By Ibrahim Al-Marashi, Adjunct Professor, IE School of Humanities, IE University; California State University San Marcos
Earlier this month, the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was buried in his hometown of Mashhad after a four-day ceremony. Many international delegations were present, but each country will have chosen their representatives with the utmost care. Sending high-ranking officials would go beyond mere diplomatic courtesy, and possibly signal an alliance.
Only two states sent their prime ministers to the funeral: Iraq and Pakistan, both of whom share a border with Iran. This decision indicates an emerging “Axis of Sympathy” between the countries, a new South-West Asian regional…
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By James Martin, Associate Professor in Criminology, Deakin University
Edward Jegasothy, Senior lecturer, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney
Paul Kelaita, Postdoctoral fellow, Drug Policy Modelling Program, Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW
Last week, new data were released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) suggesting daily smoking prevalence has dropped to a record low of 5.6% in 2025 – down from 8.3% in 2022-23.
Taken at face value, this is the best news in the history of tobacco control in Australia.
But there are reasons for caution. The figures come from a self-report survey, and as the AIHW has previously…
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By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of Melbourne
Since her press club address, media coverage of the One Nation leader has shifted from fawning to more sober – and revealed some dubious ethics in the process.
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By Scott Duncan, Professor of Population Health, Auckland University of Technology
Andrew Gibbons, Professor of Higher Education, Auckland University of Technology
Elizabeth Duncan, Research Officer, Human Potential Research Institute, Auckland University of Technology
New attendance targets focus on getting children into class. But evidence suggests understanding why they are absent is the more important question.
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By Henry Fraser, Research Fellow in Law, Accountability and Data Science, Queensland University of Technology
This week, a group of ministers issued a joint media release outlining a a series of artificial intelligence (AI) “safety priorities” for the Australian government. These include:
- introducing a digital duty of care to address risks from AI and digital services
- consulting on a second round of privacy law reforms
- AI safety in the workplace
- consumer risks such as surveillance pricing and AI agent-based commerce
- a framework to regulate government…
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By Samuel Cornell, Research Fellow in Public Health, The University of Queensland
Benjamin Bonenti, PhD Candidate, Centre for Health Services Research, The University of Queensland
Timothy Piatkowski, Senior Research Fellow in Public Health, The University of Queensland
The United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has ordered all active duty and reserve personnel aged 30 and over be screened for testosterone deficiency as part of their periodic health assessment. Those younger than 30 can opt in.
In a video called “The High T Department of War”, Hegseth said the initiative…
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By Andrew Rowland, Professor of Clinical Pharmacology; Human Performance, Exercise and Metabolism Group Leader, Flinders University
Ashley M Hopkins, NHMRC Investigator Fellow, Lead of the Clinical Epidemiology and Artificial Intelligence Lab, Flinders University
The Tour de France is not simply a battle of who can pedal fastest. It’s also a race made up of politics and priorities.
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Busts of late Vietnamese president Ho Chi Minh, in Hanoi, May 7, 2013. © 2013 Hoang Dinh Nam/AFP via Getty Images (Bangkok) – The Vietnamese authorities since late June 2026 have arrested and detained five people for their roles in the publication of a controversial book about Ho Chi Minh, the founder of Vietnamese communism, Human Rights Watch said today.Hanoi police charged all five—Nguyen Thanh Nam, Tran Viet Anh, Nguyen Thuy Hang, Dao Ba Doan, and Nguyen Van Yen—with carrying out anti-state propaganda under the notorious national security law, penal code…
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By Michael J. Armstrong, Professor of Operations Research, Brock University
Provincial alcohol bans have drawn presidential notice. Ontario and Québec should now sell their U.S. inventories as a goodwill gesture while continuing to ban imports.
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By Gina Perez, Professor and Chair of Comparative American Studies, Oberlin College and Conservatory
Hundreds of thousands of Haitians in the U.S. are living in uncertain times. On June 25, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could proceed with a plan to end Temporary Protected Status – a federal program that allows people to stay in the United States when the government considers their own country unsafe – for around 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. Their work permits…
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