among dead, with second arrested and in a critical condition, after attack on Jewish festival in Sydney…

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/dec/14/police-advise-people-to-take-shelter-following-reports-of-active-shooter-at-bondi-beach

 

Gamers Are Furious About the Censorship of NSFW Games—and They’re Fighting Back | WIRED

As industry groups decry censorship, players are flooding Visa and Mastercard with complaints and sharing the titles of delisted NSFW games to support developers.

https://www.wired.com/story/gamers-are-furious-about-the-censorship-of-nsfw-games-and-theyre-fighting-back/

Mastercard and Visa face backlash after hundreds of adult games removed from online stores Steam and Itch.io | Censorship | The Guardian

Payment platforms demand services remove NSFW content after open letter from Australian anti-porn group Collective Shout, triggering accusations of censorship…

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/29/mastercard-visa-backlash-adult-games-removed-online-stores-steam-itchio-ntwnfb 

 

Trump falsely claims Australia being ‘inundated’ by white South Africans fleeing ‘genocide’ | Australian immigration and asylum | The Guardian

South Africa is not in the top 10 of countries of origin for humanitarian entrants into Australia. Conflict-torn countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Myanmar dominate that list. 

Australia's South African-born population (not limited to humanitarian or refugee entrants) is the seventh-largest migrant community in Australia. It represents about 2.6% of Australia's overseas-born population and 0.8% of Australia's total population...

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/may/22/trump-false-claim-australia-white-genocide-south-africa

Trump handed CRUSHING DEFEAT in AM…IT’S HAPPENING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DGBtNBCC2E

 

The *REAL REASON * No One Wants US Beef

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY9UFX1ikAE

Hearing with Trump trade official gets heated

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/x9DfXJRI6Uk

 

‘Vandals in the White House’ no longer reliable allies of Australia, former defence force chief says

Chris Barrie says Donald Trump's second term is 'irrecoverable', but stops short of calling for end to Aukus pact…

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/21/vandals-in-the-white-house-no-longer-reliable-allies-to-australia-former-defence-force-chief-says-ntwnfb

Australia warns trade war could raise price of Big Mac in US

Don Farrell points out most Australian beef exported to US goes to fast food giant McDonald's…

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/16/australias-trade-minister-warns-trump-tariff-war-could-raise-price-of-big-mac-in-us

 

Alabama Wants to Punish Schools That Don’t Pray (Hemant Mehta and Jessica Bluemke, The Friendly Atheist podast #571)

— Alabama schools could lose funding if they don’t mandate daily Christian prayers. (0:22)

— Oklahoma lawmaker: I don’t want “pink-haired” atheists teaching the Bible in schools. (11:56)

— Oklahoma lawmakers shoot down slew of Christian Nationalist bills. (21:48)

— Tim Barton: We “arrest students that break the Ten Commandments,” so we should put the list up in schools. (42:15)

— Australia will keep screwing up the religion question in its 2026 Census. (49:15)

— Survey finds low levels of “Religious Nationalism” in America. Why doesn’t it feel that way? (1:07:35)
Interview: 

https://friendlyatheistpodcast.com/2025/02/20/alabama-wants-to-punish-schools-that-dont-pray/

 

Could this be the stupidest politician in Australia?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBV5fw6e0RM

A bigot's graduation speech sparked a walkout at a Catholic university in Australia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waoTyMeWek8

Trump allegedly shared potentially sensitive information about US nuclear subs with Australian billionaire

Citing a source with knowledge of the Australian's account to investigators for the special counsel Jack Smith, US news outlet ABC News reported an "excited" Trump allegedly discussed "the supposed exact number of nuclear warheads [US submarines] routinely carry, and exactly how close they supposedly can get to a Russian submarine without being detected"...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/06/donald-trump-us-nuclear-submarines-potentially-sensitive-information-australian-billionaire-anthony-pratt

Australia joins to condemn Israel for illegal settlement in occupied Palestinian territory - ABC News

Earlier this week the governments of Germany, Italy, France, the United Kingdom and United States issued a joint statement denouncing Israel's plan to push ahead with construction of 10,000 settlement units and begin a process to authorise nine settler outposts in the occupied Palestinian territory…

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-16/australia-condemns-israel-over-occupied-west-bank-settlements/101986598

‘This is an emergency’: Australia’s extreme weather crises spark anger at climate inaction

…the seemingly ceaseless extreme weather this year has left many Australians homeless, despondent and angry at the federal government's wilful lack of climate action…

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/09/this-is-an-emergency-australias-extreme-weather-crises-spark-anger-at-climate-inaction

The simple numbers every government should use to fight anti-vaccine misinformation | Australia news | The Guardian

…So because the sheer number of vaccinated people is far larger than the number of unvaccinated people, the total number of "breakthrough" cases outnumbers the number of cases among unvaccinated people. This also means that total number of severe outcomes is potentially going to be larger. However, when these numbers are put into context as proportions of the total number of people in the state, the protective effect of vaccines is obvious…

https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/ng-interactive/2022/jan/28/the-simple-numbers-every-government-should-use-to-fight-anti-vaccine-misinformation

What the China-Australia Spat Means for America - The Atlantic

"China has and will continue to behave badly," Geoff Raby, Australia's ambassador to Beijing from 2007 to 2011, told me. "China won't be changing, and we have to find a way of living with a China that is not like us but is big, powerful, and ugly."

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2021/07/china-australia-america/619544/