A surprising number of foreign fighters joining the rebellion in Syria against the regime of President Bashar Assad hail from Down Under.
Australia
Rudd Redux: The High Electoral Stakes Behind Australia’s P.M. Switch
The swearing-in Thursday of Kevin Rudd as Australia’s Prime Minister — for the second time — is a political coup worthy of Game of Thrones and takes place just over three years after he was ousted by previous incumbent Julia …
Australia’s Aborigines Launch a Bold Legal Push for Independence
If a determined group of indigenous people get their way, the world’s newest country won’t be in Africa or the Balkans but on the eastern periphery of Australia’s outback. A bleak, foreboding, flood-prone savannah the size of …
Australia’s Costly Asylum-Seeker Policy Contributes to Nation’s Deficit Woes
When Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan delivered the national budget yesterday, he blamed the nation’s $17.8 billion deficit on the stubbornly high Australian dollar, softening company-tax revenue and a slowdown of the China-driven …
Harsh Sentence a Warning to Australia’s Youthful Muslim Zealots
In almost any circumstance, pushing a police officer and kicking a police dog aren’t considered smart things to do. But does that behavior — even if it took place during the chaos and fury of a riot — deserve four years and …
The Epic Vistas of the World’s Largest Algae Farm
Steve Back’s work might look like a series of Rothko paintings, but they are, in fact, stunning pictures of algae. Hutt Lagoon is a Western Australian salt lake that contains the world’s largest system of algae farms; they get …
Israel’s Prisoner X: A Spy Caught Between Two Countries?
Why did an Australian end up in one of the most infamous prison cells in Israel?
Australian Kids Face Birthday Candle Ban to Prevent Spreading Germs
The new hygiene regulations have been slammed by the Australian Medical Association as “bubble-wrapping.”
Wildfires Scorch Australia As Temperatures Reach Record Highs
The heat wave across Australia has spiked to unfathomable levels as the ominously-labeled “dome of heat” blankets the continent, sparking wildfires that have caused more than $60 million in damage and claimed more than 120 homes
When Massacres Force Change: Lessons from the U.K. and Australia
Separate mass shootings sixteen years ago in the U.K. and Australia prompted soul-searching, anger and a rapid political response in both London and Canberra. The resulting legislation saved lives.
“Australia’s new offshore processing law is a giant step backward in the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers”
Must-Reads from Around the World, August 13, 2012
Egypt’s president makes his move against the military, Germany mulls a referendum on the E.U. and Australia’s expert panel on asylum policy reports.
Must-Reads from Around the World, July 10, 2012
Today’s picks: the stormy waters of the South China Sea, India faces the fallout from late monsoon rains and a controversial German writer and economist (not surprisingly) speaks his mind