By Stella Huangfu, Associate Professor, School of Economics, University of Sydney
Global oil markets have reacted swiftly to escalating tensions in the Middle East as the United States and Israel continue their assault on Iran.
After oil tanker traffic through a key chokepoint, the Strait of Hormuz, stopped, the benchmark oil price, Brent crude, jumped about 6% to over US$77 a barrel. It initially spiked as high as US$82, its highest level since January 2025.
A roughly US$10 jump in a matter of days is a significant move and delivers an immediate inflationary jolt for oil-importing…
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By Donald Rothwell, Professor of International Law, Australian National University
So far, Australia’s response to the US and Israeli strikes on Iran has been ‘say nothing’. But this may not be a successful long-term approach.
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By Nigel Andrew, Professor of Entomology, Southern Cross University
For years, Queensland authorities have been broadscale baiting fire ants. But the infestation is too big – and the baits wipe out rival species
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By Shahram Akbarzadeh, Director, Middle East Studies Forum (MESF), Deakin University
Iran’s authorities have moved fast to show they are still in charge. But selecting a new supreme leader may take some time.
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By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
The Liberal Party’s federal executive decided on Friday to bury its election review. But it was unable to cremate it.
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By Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Fellow for the Middle East at the Baker Institute, Rice University
Qatar, the UAE and other Gulf nations have spent years cultivating an image of being an oasis of stability in the Mideast. The current war risks undoing all that work.
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By Jeremie M Bracka, Law Lecturer and Transitional Justice Academic, RMIT University
The case in Victoria is among the first to rule on religious vilification at protests. It reckons with some of the nation’s most hotly-debated questions.
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By Evangeline Mantzioris, Program Director of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Accredited Practising Dietitian, Adelaide University
Black sesame is the latest plant-based product to go viral, with its appealing colour and nutty taste.
Social media is full of claims these dark sesame seeds are better for you than the white ones. They’re said to be better at reducing your blood sugar levels, risk of heart disease, and even reversing grey…
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By Catherine Freyne, Senior Producer, Impact Studios UTS, University of Technology Sydney
Jimpa is an emotionally nuanced family drama by acclaimed Australian filmmaker Sophie Hyde.
“Jimpa” is the family nickname for flamboyant and provocative patriarch, Jim (John Lithgow). Born in the early 1950s, Jim came out as gay to his wife Katherine (Deborah Kennedy) in the late 1970s when their youngest child, Hannah, was a baby.
Instead of separating, Jim and Katherine improvised new rules for their marriage, raising their two daughters together for a decade, until Jim left the family home in Adelaide in search of wider social and professional horizons.
Now,…
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By Christopher Cornwall, Lecturer in Marine Biology, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Orlando Timmerman, Doctoral Candidate in Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge
Coral reefs are likely to erode even under low-emission scenarios, but some reefs may persist if corals evolve to become more resistant to ocean warming.
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