By Mark Edele, Hansen Professor in History, The University of Melbourne
Four years ago, Vladimir Putin escalated his war against Ukraine to an all-out assault. The plan was for a quick and lively campaign and a speedy takeover of a country the Russian president thought shouldn’t exist.
Victory would reassert Russia’s status and hasten a shift from a unipolar to a multipolar world; instead of one great power (the United States), we’d have several. Russia…
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By Robert G. Patman, Professor of International Relations, University of Otago
By appealing to international law and a ‘rules-based’ order, but not opposing the US-Israeli action, the government appears caught in the diplomatic crossfire.
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By Alice Grundy, Visiting Fellow, School of Literature, Language and Linguistics, Australian National University
When Goorie and Koori poet Evelyn Araluen won last week’s $100,000 Victorian Prize for Literature, along with the $25,000 Indigenous Writing prize, she called on the Australian government to change the way it taxes arts prizes.
Araluen won for her poetry collection, The Rot, described by the judges as “a work of remarkable poetic intelligence; formally bold, emotionally exacting and politically uncompromising.” Out of her $125,000 prize money, Araluen,…
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By Fiona Crawford, Adjunct Lecturer at the Centre for Justice, Queensland University of Technology
The 2026 Women’s Asian Cup, hosted by Australia, represents a chance to prove the hype around women’s soccer is more than a one-time thing.
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Transgender and LGBTQ rights flags sit on the desks of legislators in the Kansas House chamber in Topeka, February 19, 2026. © 2026 John Hanna/AP Photo Across the state of Kansas, transgender people are receiving letters informing them that their driver’s licenses are invalid following the passage of a law that invalidates birth certificates and driver’s licenses that do not reflect the bearer’s sex assigned at birth.The law also prohibits transgender people from using bathrooms and facilities inconsistent with their sex assigned at birth in all public buildings,…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Boy on a boat in the mangroves near the village of Walande, Malaita Province, Solomon Islands. © 2025 Cyril Eberle for Human Rights Watch Pacific Island governments on March 4, 2026, launched the world’s first regional guide to address climate-related relocation grounded in human rights principles. As Pacific leaders gather for a three-day convening in Nadi, Fiji, they have an opportunity to pair this landmark guidance with the financial and technical support needed to implement it. The Pacific Regional Guidance on Planned Relocation adapts global standards on…
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By Hugues Plisson, archéologue spécialisé en tracéologie (reconstitution de la fonction des outils préhistoriques par l'analyse de leurs usures), Université de Bordeaux
Andrey I. Krivoshapkin, Permanent researcher at Institute of Archaeology & Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences
Tiny triangular-shaped flints from arrowheads found in Uzbekistan shed light on how the first settlement of ‘Homo sapiens’ – our modern human ancestors – came to Europe.
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By Craig Anthony Johnson, Professor of Politics, University of Guelph
China accounts for more than 80 per cent of global battery production. It’s highly unlikely the U.S. can reduce China’s role in the production and processing of critical minerals.
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By Paul Latimer, Adjunct Professor, School of Law, Swinburne University of Technology
Yes, these exclusions are in the fine print of most policies. But with thousands now facing bills for cancelled plans – is this fair? And what can you do about it?
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By Matthew Sharpe, Associate Professor in Philosophy, Australian Catholic University
Philosopher and writer Albert Camus defined gangster morality as ‘an inexhaustible round of triumph and revenge, defeat and resentment’. Sound familiar?
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