Sanctions are sold as a peaceful alternative to war, but their effects often fall hardest on civilians – through poverty, shortages, damaged health systems and preventable deaths.
Category: USA
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America’s gun violence survives on myths, profit and political cowardice
America’s response to gun violence is built on myths about policing, deterrence and constitutional rights, while political leaders continue to avoid the reforms most likely to save lives. (more…)
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Trump has united America: nine in ten say government corruption is widespread
Perceptions of government corruption have reached a 20-year high in the United States, with overwhelming majorities of Republicans, Democrats and independents saying it is widespread. (more…)
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Trump misses out on Nobel Prize again and imposes new sanctions on the International Criminal Court
The latest US sanctions target the International Criminal Court as an institution, raising the stakes for allies that profess support for international justice but may now have to defend it against Washington. (more…)
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AI companies are preparing for catastrophe. Governments should be too
Leading AI companies are reportedly preparing for the fallout from a major cyberattack or other catastrophic event, intensifying calls for governments to regulate frontier AI before disaster forces their hand. (more…)
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Trump’s power is fading, but his AI gamble could still reshape the world
Donald Trump remains globally consequential, but his ability to bend other governments and institutions to his will is diminishing. AI is the major exception, where deregulation could unleash risks that outlast his presidency. (more…)
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Elections will test whether Trump and Netanyahu can outrun accountability
As Spain’s Pedro Sánchez takes a markedly different path on Gaza, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu head towards elections burdened by war, scandal and deep questions about democratic accountability. (more…)
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The Republican consensus on Israel is starting to fracture
Christian Zionism helped turn support for Israel into Republican orthodoxy. But America First scepticism and a growing generational divide are exposing cracks in a coalition once treated as politically untouchable. (more…)
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Trump has hollowed out the State Department
Donald Trump has sidelined professional diplomats, left embassies vacant and elevated ideological loyalists, weakening the State Department and making US foreign policy more coercive, erratic and dangerous for allies. (more…)
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Trump’s Board of Peace: from a ‘new Gaza’ to a new global order – Part Two
Trump’s Board of Peace is emerging as more than a mechanism for governing post-war Gaza. Its expanding ambitions raise the prospect of a parallel system in which powerful states decide which institutions survive, who receives legitimacy and whose rules apply. Part two of a two-part analysis. (more…)
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‘Inhumane, barbaric, torturous’: Christa Pike survives twice-botched execution in Tennessee
Christa Pike survived two doses of lethal injection drugs and remains critically ill in hospital. Tennessee has halted further executions this year and ordered an investigation. (more…)
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An eagle for Xi, pandas for America and a changing world order
Trump gave Xi a bald eagle. Xi promised America two pandas. Behind the diplomatic symbolism sits a larger shift: China’s international standing is improving as trust in the United States declines. (more…)
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A new Washington-Beijing compact
Xi Jinping’s Washington visit was more than ceremony and trade deals. The US and China are building a more stable relationship around regular summitry, negotiated differences and mutual recognition of power. Australia needs to understand what has changed. (more…)
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Australia shouldn’t get a seat at the UN security council
Australia is campaigning for a Security Council seat on a promise to defend international law. Yet Albanese condemned Russia by name while saying nothing comparable about US actions – even after Trump threatened from the same UN stage to “annihilate” Iran. (more…)
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Small signs of independence
Australia’s push on AI and social media regulation has put it at odds with Washington. The disagreement offers a rare glimpse of a foreign policy willing to put Australian interests ahead of automatic alignment with the US.
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How low can you go? Approval falls to 33 per cent
Trump’s approval has fallen to 33 per cent in G Elliott Morris’s latest poll, with 63 per cent disapproving. Support is slipping even among Republicans, while Democrats hold a 10-point lead on the House ballot among likely voters. (more…)
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Will Cuba be next?
Trump’s latest warning to Cuba revives a long history of US hostility towards the island. From the Batista era to today’s economic pressure, the question is how far Washington might go in seeking political change. (more…)
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Warren Buffett is stepping aside. Can his investment wisdom survive the AI age?
Warren Buffett’s departure as Berkshire Hathaway chairman marks a turning point for the company he built. As his successors take charge, the rise of AI is raising fresh questions about the value of his patient, long-term approach to investing. (more…)
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Gaza: 57% of surveyed Democrats back prosecuting Biden and Trump officials
A new poll finds majority support among surveyed Democrats for pursuing criminal prosecutions of officials from both the Biden and Trump administrations over Gaza. The finding points to demands for accountability that extend beyond party allegiance. (more…)
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Trump’s nuclear threats against Iran must be taken seriously
Trump stood before the United Nations and threatened to “annihilate” Iran. With the authority to order a nuclear strike resting in the hands of one US president, the consequences of treating such threats as mere bluster could be catastrophic. (more…)
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The danger for CNN isn’t being shut down. It’s being silenced from within
CNN is set to join CBS News under the Ellisons’ ownership. With Trump openly hostile to critical coverage, the concern is not that the network will disappear, but that its journalists will face pressure to stop asking difficult questions. (more…)
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The real test of the Trump–Xi summit comes after the handshakes
A Trump–Xi agreement on trade would be welcome, but lasting stability will depend on what follows: reliable implementation, open crisis channels and practical cooperation on risks neither country can manage alone. (more…)
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Albanese, AUKUS and the broken promise on nuclear weapons
As Albanese receives an international award for his leadership on security, Australia remains outside the nuclear weapons ban treaty he once championed. Meanwhile, expanding US military access raises new questions about Australia’s exposure to nuclear conflict.
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Trump’s instability undermines hopes for lasting US–China stability
As Trump and Xi prepare to meet in Washington, mixed signals from the US administration and unresolved strategic differences expose the fragility of efforts to stabilise relations between the two powers. (more…)
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Trump calls himself a genius. American voters disagree
A new Economist/YouGov poll reveals a striking gap between Trump’s self-image and how American voters describe him, with perceptions of his character adding another dimension to the debate ahead of November’s midterms. (more…)
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Tariffs, debt and deportations: Trump’s dangerous economic gamble
Higher tariffs, debt-fuelled spending and a shrinking migrant workforce are weakening US growth while adding to inflationary and financial pressures. (more…)
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Disturbing admissions from US Republican Congressman
US submarines at HMAS Stirling, B-52 rotations through Tindal and deepening military integration are tying Australia ever more closely to US strategic priorities – including the prospect of war with China over Taiwan, Paul Keating writes.
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Vance and the anti-Christ
JD Vance’s increasingly apocalyptic religious rhetoric, and his relationship with billionaire Peter Thiel, raise questions about the theology shaping the US Vice-President’s politics and his growing distance from Vatican teaching. (more…)
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Xi’s diplomatic push puts China’s global ambitions on display
As Xi Jinping travels from Central Asia to Egypt and India ahead of a planned US visit, China is promoting its vision of multilateralism, security and South-South cooperation more broadly. (more…)
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Trump is hastening the decline of American power
Trump’s threats against countries trading with Iran expose the limits of US economic power, as allies resist Washington’s demands and the global economy moves towards a less American-dominated order. (more…)