The Future Studio incubator in Cotonou has developed a successful coaching programme, propelling four startups to success. The Beninese innovation center is now expanding, while business support organizations across West Africa are increasing their collaboration.
The NTF V FastTrackTech project has nurtured these developments. The ITC project brought together major players from Benin, Niger and Mali to share their experiences and build together a stronger, more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Future Studio: a catalyst for innovation and entrepreneurship in Benin
Since opening a year ago in Cotonou, the Future Studio innovation center has aimed to propel Beninese innovation and digital entrepreneurship. As a partner of the Epitech school and a member of the African Education & Innovation Group, the innovation center fosters the growth of young, innovative companies, providing structured support and networking. With the support of the NTF V FastTrackTech project, the Future Studio has set up a support programme tailored to Benin’s digital ecosystem.
‘We can’t claim to support entrepreneurs without being supported and empowered ourselves. Thanks to the recommendations of the NTF V FastTrackTech project expert, we have gained in vision and methodology,’ said Future Studio project manager Yoann Agbo. ‘This is what enabled our Start program to take shape and achieve its first successes. We’re very proud today to see ideas become solid projects as teams grow.’
After six months in the incubation program, four startups have made significant progress: they have perfected their pitch, established commercial collaborations, and intensified their discussions with potential investors. One gained international visibility by taking part in Gitex Africa.
‘Our intention is to provide ongoing support for the startups we have supported, and we are actively engaged in preparing a second cohort of entrepreneurs. At the same time, we plan to develop a targeted offering for more mature companies seeking accelerated growth or diversification of their offerings,’ said Yoann.
This expertise recently earned Future Studio a contract with telecom operator MTN Benin to take charge of the operational side of a new incubation program. ‘Since supporting the NTF V FastTrackTech project, Future Studio has shown what it can do. This new partnership testifies to the trust placed in our activities,’ he added.
Better support for African entrepreneurs
Like the Future Studio, business support organizations walk with entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey, contributing to job creation and more sustainable, inclusive economic development. NTF V FastTrack Tech believes the creation of synergies makes African organizations more efficient by optimizing their resources.
The project initiated an exchange session on 30 April between the Bussiness Support Structures Network of Niger (Réseau des Structures d’Appui du Niger – RESAEN), the Federation of Innovative Business Support Organizations in Benin (Fédération des Structures d’Appui à l’Entrepreneuriat Innovant – FedSAEI) and the National Council of Incubators of Mali (Conseil National des Incubateurs du Mali – CNSIM).
Rabia Moussa is vice-president of RESAEN and co-founded the Développe-les organization in Niger.
‘Regular exchanges and lasting cooperation create a network of mutual support between BSOs, strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem as a whole. Financing issues are often at the heart of concerns,’ she said. ‘In this respect, RESAEN shared its experience and roadmap.’
The session concluded with the formalization of several ideas and recommendations, including the need to set up a working group dedicated to the question of financing, the monitoring of new opportunities and the prospecting of new partners. Rabia also stressed the need for BSOs to clarify the roles and commiments of their governance members, so that tasks are properly assigned.
‘I can only encourage the holding of an annual general meeting with the publication of an activity report.
By also adopting transparent and participative governance practices, support structures can consolidate their internal functioning and increase their impact in the service of a flourishing entrepreneurial ecosystem,’ she said.
The nascent collaboration between Benin, Niger and Mali is just the first step towards continental synergy.
‘Tomorrow, the dialogue could even be extended to Burkina Faso. It is this growing synergy that will enable African talent to flourish and contribute fully to the continent’s economic development,’ she added.
About the project
The Netherlands Trust Fund V (NTF) program (July 2021 – June 2025) is based on a partnership between the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Trade Centre. NTF V supports SMEs in the digital technology and agribusiness sectors in Benin, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Senegal and Uganda. Its ambition is to contribute to an inclusive and sustainable transformation of agri-food systems partly through digital solutions, to improve the international competitiveness of local tech start-ups and to support the implementation of the export strategy of IT&BPO companies.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of International Trade Centre.
Boca Juniors were held to a surprise 1-1 draw by amateurs Auckland City and failed to reach the knockout stage of the Club World Cup on Tuesday in steamy Nashville, Tennessee, where the match was suspended for nearly 50 minutes due to stormy weather.
Argentine side Boca came into the game needing both a convincing win against already-eliminated Auckland City to overturn a seven-goal difference with Benfica and for the Portuguese club to lose to German champions Bayern Munich in the other Group C fixture.
Auckland City had just drawn level shortly after the break when lightning in the area forced players off the field. By the time play resumed, Benfica had secured a 1-0 win to qualify top of Group C and reach the last 16 along with Bayern.
Boca went ahead in the 26th minute when Lautaro Di Lollo received a well-delivered corner and headed it against the post before the ball bounced off Auckland City goalkeeper Nathan Garrow’s arm and into the net for an own goal.
Auckland scored their first goal of the tournament in the 52nd minute when Christian Gray sent a header inside the right post and past an outstretched Agustin Marchesin moments before play was suspended.
“Scoring that goal was just surreal. It probably hasn’t sunk in yet. I think the club deserved it, and I’m happy for the boys,” Grey, who is a physical education teacher back in New Zealand, said.
Boca thought they had pulled back in front shortly after the restart but a VAR decision overturned Miguel Merentiel’s goal due to a handball by teammate Kevin Zenon.
Boca finished third in the group with two points, one more than Auckland City who also exited the Club World Cup.
“It was difficult to find spaces because they defended well – that was their objective. They never gave up, and we couldn’t increase our lead. The climate conditions were tough – it was really hot – and then when they equalised, they gained new strength,” Boca forward Edinson Cavani said.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino was among those at the game where temperatures at kickoff were around 96 degrees Fahrenheit (35.5 degrees Celsius).
The steamy conditions did little to dampen the spirits of the passionate Boca supporters who spent the duration of the match singing to the beat of drums, including during the weather delay when many refused calls to head to the concourse.
“Thanks to all the fans that came here and support us the way they do back home,” Boca coach Miguel Angel Russo said.
“Until their goal, the game was all ours. Boca’s image after this last game is not good. This is the third set-piece goal we’ve conceded, there’s a lot to correct,” the manager added.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
On the winding mountain paths, Liu Liping, from the plateau walnut industry research institute of Yangtze University, swiftly removed a label from her coat and carefully attached it to a newly grafted walnut branch.
Upon her arrival at Gyaca County, Shannan City, southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region, in early 2020, she was astonished by the ancient walnut trees scattered throughout the county. A remarkable total of 3,657 millennia-old walnut trees formed a unique ancient walnut grove on the plateau.
The history of walnut cultivation in Gyaca dates back over 1,000 years. However, despite this rich history, local villagers have long struggled with the absence of scientific cultivation techniques and efficient production methods.
In the past, villagers didn’t know how to properly plant walnut trees. “We crammed hundreds of trees into a narrow space, making it impossible even to walk through. The walnut trees grew thin and small, and the nuts were unusable,” said Qi Lyu, Party branch secretary of a local village.
“Without those trees, the riverbanks were just barren land, easily buried by sand when strong winds blew,” Qi said.
In March 2021, central China’s Hubei Province launched its 2021 to 2025 science and technology pairing assistance program with Xizang. Liu joined the assistance talent team, where she devoted herself to local walnut variety selection, breeding, and cultivation management.
Liu had visited all 27 walnut-growing villages in Gyaca. “The villagers initially didn’t understand the purpose of our work and were annoyed by our repeated visits,” Liu recalled.
“Now we welcome Dr. Liu’s visits. She taught us grafting and cultivation techniques, and the grafted walnut trees produce excellent fruit with high yields,” said Goksang, a resident whose family has tended an ancient walnut tree.
The county’s walnut cultivation has expanded to 520,000 trees across 45,000 mu (about 3,000 hectares), with an annual output of 1,200 tonnes and a total output value exceeding 80 million yuan (about 11.2 million U.S. dollars).
Six superior walnut trees have been successfully selected, and a 1,000-mu high-quality walnut cultivation demonstration base has been established in Gyaca. Since 2021, over 100,000 walnut trees have been planted along the Yarlung Zangbo River as part of the local ecological corridor project. This project has not only helped stabilize the soil and prevented sandstorms, but also created new income streams for residents, achieving positive ecological and economic outcomes.
Over 500 villagers have participated in grafting training sessions, including many farmers, said Zhang Rongceng, a grassroots young official, who has been working in Gyaca since 2022.
Beyond supplying local afforestation and agricultural development, Gyaca’s walnut saplings are also used in the largest afforestation project in Lhasa, the regional capital of Xizang. The project has completed nearly 700,000 mu of afforestation since 2022, with an overall survival rate of around 85 percent.
Kan Simeng is in charge of an afforestation area of over 3,100 mu, situated at an altitude of over 3,700 meters. He traveled 200 kilometers to Gyaca, where he discovered walnut seedlings that are ideally suited for high-altitude planting.
“These saplings have a high survival rate, and their robust root systems also effectively stabilize the soil and prevent erosion,” said Kan. Walnut trees have since blanketed mountains near Lhasa.
FRANKFURT, Germany, June 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Jitterbit, a global leader in accelerating business transformation for enterprise systems, today announced the global expansion of its partner program and new Jitterbit University partner curricula. Together, they provide solution providers, consulting firms and channel technology partners clear and profitable paths toward delivering end-to-end automation and agentic AI solutions to customers.
“With the unprecedented focus on AI, channel partners are looking at the value technology provides their customers in a whole new way,” said Jitterbit Chief Revenue Officer Luca Taglioretti. “The advent of agentic AI is their chance to deliver real business improvement to customers faster than ever before. And the new Jitterbit Partner Program was designed from the ground up with these forward-thinking partners in mind.”
In today’s world of complex, multi-vendor IT environments, it’s imperative that a modern partner ecosystem is designed to train, enable and empower reseller and referral partners to help their customers grow in the AI era.
“Every enterprise is looking to infuse AI into the parts of their business where it will make the most financial impact,” said Jitterbit President and CEO Bill Conner. “But with a scarcity of skilled coding resources and trusted AI technology, enterprises want solutions and resources that bring business transformation and AI together. Jitterbit’s new partner program offers technology partners real AI solutions, training and certification, and a clear path to accelerate their customers’ businesses today — not 18 or 24 months down the road.”
Partner Benefits Designed for Quick Growth in Agentic AI, Enterprise Automation
The new global Jitterbit Partner Program is designed from the ground up to accelerate Jitterbit partners as they provide automation, integration, low-code app development and agentic AI capabilities to a new wave of business technologists.
The boost to Jitterbit’s channel follows the release of Jitterbit’s new layered AI and low-code Harmony platform, which allows enterprises to democratize automation, design and build end-to-end systems, and even build their own AI agents.
“If technology partners and resellers are serious about automation and agentic AI, they need to align their strategies with vendors that are building secure, compliant and accountable AI agents the right way,” said Hermann Ramacher, CEO of ADN, a major Jitterbit distributor in Germany. “What’s attractive to ADN is that we can use Jitterbit’s platform to build agents ourselves, or outsource the work to their AI experts. It gives us the ease, speed and flexibility to deliver value for our customers and accelerate our business into the next phase of AI.”
The first phase of the new global Jitterbit Partner Program delivers resellers and referral partners foundational benefits to scale their automation capabilities:
Financial Benefits & Deal Protection: Partners can benefit from competitive product discounts for new unique opportunities through deal registration and annual back-end rebates, ensuring competitive advantages and protected margins. Referral partners receive referral fees.
Structured Onboarding & Co-Selling: Jitterbit provides a structured onboarding program to rapidly enable partners within 90 days, complemented by a collaborative co-selling model that encourages early engagement, team-based interactions, and shared opportunities.
Go-to-Market Support & Growth: Reseller partners gain access to performance incentive programs, proposal-based MDF, and assigned sales executive leadership to drive joint market initiatives. Joint business plan development and rep-to-rep alignment further foster mutual growth.
Complimentary Training & Resources: Free online training and certification curriculum is available for all partners. Initial online product technical training and complimentary sandbox access is available for resellers, ensuring partners are well-equipped to sell and support Jitterbit solutions. Partners also have access to a dedicated support portal and various resources.
Jitterbit University Delivers Accelerated Path toward Agentic Experience
Jitterbit’s new partner program includes partner-specific training and certifications within the world-class Jitterbit University. This online learning platform accelerates skills transfer in the fast-moving AI market by offering:
Complimentary Training Library: Equip teams with essential skills through a full suite of complimentary training courses.
Structured Learning Paths & Certification: Gain expertise and confidence on the Harmony platform with dedicated training paths and a recognized certification program.
Collaborate with Jitterbit Experts: Connect and collaborate with the Jitterbit Community, a global network of Jitterbit users and experts.
Available globally, this expanded enablement resource means Jitterbit’s channel community can quickly answer customer questions across a vast array of topics and use time-proven shortcuts to speed up implementations.
Design, Source AI Agents within AI-Infused Harmony Platform
According to a recent Jitterbit survey, 69% of UK and US enterprises are not currently set up to deliver agentic AI — presenting a huge opportunity for those across the IT industry looking to offer these services.
Rather than relying on ‘off the shelf’ or ‘sameware’ tech offerings to meet this growing demand, enterprises are increasingly turning to Jitterbit Harmony to take full control of their own AI-infused future.
“The market we operate in is more dynamic and fast-paced than ever before,” said Taglioretti. “Businesses are increasingly relying on technology to drive their success, and the demand for innovative, scalable solutions has reached new heights. Agentic AI is not just a trend — it’s a massive wave of opportunity, and together, we are perfectly positioned to ride it.”
About Jitterbit For organizations ready to modernize and innovate, Jitterbit provides a unified AI-infused low code platform for integration, orchestration, automation, and app development that accelerates business transformation, boosts productivity, and unlocks value. The Jitterbit Harmony platform, including iPaaS, API Manager, App Builder and EDI, future-proofs operations, simplifies complexity and drives innovation for organizations globally. Learn more at www.jitterbit.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
FRANKFURT, Germany, June 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Jitterbit, a global leader in accelerating business transformation for enterprise systems, today announced the global expansion of its partner program and new Jitterbit University partner curricula. Together, they provide solution providers, consulting firms and channel technology partners clear and profitable paths toward delivering end-to-end automation and agentic AI solutions to customers.
“With the unprecedented focus on AI, channel partners are looking at the value technology provides their customers in a whole new way,” said Jitterbit Chief Revenue Officer Luca Taglioretti. “The advent of agentic AI is their chance to deliver real business improvement to customers faster than ever before. And the new Jitterbit Partner Program was designed from the ground up with these forward-thinking partners in mind.”
In today’s world of complex, multi-vendor IT environments, it’s imperative that a modern partner ecosystem is designed to train, enable and empower reseller and referral partners to help their customers grow in the AI era.
“Every enterprise is looking to infuse AI into the parts of their business where it will make the most financial impact,” said Jitterbit President and CEO Bill Conner. “But with a scarcity of skilled coding resources and trusted AI technology, enterprises want solutions and resources that bring business transformation and AI together. Jitterbit’s new partner program offers technology partners real AI solutions, training and certification, and a clear path to accelerate their customers’ businesses today — not 18 or 24 months down the road.”
Partner Benefits Designed for Quick Growth in Agentic AI, Enterprise Automation
The new global Jitterbit Partner Program is designed from the ground up to accelerate Jitterbit partners as they provide automation, integration, low-code app development and agentic AI capabilities to a new wave of business technologists.
The boost to Jitterbit’s channel follows the release of Jitterbit’s new layered AI and low-code Harmony platform, which allows enterprises to democratize automation, design and build end-to-end systems, and even build their own AI agents.
“If technology partners and resellers are serious about automation and agentic AI, they need to align their strategies with vendors that are building secure, compliant and accountable AI agents the right way,” said Hermann Ramacher, CEO of ADN, a major Jitterbit distributor in Germany. “What’s attractive to ADN is that we can use Jitterbit’s platform to build agents ourselves, or outsource the work to their AI experts. It gives us the ease, speed and flexibility to deliver value for our customers and accelerate our business into the next phase of AI.”
The first phase of the new global Jitterbit Partner Program delivers resellers and referral partners foundational benefits to scale their automation capabilities:
Financial Benefits & Deal Protection: Partners can benefit from competitive product discounts for new unique opportunities through deal registration and annual back-end rebates, ensuring competitive advantages and protected margins. Referral partners receive referral fees.
Structured Onboarding & Co-Selling: Jitterbit provides a structured onboarding program to rapidly enable partners within 90 days, complemented by a collaborative co-selling model that encourages early engagement, team-based interactions, and shared opportunities.
Go-to-Market Support & Growth: Reseller partners gain access to performance incentive programs, proposal-based MDF, and assigned sales executive leadership to drive joint market initiatives. Joint business plan development and rep-to-rep alignment further foster mutual growth.
Complimentary Training & Resources: Free online training and certification curriculum is available for all partners. Initial online product technical training and complimentary sandbox access is available for resellers, ensuring partners are well-equipped to sell and support Jitterbit solutions. Partners also have access to a dedicated support portal and various resources.
Jitterbit University Delivers Accelerated Path toward Agentic Experience
Jitterbit’s new partner program includes partner-specific training and certifications within the world-class Jitterbit University. This online learning platform accelerates skills transfer in the fast-moving AI market by offering:
Complimentary Training Library: Equip teams with essential skills through a full suite of complimentary training courses.
Structured Learning Paths & Certification: Gain expertise and confidence on the Harmony platform with dedicated training paths and a recognized certification program.
Collaborate with Jitterbit Experts: Connect and collaborate with the Jitterbit Community, a global network of Jitterbit users and experts.
Available globally, this expanded enablement resource means Jitterbit’s channel community can quickly answer customer questions across a vast array of topics and use time-proven shortcuts to speed up implementations.
Design, Source AI Agents within AI-Infused Harmony Platform
According to a recent Jitterbit survey, 69% of UK and US enterprises are not currently set up to deliver agentic AI — presenting a huge opportunity for those across the IT industry looking to offer these services.
Rather than relying on ‘off the shelf’ or ‘sameware’ tech offerings to meet this growing demand, enterprises are increasingly turning to Jitterbit Harmony to take full control of their own AI-infused future.
“The market we operate in is more dynamic and fast-paced than ever before,” said Taglioretti. “Businesses are increasingly relying on technology to drive their success, and the demand for innovative, scalable solutions has reached new heights. Agentic AI is not just a trend — it’s a massive wave of opportunity, and together, we are perfectly positioned to ride it.”
About Jitterbit For organizations ready to modernize and innovate, Jitterbit provides a unified AI-infused low code platform for integration, orchestration, automation, and app development that accelerates business transformation, boosts productivity, and unlocks value. The Jitterbit Harmony platform, including iPaaS, API Manager, App Builder and EDI, future-proofs operations, simplifies complexity and drives innovation for organizations globally. Learn more at www.jitterbit.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne
Minor party preference flows for the federal election have been released, with Labor winning Greens preferences by 88.2–11.8, while the Coalition won One Nation preferences by 74.5–24.5. I also cover a SA state poll that gave Labor a massive 67–33 lead.
The Australian Electoral Commission’s results for the May 3 federal election now show how minor parties’ preferences flowed between Labor and the Coalition. The Greens won 12.2% of the national primary vote, and their preferences favoured Labor over the Coalition by 88.2–11.8. That’s a 2.5% preference flow gain for Labor since the 2022 election.
One Nation had 6.4% of primary votes. Their preferences favoured the Coalition over Labor by 74.5–25.5, a 10.2% preference flow gain for the Coalition. Independents made up 7.3% of primary votes, and their preferences favoured Labor by 67.2–32.8, a 3.4% gain for Labor.
Including Trumpet of Patriots (1.9% of primary votes) with others, others made up 7.7% of primary votes and their preferences favoured the Coalition by 57.3–42.7, a 0.6% gain for the Coalition since 2022 if United Australia Party (4.1% in 2022) is included with others then.
The AEC formally declared the poll by returning the writs on June 12. Results can be legally challenged within 40 days of this declaration, so by July 22.
In Bradfield, Teal Nicolette Boele only won by 26 votes against the Liberals, and this result could be challenged.
As the AEC does not want to disturb the ballot papers until any challenge is resolved by the courts, it is for now using an estimated two-party result in Bradfield (55.0–45.0 to the Liberals against Labor). Analyst Ben Raue believes this estimate is understating Labor in Bradfield by 4.4%.
If Raue is right, the current national two-party vote (55.22–44.78 to Labor) is very slightly understating Labor.
While One Nation’s preference shift helped the Coalition, there were compensatory shifts to Labor from Greens and independent voters. The combined primary vote for One Nation and Trumpet of Patriots was down 0.8% from 2022 to 8.3%, while independents were up 2.0%.
Applying 2022 election flows to primary votes at this election only overstates Labor by 0.1% compared to their actual two-party vote.
In my poll review article on June 5, I said respondent allocated preferences in final polls did not show a large gap in the Coalition’s favour from using 2022 election flows that had occurred in polls earlier in the year.
It’s likely that Labor’s share of preferences from Greens and Teal-type independents rose close to the election. People who voted for these candidates may have been disappointed with Labor’s environmental record, but both Peter Dutton and Donald Trump helped Labor with these people.
In the last term, the Greens were economically left-wing as well as pro-environment. Voters who supported the Greens because of their economic agenda are probably less likely to prefer the Coalition to Labor than environmental voters.
The Poll Bludger has a graph that shows that, in federal elections since 2004, Labor’s share of Greens preferences was at a record high this election, but their share of One Nation preferences was at a record low.
Weak Labor flows to Boele
In Bradfield, Labor preferences favoured Boele by 68.6–31.4 against the Liberals.
There were 16 other seats where Labor preferences were distributed between the Coalition and a non-Coalition candidate. The Labor flow to Boele was the second weakest in such seats. This weak flow almost cost Boele Bradfield.
The only seat that had a weaker Labor preference flow to a non-Coalition candidate was Maranoa, where the non-Coalition candidate was One Nation. Labor preferences in Maranoa split 57.9–42.1 to the Liberal National Party against One Nation. In 13 of the 17 seats, Labor preferences flowed at over 75% rates to the non-Coalition candidate.
In early April, the ABC reported Boele had made a crude sexual remark to a 19-year-old employee at a hair salon after receiving a haircut and was banned from that salon. This may explain the weaker preference flow from Labor voters.
Weak Greens flows to Teals in Teal vs Labor contests
There were three seats where the final two were Labor and a Teal independent: Bean, Franklin and Fremantle. In Bean and Fremantle, the Liberals recommended preferences to the Teal on their how to vote material, but not in Franklin.
Labor held all three seats, but only by 50.3–49.7 in Bean and 50.7–49.3 in Fremantle. Labor won much more easily in Franklin, by 57.8–42.2, where they benefited from Liberal how to vote cards.
In Bean, Greens preferences only favoured Teal Jessie Price by 50.6–49.4 over Labor, while Liberal preferences favoured her by 80.0–20.0. In Fremantle, Greens preferences favoured Teal Kate Hulett by 52.9–47.1, while Liberal preferences favoured her by 76.5–23.5. In Franklin, Greens preferences favoured Teal Peter George by 53.8–46.2.
In Bean and Fremantle, had Greens preferences been stronger for the Teal, Labor would have lost to a more pro-environment candidate. Perhaps Labor benefited on Greens preferences owing to the Greens’ more economic left-wing agenda.
And a national Morgan poll, conducted June 2–22 from a sample of 3,957, gave Labor a 58–42 lead, unchanged from the previous Morgan poll in May. Primary votes were 37.5% Labor (up 0.5), 31% Coalition (steady), 12% Greens (up 0.5), 6% One Nation (steady) and 13.5% for all Others (down one).
By 43–41.5, voters thought the country was headed in the right direction, the first time right direction has led since February 2023. The overall net +1.5 rating is +48 with Labor voters, +11.5 with Greens, -43 with Coalition voters, -80.5 with One Nation voters and -17.5 with all Others.
Labor holds massive lead in SA
The next South Australian state election will be held in March 2026. A YouGov poll for The Adelaide Advertiser, conducted May 15–28 from a sample of 903, gave Labor a massive 67–33 lead over the Liberals (54.6–45.4 to Labor at the March 2022 election). Primary votes were 48% Labor, 21% Liberals, 14% Greens, 7% One Nation, 8% independents and 2% others.
If the results at next March’s election reflect this poll, the Liberals would hold just two of the 47 lower house seats on a uniform swing. It would be easily their worst result in SA state history.
In Australian electoral history, there has only been one bigger landslide: when Western Australian Labor defeated the Liberals and Nationals by 69.7–30.3 at the March 2021 state election.
Socialist likely to be next New York City mayor
I covered today’s AEST New York City Democratic mayoral primary election for The Poll Bludger. While preferences won’t be tabulated until next Tuesday, the socialist Zohran Mamdani leads former New York governor Andrew Cuomo by 43.5–36.4 on primary votes, and is virtually certain to win. As the Democratic nominee, Mamdani is likely to win the November general election.
The article also covers Donald Trump’s ratings and polls in Israel.
Adrian Beaumont does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, June 25 (Xinhua) — An international academic conference dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War is being held at Heilongjiang University in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, from June 23 to 25, the Zhongxinshe News Agency reported.
The event, with the main theme “Archives and the Memory of War Trauma,” brought together experts in archival science and history from China and Russia to discuss the key role of archival documents in recording, preserving and transmitting the memory of war trauma.
“Archives are faithful witnesses of history, carrying the memory of the trauma caused by war,” said Cui Benqiang, vice-president of Heilongjiang University.
Yuan Lili, secretary of the Party Committee of the Institute of Information Management of Heilongjiang University, said experts and scholars are discussing the role of archives in preserving and transmitting the memory of war trauma from various aspects, making their contribution to the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War.
The event also featured speeches from scholars from Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University, Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, Harbin Institute of Technology, the Museum of Crime Evidence of Unit 731, etc. -0-
Following a particular diet or exercising a great deal are common and even encouraged in our health and image-conscious culture. With increased awareness of food allergies and other dietary requirements, it’s also not uncommon for someone to restrict or eliminate certain foods.
But these behaviours may also be the sign of an unhealthy relationship with food. You can have a problematic pattern of eating without being diagnosed with an eating disorder.
So, where’s the line? What is disordered eating, and what is an eating disorder?
What is disordered eating?
Disordered eating describes negative attitudes and behaviours towards food and eating that can lead to a disturbed eating pattern.
It can involve:
dieting
skipping meals
avoiding certain food groups
binge eating
misusing laxatives and weight-loss medications
inducing vomiting (sometimes known as purging)
exercising compulsively.
Disordered eating is the term used when these behaviours are not frequent and/or severe enough to meet an eating disorder diagnosis.
Not everyone who engages in these behaviours will develop an eating disorder. But disordered eating – particularly dieting – usually precedes an eating disorder.
What is an eating disorder?
Eating disorders are complex psychiatric illnesses that can negatively affect a person’s body, mind and social life. They’re characterised by persistent disturbances in how someone thinks, feels and behaves around eating and their bodies.
To make a diagnosis, a qualified health professional will use a combination of standardised questionnaires, as well as more general questioning. These will determine how frequent and severe the behaviours are, and how they affect day-to-day functioning.
How common are eating disorders and disordered eating?
The answer can vary quite radically depending on the study and how it defines disordered behaviours and attitudes.
An estimated 8.4% of women and 2.2% of men will develop an eating disorder at some point in their lives. This is most common during adolescence.
Disordered eating is also particularly common in young people with 30% of girls and 17% of boys aged 6–18 years reporting engaging in these behaviours.
Although the research is still emerging, it appears disordered eating and eating disorders are even more common in gender diverse people.
Can we prevent eating disorders?
There is some evidence eating disorder prevention programs that target risk factors – such as dieting and concerns about shape and weight – can be effective to some extent in the short term.
The issue is most of these studies last only a few months. So we can’t determine whether the people involved went on to develop an eating disorder in the longer term.
In addition, most studies have involved girls or women in late high school and university. By this age, eating disorders have usually already emerged. So, this research cannot tell us as much about eating disorder prevention and it also neglects the wide range of people at risk of eating disorders.
Is orthorexia an eating disorder?
In defining the line between eating disorders and disordered eating, orthorexia nervosa is a contentious issue.
The name literally means “proper appetite” and involves a pathological obsession with proper nutrition, characterised by a restrictive diet and rigidly avoiding foods believed to be “unhealthy” or “impure”.
These disordered eating behaviours need to be taken seriously as they can lead to malnourishment, loss of relationships, and overall poor quality of life.
However, orthorexia nervosa is not an official eating disorder in any diagnostic manual.
Additionally, with the popularity of special diets (such as keto or paleo), time-restricted eating, and dietary requirements (for example, gluten-free) it can sometimes be hard to decipher when concerns about diet have become disordered, or may even be an eating disorder.
For example, around 6% of people have a food allergy. Emerging evidence suggests they are also more likely to have restrictive types of eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder.
However, following a special diet such as veganism, or having a food allergy, does not automatically lead to disordered eating or an eating disorder.
It is important to recognise people’s different motivations for eating or avoiding certain foods. For example, a vegan may restrict certain food groups due to animal rights concerns, rather than disordered eating symptoms.
What to look out for
If you’re concerned about your own relationship with food or that of a loved one, here are some signs to look out for:
preoccupation with food and food preparation
cutting out food groups or skipping meals entirely
obsession with body weight or shape
large fluctuations in weight
compulsive exercise
mood changes and social withdrawal.
It’s always best to seek help early. But it is never too late to seek help.
In Australia, if you are experiencing difficulties in your relationships with food and your body, you can contact the Butterfly Foundation’s national helpline on 1800 33 4673 (or via their online chat).
For parents concerned their child might be developing concerning relationships with food, weight and body image, Feed Your Instinct highlights common warning signs, provides useful information about help seeking and can generate a personalised report to take to a health professional.
Gemma Sharp receives funding from an NHMRC Investigator Grant. She is a Professor and the Founding Director and Member of the Consortium for Research in Eating Disorders, a registered charity.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By John Curtice, Professor of Politics, University of Strathclyde and Senior Research Fellow, National Centre for Social Research
The outcome of last year’s general election left an important question hanging in the air. Could the UK’s traditional system of two-party politics continue to survive?
True, power did change hands in a familiar fashion. A majority Conservative government was replaced by a majority Labour one. Indeed, the new administration won an overall majority of no less than 174.
However, the new government was elected with a lower share of the vote than that secured by any previous majority government. At the same time, the Conservatives won by far their lowest share of the vote ever. For the first time since 1922, when Labour replaced the then Liberal party as the Conservatives’ principal competitor, Labour and the Conservatives together won fewer than three in five of all votes cast.
Over the past 12 months, the foundations of Britain’s two-party system have come to look even shakier. Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party tops the polls. Only just over two in five of those who express a party preference say they would vote Labour or Conservative – a record low.
New analysis of last year’s election published by the National Centre for Social Research as part of the British Social Attitudes report confirms that Britain’s two-party system is in poor health.
Want more politics coverage from academic experts? Every week, we bring you informed analysis of developments in government and fact check the claims being made.
The traditional anchor of Conservative and Labour support – social class – has been cast adrift. The ideological underpinning of the battle between them, the division between left and right, has been replaced by a division between social conservatives and social liberals. This second division draws people towards Reform and the Greens. At the same time, low levels of trust and confidence in how they are being governed is also encouraging voters to back these two challenger parties.
From class divide to identity politics
Historically, middle-class voters voted Conservative, while their working-class counterparts were more likely to support Labour. In decline ever since the advent of New Labour, that pattern disappeared entirely in 2019 in the wake of a Brexit debate that drew pro-Leave working-class voters towards the Conservatives and pro-Remain middle-class supporters towards Labour.
Although Brexit was no longer in the news, the traditional link between social class and voting Conservative or Labour did not reappear in 2024. Labour won the support of just 30% of those in routine and semi-routine occupations, compared with 42% of those in professional and managerial jobs. At 17% and 21% respectively, the equivalent figures for Conservative support are also little different from each other.
As in the EU referendum, what now shapes how people vote is their age and education, not the job they do. Younger voters and graduates are more likely to vote Labour, while older people and those with less in the way of educational qualifications are more inclined to vote Conservative.
The problem is that the two parties now face competition for these demographic groups from the Greens and Reform. Last year the Greens won as much as 21% of the vote among under-25s. Reform secured 25% among those who do not have an A-level or its equivalent, nearly matching the Tories.
Equally, Brexit was not a divide between “left” and “right” – that is, between those who think the government should do more to reduce inequality and those who are more concerned about growing the whole economic pie. It was a battle between social liberals and social conservatives – between those who value living in a diverse society and those who believe that too much diversity undermines social cohesion.
That second divide has now come to matter as much as the left-right divide in shaping how people vote – and thereby helps draw support away from the Conservatives and Labour.
While the Conservatives are more popular among social conservatives, so also are Reform. Indeed, the competition between the two parties for these voters has intensified since the election. By this spring, Reform, on 37%, was winning the battle for their support, with the Conservatives supported by only 26%. Equally, although Labour are relatively popular among social liberals, both the Greens and the Liberal Democrats find them relatively fertile territory too. Three in ten (31%) social liberals backed the Liberal Democrats or the Greens last year, a figure that now stands at 37%.
Meanwhile, trust and confidence in government remain at a low ebb. For example, nearly half (46%) say they “almost never” trust governments of any party to put the interests of the country above those of their own parties. This perception is seemingly accompanied by a reluctance to vote for the parties of government too. Nearly one in four (24%) of those who almost never trust governments backed Reform last year, while one in ten (10%) supported the Greens.
This, of course, is not the first time that Britain’s two-party system has been under challenge. In the early 1980s the Liberal/SDP Alliance threatened to “break the mould of British politics”. In spring 2019, at the height of the Brexit impasse, the Brexit Party and the Liberal Democrats appeared poised to upset the traditional order. This time, however, the challenge to the Conservative/Labour duopoly seems more profound.
John Curtice currently receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
The silence in the Auckland City locker room stretched for 24 suffocating hours after its 10-0 defeat to European giant Bayern Munich in its Club World Cup opener.
For veteran Chinese winger Zhou Tong and his semiprofessional teammates, it was not just a loss, but a profound reckoning.
“Although challenging the mighty is an honor, a 10-0 scoreline is a disgrace for any footballer,” Zhou said, the weight of the result palpable, even days later. “Privately, we discussed how we could do better, how to give our all against these giants.”
Yet, for the 35-year-old, the only Chinese player among the 32 elite clubs in the United States, the burden carries an extra dimension.
Zhou Tong (front) spent five years with Dalian Aerbin from 2009-2014, during which Dalian was promoted to China’s top-tier league after winning the championship in second-tier league in 2010. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)
“It’s a heavy burden, but first and foremost, it’s an honor,” Zhou said, reflecting on his unique status representing a nation of billions. “When people talk, it might not be ‘Zhou Tong’, but ‘that player from China’, so, every word, every action, every performance on the pitch needs to project positivity. I demand more of myself.”
This unexpected chapter, facing Bayern, Benfica and Boca Juniors on soccer’s grandest club stage, began not on a manicured pitch, but over coffee in Auckland.
In 2023, Zhou and his family moved to New Zealand, primarily for his wife’s studies. Soccer seemed an afterthought until a friend intervened. “He said: ‘It’s a pity you’re not playing.’ My form in 2022 was actually quite good,” Zhou recalled.
A connection was then made with Auckland City FC. Club president Ivan Vuksich reviewed his CV and requested a meeting. “His sincerity and approachability gave me a lot of motivation,” Zhou said. “Plus, Auckland City plays in the Club World Cup. I wanted to keep playing.” The deal was sealed in the time it takes to drink a coffee.
Zhou experienced China’s “Golden Yuan Soccer Era”, when he played for clubs like Dalian Aerbin and Tianjin Jinmen Tiger during a time of explosive, unsustainable spending that temporarily raised the Chinese Super League’s (CSL) global profile from the mid-2010s to the early 2020s, but left deep financial and structural problems. For him, New Zealand’s regional Northern League was a stark transition.
“The sense of disparity is real,” Zhou admitted, contrasting Auckland crowds of “five or six hundred “for crucial Oceania qualifiers with CSL attendances “exceeding 20,000 on average”.
Yet, his perspective transformed after he had experienced the extremes: FIFA charter jets for the Club World Cup juxtaposed with bumping along in a “500,000-kilometer-old minibus” on potholed roads to play in Vanuatu, a South Pacific nation where “the tallest building was three stories high, and there were no streetlights”.
“Having seen the splendor and the remotest corners of soccer, I realize its power transcends words or money,” Zhou reflected, his voice gaining intensity. “Soccer connects people, changes lives, opens eyes to the world. That’s its magic, like a universal language.”
His understanding fuels his dual role as both a player and community coach for Auckland City, where he’s now nurturing the next generation.
“Tong does a wonderful job,” Vuksich said. “His nature, his personality is just perfect for that. All the young kids he’s involved with, they love him absolutely.”
Club general manager Gordon Watson echoed the sentiment, describing Zhou as “charismatic, funny and hardworking”, highlighting his calming influence and very positive energy.
“Tong is approachable, friendly, very patient and very understanding. And he has empathy — a lot of empathy — for children,” Watson specifically noted Zhou’s impact at a coaching clinic at King’s College. “He’s able to communicate (soccer intelligence) in a way that children and youth players can safely understand.”
This focus on youth development aligns perfectly with the club’s ambitious plans for its Club World Cup windfall, a guaranteed $3.58 million according to FIFA, plus potential win bonuses. Watson detailed a partnership with Mount Roskill Intermediate School, serving a diverse community with many new immigrants.
“We bring soccer as a tool for holistic development, helping with integration,” Watson explained, adding that the prize money will fund an all-weather pitch with floodlights and an admin building.
“When it rains and the field is wet, we cannot train. Children do not come to school,” Watson said, outlining the project’s profound social goals to improve attendance, channel energy positively and, ultimately, foster better citizens.
“It’s got to be long term. Cultural integration happens. We recognize we can play a role,” Watson added.
For Zhou, coaching offers fresh perspective and pure joy. “The biggest takeaway for me is that I can view soccer from a different angle,” he explained. “The other big one is happiness. Being with kids, 11 or 12 years old, or even eight or nine, they are like blank paper. If they win a match, I’m happier than when I win myself.”
He sees soccer’s respect embodied even in Bayern’s ruthless efficiency. “At 85 minutes, Thomas Muller was shouting at their young players: ‘Speed up the tempo! Defensive positioning! Quicker passes! Faster transitions!’ They respect soccer, and that means respecting opponents and fans.”
Facing giants like Bayern laid bare the gulf between the sides, but Zhou found perspective in the fight itself. “The gap was obvious. We focused heavily on defensive training,” he said. “My personal adjustment was to cherish every touch, cherish every attack and defense, treat it like a major exam.”
While the 10-0 scoreline initially silenced the squad, Zhou stressed their resolve: “For us, we focus on doing our best in every single play.”
His journey, from the pressures of Chinese soccer to family life in Auckland, and now to this global stage, feels surreal.
“Life is truly wondrous and unpredictable,” Zhou mused. “Three years ago, I never imagined coming to New Zealand, let alone playing in the Club World Cup. The brave enjoy the world.”
Defining his career as unpredictable, hard work and the result of stubbornness, Zhou explained the latter: “If I believe something is right, I persist to the end. If I believe something shouldn’t be done, I absolutely won’t do it.”
This stubbornness also reflects his core: “Pure soccer, and love for it. Whether I become a coach, a club operator, or an event organizer, the essence remains — soccer.”
It looks, at least for now, as though tensions in the Middle East are easing somewhat. It appears much less likely Iran will try to close the
Strait of Hormuz, through which flows about a fifth of the world’s oil.
In response, oil prices have dropped to a two-week low below US$70 a barrel.
The economists at the Reserve Bank will be breathing a sigh of relief. A surge in oil prices would have injected more uncertainty into the global outlook. It would have made a decision on whether to cut interest rates in July harder.
Financial markets are betting on a rate cut at the July 7–8 meeting, but three of the four major bank economists are tipping August as more likely.
A tough global backdrop
The global economic environment is particularly challenging. Even before the recent increased tensions in the Middle East, the Trump tariff announcements (and withdrawals and re-impositions) were the major cause of the uncertainty around the domestic economy.
And there is a lot of “uncertainty”. Journalist Shane Wright noted the word “uncertain” appeared 134 times in the Reserve Bank’s latest Statement on Monetary Policy. Something similar has been noted in the United Kingdom.
There have been wild swings in the oil price in recent days. There was a surge on market fears Iran would close the Strait of Hormuz. The price slid when a ceasefire was announced. It rose again when the ceasefire was broken within hours. As the fragile truce appeared to hold, the price of oil has now gone back down.
Assumptions on the oil price
Forecasting where it will be in a day or week, let alone in a month or a year, is difficult. But economic forecasts underlying monetary policy decisions need to incorporate some view. The Reserve Bank generally assumes the oil price stays at its current level in the short term. It then uses the price in forward contracts as a basis for its forecasts beyond that.
A sustained jump in oil prices would have posed quite a dilemma for the Reserve Bank.
Generally a shock that adds to inflation would lead to the bank raising interest rates. In contrast, a shock that weakens economic activity would lead to the Bank lowering rates.
But a surge in oil prices would likely both increase inflation (by pushing up petrol prices) and weaken activity (by disrupting world trade and eroding consumers’ purchasing power).
If the oil price surge was expected to be short-lived, it is unlikely to get baked into inflationary expectations. The bank would then probably disregard it. But assessing the longevity of disruptions to the global oil market is not easy.
Monthly inflation drops to 2.1%
On Wednesday, the monthly consumer price index (CPI) fell to 2.1% in May from 2.4% in April. This is the equal lowest level since March 2001.
But the monthly reading will probably not impress RBA Governor Michele Bullock. In her most recent press conference, she commented that “we get four readings on inflation a year”, referring to the quarterly inflation reports. She was dismissive of what she termed “the monthly indicator which is very volatile”.
In taking its decisions, the bank often relies on an underlying inflation measure called the “trimmed mean”. This excludes items with the largest price movements up or down, so it removes petrol prices when they move by large amounts. This measure was 2.4% in the monthly report.
Both headline and underlying inflation are now within the central bank’s 2–3% target range. In its most recent outlook, the Reserve Bank forecast underlying inflation would remain in the target band, even if it made another two cuts in rates this year.
So a further interest rate cut remains likely. If it doesn’t cut in July, the bank could wait for the next quarterly inflation report on July 30, and then cut at the August 12 meeting.
After a devastating bushfire, efforts to help nature recover typically focus on vertebrates and plants. Yet extreme fires can threaten insects, too.
After the Black Summer fires of 2019–20, I embarked on world-first research into whether “bee hotels” – a type of artificial nesting structure – could help native bees recolonise an area.
I installed 1,000 bee hotels in the Jarrah forests of Western Australia, parts of which burned during the Black Summer fires.
After months of monitoring, I concluded – with great excitement and relief – that the project was a success. Native bees were using the structures to lay eggs and raise young. The work shows pollinators such as bees can be aided after fires, to help bring damaged landscapes back to life.
WA’s Jarrah Forest was affected by the Black Summer fires. Kit Prendergast
Native bees typically nest in holes in trees that occur naturally when beetles bore through wood. When fire destroys trees, bees can be left without a place to nest and reproduce. This prevents them from recolonising habitats after fire.
Under climate change, bushfires in Australia are becoming more frequent and severe. Wood-nesting bees are especially vulnerable to bushfires. For example, fires are recognised as a major threat to the glittering green carpenter bee (Xylocopa aerata), which creates its own holes in wood to nest in.
The worsening fires take place at a time when global populations of wild pollinators, such as bees, are in steady decline. This problem has been well-publicised, although the plight of Australia’s native bees has received less attention.
My research tested whether bee hotels could help our native bees bounce back after fire.
What the research found
The Jarrah Forest of southwest Western Australia is a biodiversity hotspot. The 1,000 bee hotels were installed across five sites in the northern part of the forest, where bushfires burned during the summer of 2019–20.
Bee hotels replicate the holes in wood that native bees nest in. In August 2021, I installed bee hotels of two types: wooden blocks with 15 holes drilled in them, and bunches of about 50 bamboo stems bundled together. I monitored them from September 2021 to March 2022.
At the end of the period I concluded – with great excitement and relief – that the project was a success. Across all bee hotels at the five sites, 832 cavities were occupied by native bees.
Assuming four cells per cavity for each offspring, this meant more than 3,300 native bees would likely emerge in the next generation.
Uptake by bees was initially slow. This was to be expected, because the main group of species that used bee hotels – from the Megachile genus – tend to not be active in the region until late spring.
I found the nests were also used by bees of the genus Hylaeus, as well as tiny Exoneura bees. Other inhabitants included wasps, spiders, ants and crickets.
I also surveyed three burnt sites where bee hotels were not installed. There, I recorded the numbers of native bees foraging on flowers, and compared it to the sites with bee hotels. More native bees were present at the latter sites, which reinforced my findings.
Importantly, the research allowed natural recolonisation. It did not involve installing bee hotels at unburnt sites, then moving them to burnt areas once they were occupied. This could have been disastrous.
Aside from depleting one population, it may have meant native bees were moved to an area where there were not enough flowers, or were forced to compete with existing bee populations.
The research also showed European honey bees could pose a problem for native bees in fire-damaged landscapes. At sites with a higher density of honey bees, fewer native bees were foraging and fewer nests were occupied in the bee hotels.
This supports previous findings by myself and others that honey bees can negativelyaffect native bees. It adds further evidence that honey bees should not be permitted in sensitive habitats, such as bushland following fire or in national parks.
Empowering bee-saving efforts
My research provides proof that bee hotels can aid in the recovery of cavity-nesting native bees after fires.
This work fills a major gap. While there has been much attention on the recovery of furry animals and plants after fires, there has been far less investment into the recovery of plant pollinators.
This work empowers us to help native bees after fires, by providing nesting resources to promote populations.
Kit Prendergast received funding from the federal government’s Bushfire Recovery Grant to undertake this research project, and from Flow Hive to write the research paper. She was previously a member of the Australian Native Bee Association.
The new documentary film Joh: The Last King of Queensland offers a dramatised account of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s premiership from 1968 to 1987.
Directed by Kriv Stenders, using reenactments (Bjelke-Petersen is played by Richard Roxburgh), archival footage and contemporary interviews, the film portrays him as a complex and polarising figure.
We are given a man who is socially conservative, economically ambitious and politically divisive. A man who profoundly shaped Queensland’s governance and development.
But while the film effectively captures his popular appeal and role in the state’s economic transformation, it simplifies key aspects of his political ascent.
In particular, it doesn’t capture the complexities of electoral mechanics, internal party maneuvering and the influence of the public service.
National Party dominance
We start with Bjelke-Petersen’s rural upbringing. Stenders emphasises the formative impact of his Lutheran faith, personal abstinence, strong work ethic and family values. These would be foundational to his leadership style.
Roxburgh highlights Bjelke-Petersen’s rhetorical simplicity. He presented himself as an advocate for “ordinary” Queenslanders, especially in rural and conservative communities.
A central critique of Bjelke-Petersen was his manipulation of Queensland’s electoral system.
The film illustrates how electoral malapportionment advantaged rural constituencies, fuelling the National Party’s dominance. But this treatment lacks nuance.
Richard Roxburgh plays Joh Bjelke-Petersen, highlighting his rhetorical simplicity. Stan
Former MP David Byrne’s claim that Bjelke-Petersen remained premier solely due to the electoral system is presented uncritically.
The National Party outpolled the Liberals from 1977 on. Labor failed to win a statewide majority until 1989, under boundaries drawn by Bjelke-Petersen’s administration in 1986.
While Roxburgh’s character mentions this legacy, his claim that there was “not a peep” of dissent overlooks sustained criticism from opposition leader Frank Nicklin throughout the 1950s.
The party apparatus
The film omits several key figures whose contributions were instrumental to the success of the Bjelke-Petersen era.
The organisational acumen of National Party president Robert Sparkes and state secretary Mike Evans played a critical role in constructing a highly efficient party apparatus.
Through the coordination of financial resources and the strategic mobilisation of grassroots support, Sparkes and Evans substantially reinforced Bjelke-Petersen’s leadership and electoral resilience.
Also excluded are prominent members of the premier’s personal staff, such as media advisor Allen Callaghan and policy researcher Wendy Armstrong. Both contributed significantly to shaping public messaging and policy development.
Bjelke-Petersen was premier of Queensland from 1968 to 1987. Stan
We do not hear about the contributions of senior public servants such as Sydney Schubert, coordinator-general, and Leo Hielscher, under-treasurer.
Schubert was instrumental in expediting infrastructure development across the state. Hielscher ensured Queensland maintained its AAA credit rating and successfully attracted international investment.
These administrative achievements were central to the state’s economic growth.
Bjelke-Petersen was frequently detached from the formal processes of cabinet and Westminster governance. But his reliance on a capable and loyal bureaucracy underscores a distinct, if unconventional, mode of operation.
This model, characterised by strong administrative delegation, contributed to the longevity and effectiveness of his premiership.
Winning seats, suppressing rights
The film addresses his opposition to the Whitlam government and his promotion of states’ rights. Both cemented his popularity. It highlights his decision to abolish death duties – a move that allowed him to present a low-tax, pro-development agenda.
Bjelke-Petersen’s authoritarian style is explored through archival footage of the 1971 protests during South Africa’s rugby tour of Australia. But the film fails to contextualise electoral reaction.
The government won seats, including central Brisbane and Maryborough, in by-elections held at the height of the protest activity.
His later suppression of civil liberties, particularly against students, unions and Indigenous activists, is acknowledged.
Corruption flourished under Bjelke-Petersen’s administration due to insufficient oversight and a permissive political culture. Stan
The depiction of the “Joh for PM” campaign presents it as a significant strategic miscalculation. Stenders illustrates the limits of Bjelke-Petersen’s political judgement beyond the state level.
Investigative journalist Chris Masters is interviewed about his role in creating the Four Corners exposé which served as a catalyst for the Fitzgerald Inquiry (1987–89).
This inquiry uncovered extensive political and police corruption. It exposed entrenched institutional malpractice, and contributed decisively to the erosion of Bjelke-Petersen’s political legitimacy.
Such corruption was longstanding and predated Bjelke-Petersen’s tenure. It flourished under his administration due to insufficient oversight and a permissive political culture.
Emotional resonance, but not fully nuanced
While the film suggests that Bjelke-Petersen was never personally corrupt (and he was never convicted of any criminal offence) it omits a pivotal episode in his political downfall.
According to journalist Matthew Condon, Springwood MP Huan Fraser publicly accused the Premier of corruption during a 1987 National Party meeting.
Fraser’s confrontation, reportedly triggered by Bjelke-Petersen’s push to approve what was then the world’s tallest building, marked a significant rupture within the party.
The proposed project symbolised growing concerns about impropriety and unchecked executive power during his premiership.
Joh: The Last King of Queensland succeeds in capturing the emotional resonance of Bjelke-Petersen’s political persona. But it stops short of delivering a fully nuanced account.
His legacy continues to polarise. To supporters, he remains a visionary who championed economic growth and conservative values. To critics, he presided over an era of democratic erosion, civil rights suppression and entrenched corruption.
His story reflects the enduring tension between executive authority and democratic accountability in modern Australian political history.
Joh: The Last King of Queensland is on Stan now.
John Mickel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Following a particular diet or exercising a great deal are common and even encouraged in our health and image-conscious culture. With increased awareness of food allergies and other dietary requirements, it’s also not uncommon for someone to restrict or eliminate certain foods.
But these behaviours may also be the sign of an unhealthy relationship with food. You can have a problematic pattern of eating without being diagnosed with an eating disorder.
So, where’s the line? What is disordered eating, and what is an eating disorder?
What is disordered eating?
Disordered eating describes negative attitudes and behaviours towards food and eating that can lead to a disturbed eating pattern.
It can involve:
dieting
skipping meals
avoiding certain food groups
binge eating
misusing laxatives and weight-loss medications
inducing vomiting (sometimes known as purging)
exercising compulsively.
Disordered eating is the term used when these behaviours are not frequent and/or severe enough to meet an eating disorder diagnosis.
Not everyone who engages in these behaviours will develop an eating disorder. But disordered eating – particularly dieting – usually precedes an eating disorder.
What is an eating disorder?
Eating disorders are complex psychiatric illnesses that can negatively affect a person’s body, mind and social life. They’re characterised by persistent disturbances in how someone thinks, feels and behaves around eating and their bodies.
To make a diagnosis, a qualified health professional will use a combination of standardised questionnaires, as well as more general questioning. These will determine how frequent and severe the behaviours are, and how they affect day-to-day functioning.
How common are eating disorders and disordered eating?
The answer can vary quite radically depending on the study and how it defines disordered behaviours and attitudes.
An estimated 8.4% of women and 2.2% of men will develop an eating disorder at some point in their lives. This is most common during adolescence.
Disordered eating is also particularly common in young people with 30% of girls and 17% of boys aged 6–18 years reporting engaging in these behaviours.
Although the research is still emerging, it appears disordered eating and eating disorders are even more common in gender diverse people.
Can we prevent eating disorders?
There is some evidence eating disorder prevention programs that target risk factors – such as dieting and concerns about shape and weight – can be effective to some extent in the short term.
The issue is most of these studies last only a few months. So we can’t determine whether the people involved went on to develop an eating disorder in the longer term.
In addition, most studies have involved girls or women in late high school and university. By this age, eating disorders have usually already emerged. So, this research cannot tell us as much about eating disorder prevention and it also neglects the wide range of people at risk of eating disorders.
Is orthorexia an eating disorder?
In defining the line between eating disorders and disordered eating, orthorexia nervosa is a contentious issue.
The name literally means “proper appetite” and involves a pathological obsession with proper nutrition, characterised by a restrictive diet and rigidly avoiding foods believed to be “unhealthy” or “impure”.
These disordered eating behaviours need to be taken seriously as they can lead to malnourishment, loss of relationships, and overall poor quality of life.
However, orthorexia nervosa is not an official eating disorder in any diagnostic manual.
Additionally, with the popularity of special diets (such as keto or paleo), time-restricted eating, and dietary requirements (for example, gluten-free) it can sometimes be hard to decipher when concerns about diet have become disordered, or may even be an eating disorder.
For example, around 6% of people have a food allergy. Emerging evidence suggests they are also more likely to have restrictive types of eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder.
However, following a special diet such as veganism, or having a food allergy, does not automatically lead to disordered eating or an eating disorder.
It is important to recognise people’s different motivations for eating or avoiding certain foods. For example, a vegan may restrict certain food groups due to animal rights concerns, rather than disordered eating symptoms.
What to look out for
If you’re concerned about your own relationship with food or that of a loved one, here are some signs to look out for:
preoccupation with food and food preparation
cutting out food groups or skipping meals entirely
obsession with body weight or shape
large fluctuations in weight
compulsive exercise
mood changes and social withdrawal.
It’s always best to seek help early. But it is never too late to seek help.
In Australia, if you are experiencing difficulties in your relationships with food and your body, you can contact the Butterfly Foundation’s national helpline on 1800 33 4673 (or via their online chat).
For parents concerned their child might be developing concerning relationships with food, weight and body image, Feed Your Instinct highlights common warning signs, provides useful information about help seeking and can generate a personalised report to take to a health professional.
Gemma Sharp receives funding from an NHMRC Investigator Grant. She is a Professor and the Founding Director and Member of the Consortium for Research in Eating Disorders, a registered charity.
JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: G’ day, everybody. It’s great to be here at the University of New South Wales, my old university that I went to last century, to talk about the things that we’re doing to build a better and a fairer education system this century.
There are big things happening in education. Today the Prime Minister has released numbers that show that our cheaper child care laws are delivering thousands of dollars in savings for the average family. The data he’s released today shows that for an average family with a child in child care three days a week, they’ve saved about $7,000 dollars over the last two years. That’s $7,000 dollars less that they’ve had to spend on child care than they otherwise would because of the reforms that we put in place a couple of years ago.
In school education, we’re driving big reform as well. We’re fixing the funding of our public schools with the biggest new investment in public education by an Australian Government ever, something like $16.5 billion extra that we’re investing in public schools over the next decade. And later this week, on Friday, I’ll convene the first meeting of Education Ministers since the election. One of the things that will be on the agenda for us to discuss is the implementation of that agreement, the next steps in making sure that this funding is linked to reform, and that that reform drives the sort of outcomes that we all want. Fundamentally, more young people finishing high school and then going on to TAFE or going on to university.
Which brings me to the big reforms that are happening in higher education. Next week, paid prac will start for the first time. That’s financial support from the Commonwealth Government to help teaching students, nursing students, midwifery students and social work students while they do practical part of their degree. A bit of financial support to help them while they’re doing their practical training. It’s never happened before. It’s one of the recommendations that came out of the Universities Accord, which is a blueprint for how we reform our higher education system over the next decade and beyond.
And today, some more good news. Today, some data has been released by my department that shows that the number of Aussie students starting a university degree are bouncing back big time. The data that we’ve released today shows that when you take out the two years of COVID, which are a bit of an anomaly because people went to university during that period of time at record numbers, when you take out those two years of COVID, the number of Australian students starting an undergraduate or a postgraduate degree this year looks set to be the highest on record. And that’s a good thing. We want more people to finish school. We want more people to be able to go to TAFE or go to university, get the skills that they need. We want more Aussies to get more skills and to be able to get the careers of their dreams.
And the young people that I’ve had a chance to speak to today are just a couple of examples of people who are building the life of their dreams through the work that they’re doing here at my old university, the University of New South Wales, studying everything from medicine to law to chemistry to software engineering. I forgot one other – economics and maths. All fortunate recipients of the Gateway Program here at the University of New South Wales, which is helping a lot of young people from underrepresented groups to get a crack at going to university. This program, in a nutshell, is everything that I’m about, making sure that more kids, like the kid that I was growing up in Western Sydney, get a crack at going to university and build the career of their dreams. So, to tell their story rather than mine, can I ask Sam to tell us a little bit about yourself, what you’re doing and why the Gateway Program is so important for you?
SAM: Brilliant. Thank you, Jason. So, yeah, I came from a country town called Goulburn, so near Canberra. And I think the thing is that most people in Goulburn don’t typically leave Goulburn. And although I love Goulburn, I did want to move on and so I fell in love with UNSW. I remember one day in September; I made the two hour trip on the train all the way up to the Open Day and I knew as soon as I got here that that’s exactly what I wanted to do. And so, I just needed to figure out actually how to get here. And that was through the Gateway Program. So, then I made my way up to UNSW after HSC and I’m now doing a Bachelor of Advanced Science majoring in chemistry. I absolutely love it. It’s the best decision I could have made for myself. And I think I can thank my high school teachers, but also the lecturers here at the university for that, because it’s been just such a great experience. And even more so, I now get to give back to the Gateway Program, which helped me get here with my fellow ambassadors, as I am now also a Gateway Ambassador. I get to go to schools; I get to talk to kids and just show them exactly what university education can be like.
CLARE: Thanks mate, reminds me, I’ve got to buy myself a new hoodie. Over to you.
JOURNALIST: You mentioned the record number that we’re seeing apart from COVID and there’s been a particular boost in teaching and nursing. Do you think that could be partially attributed to the placements coming into effect next week?
CLARE: I think it’s part of it. Over the course of the last few years, a couple of things have happened, particularly to encourage more people to want to be a school teacher. There’s been big pay rises announced for new teachers here in New South Wales, but also in South Australia, in WA and the Northern Territory. There’s been a lot of work to try and reduce the unnecessary workload or burden that we place on school teachers to give them more time to teach. We ran a campaign a little over a year ago called ‘Be that Teacher’, which was really about sending a message to the whole country about how important our school teachers are. This is the most important job in the world. One of the great things I got out of our conversation a little while ago is that all of the young people I spoke to today, whether they’re thinking about becoming a lawyer or a doctor or a software engineer or an economist, are also thinking about becoming a teacher. And how they could do that either someday here at university or in the classroom of our schools.
The scholarships that we’re rolling out, $40,000 dollar scholarships to encourage people to become a school teacher, are working. I think that’s a big part of it, but paid prac is important as well. The other thing that’s worth pointing out in these numbers is that we’re seeing a boost in the number of people doing an undergraduate degree, but also a big boost in the number of people doing a postgraduate degree. Two things there; I think that shows that more and more people are thinking about coming back to university to get more skills, to reskill or to upskill. And we’re going to see more of that in the years ahead. But also, when it comes to school teaching in particular, this year we expect to see a jump of about 15 per cent in the number of people doing the masters degree, the course that people do after they’ve done another degree in another area of expertise, to become a school teacher. And that’s a really good thing because we want people to burst out of school and go to uni and want to become a school teacher. But we also want young people like this who might have had another career to think, “okay, now I’m going to do the masters degree and I’m going to become a school teacher as well.” And the data out today shows us that’s happening.
JOURNALIST: Minister, what has the response of your electorate been over the conflict in the Middle East?
CLARE: Over the course of almost two years now, the conflict in the Middle East, in particular the death and the destruction in Gaza, has been horrific for my community. The dead bodies that we see on our television every night for my community aren’t just numbers, aren’t just anonymous people, often their family or their friends. And that’s why this is so personal. My community, the whole country, I think the whole world wants to see an end to the violence, to the suffering, to the catastrophe that’s happening in Gaza. They want to see an end to all of the violence happening in the Middle East. And that’s why we hold our breath, and we hold our hopes that the ceasefire holds between Israel and Iran as well.
JOURNALIST: On the university rankings as well, the QS rankings that came out UNSW is still in the top 20 and remained relatively stable, but we did see quite a few universities going backwards. I guess, is that a concern for the Government? And particularly suggestions that it could be related to debate over international student loan policies?
CLARE: My position on this has been consistent. The mark of a great university isn’t just a ranking, isn’t just a number, it’s about students. It’s about the work that the universities do to produce young people like this. In truth, you’ve produced yourself. There’s a reason that you’re here and it sits within yourself. But it’s great universities that help you to get here. It’s gateway programs like the program here at my old university, the University of New South Wales, which is making a difference in people’s lives.
There was an article written a couple of weeks ago about the focus that I have placed in my first term as Education Minister on students. And that is true whether it’s the Student Ombudsman, whether it’s the fee-free courses to help young people that aren’t ready for university to be ready for university, whether it’s these paid prac payments or anything else. Yes, I’ve been deadly focused, directly focused, on helping students to get to university, but not just get here to succeed when they get here. And the data shows us that a lot of young people, particularly young people from underrepresented groups from poor backgrounds, from the regions from the outer suburbs, are more likely not to finish a degree than other people. And so, the next step in the reform program, big structural change, is around fixing the funding of our universities, you’ll see that roll out next year, including demand-driven funding for equity students and a real needs-based funding approach to universities a la the Gonski model. We’re finishing and fixing the funding of our public schools. A similar model we want to roll out to our universities so that we’re funding students based on need and making sure that more young people who start a degree finish a degree.
JOURNALIST: And that includes the Jobs-ready Graduate Scheme?
CLARE: That’ll be one of the things that we’re going to ask the new ATEC to look at. And the interim version of the ATEC led by Mary O’ Kane, will kick off next Tuesday.
JOURNALIST: I just have one more as well about Albanese last week said he’s ruled out renewing the religious discrimination law, that obviously there was a big review commission to that. Is that a position that you maintain as well? And do you expect there’ll be any reforms to the independent private sector in the next term?
CLARE: What the Prime Minister has said repeatedly here is that reform here requires bipartisanship. And that was more important in the last term than ever before, given the conflicts overseas and the propensity for a debate around religious freedom or religious discrimination to aggravate the tensions that already exist in our community because of the catastrophe happening overseas. And I still think it holds that reform here requires bipartisanship. We’ve got a new Opposition Leader. I do hold out hope that Sussan Ley, unlike Peter Dutton, will reach across the aisle and try to work with us on more things. Thanks.
The number seven is widely considered to be lucky across many cultures, and today seven new Police Security Officers (PSO) graduated from the South Australia Police Academy’s Qualification Program 7!
While hard work, determination and skill, rather than luck, saw today’s graduates successfully complete weeks of training, the new PSOs feel lucky to play a vital role in safeguarding the community.
Six men and one woman bring a wealth of valuable employment experience to the role, including from retail, sales, truck driving, and hospitality.
Before joining SAPOL, Scarlett worked in various roles including in retail, working as a barista while studying a Bachelor of Science.
“I was drawn to the variety of PSO roles, and the idea of every day being different,” she said.
When reflecting on the academy experience, the new PSO valued her course mates.
“We would encourage each other whenever any of us struggled with anything,” Scarlett said.
“We would catchup out of work to build up our rapport and become closer as a team.
“The mentors, as well as your course mates are always there to support you if you are ever concerned about anything.”
Fellow graduate Tynan studied and completed a Bachelor of Criminology at Flinders University before joining SAPOL.
“I studied this due to my interest in crime rehabilitation of offenders,” he said.
“This study exposed me to the world of law enforcement and was a major contributor as to why I wanted to join SAPOL.”
Tynan has a passion for football, which has developed his teamwork skills – of great value in this new role.
He was attracted to SAPOL knowing that every day has the potential to be new and different, and he hopes to one day become a police officer.
“SAPOL offers many pathways and extensive opportunities to branch off into different aspects of the organisation,” he added.
“As a PSO, the variety of working in the cells, working at static sites, and conducting patrols is an attractive aspect of the role.”
Today’s PSO graduates will be posted to Police Security Services Branch (PSSB), in the District Support Section.
SAPOL is currently recruiting for Police Security Officers and is keen to hear from people who are committed to the state’s safety and security.
If you are looking for job security, career progression pathways and a chance to make a real difference in local communities visit Achievemore – Join Us (police.sa.gov.au)
Tynan and Scarlett are among seven new Police Security Officers to graduate today from the South Australia Police Academy.
Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –
Teaching a neural network to answer a thousand questions, researching superbugs, determining a person’s chronotype using a DNA test, and recognizing lies using speech markers—this and much more was done by Moscow schoolchildren who participated in the project “In the center of science”. Based at the capital’s universities and leading research clusters, high school students, under the guidance of experts, implemented ideas in the fields of biology, ecology, chemistry, physics and linguistics, conducted experiments, and then presented their results at conferences.
We tell you how the project helps students take their first steps in science, feel like real researchers, and decide on their future profession.
Diving into Science
The project “In the Center of Science” opened last year. More than 15 thousand people took part in it: over 10 thousand high school students, as well as teachers and young scientists. The project, which united the efforts of schools, universities and scientific centers, provided Moscow students with the opportunity to engage in research activities based on modern laboratories and testing grounds, consult with the best mentors, develop their own projects and defend them before the expert community.
For several months, schoolchildren attended specialized clubs, festivals, lectures, master classes, and scientific and experimental courses. They mastered advanced research methods such as microscopy, electrophoresis, 3D printing, data collection and analysis, and modeling of physical and biological processes. Young chemists studied the rate of metal corrosion and prepared a protective solution, physicists created bionic prostheses on a 3D printer, biologists performed DNA sequencing, and ecologists developed ideas for preserving the environment. Professional hackathons were organized for teachers, and meetings of the Young Scientists Club were organized for aspiring researchers.
The schoolchildren presented their projects at internal conferences and city events. And the capital’s scientists told about cutting-edge discoveries in Moscow Palace of Pioneers, where three large lectures, a large-scale festival of natural sciences and the Moscow Science Festival were held in February.
How words reveal deception
Eleventh-grader Alexandra Gatilova from School No. 1238participated in scientific and experimental courses in linguistics. She conducted a study dedicated to identifying lie markers in oral speech. Together with her team, the schoolgirl modeled a situation, interviewed dozens of respondents, analyzed the data and presented the results in the form of diagrams.
“The linguistics courses were held at the Higher School of Economics. For two months, we studied theory and conducted research. Each group had its own topic; ours was working on a project to identify markers of lying in oral monologue speech. The goal was to find out whether it is possible to understand when a person is lying based on certain words. To do this, one part of the respondents was asked to imagine that they were late for a meeting with a friend because the bus did not arrive on time. And the other part was asked to lie that the reason for being late was a delayed bus. Then we deciphered the monologues using a special application and loaded the results into a table, highlighting the matches,” says Alexandra Gatilova.
While working on the project, the schoolchildren discovered the following patterns: truthful respondents more often used polite expressions and words with a softened negative meaning than those who lied. For example, they said about the bus that it was delayed, not late.
“We managed to detect lie markers in 70 percent of respondents. We presented the research results, presented in graphs and tables, at a scientific conference. This development can be used in forensics, training psychologists, for analyzing texts using artificial intelligence in various Telegram channels. We plan to continue working on the project in the next academic year,” says the schoolgirl.
Alexandra Gatilova is also making progress in learning English and Chinese. In the future, the girl wants to become a linguist and teacher.
Participant of the conference “Engineers of the Future” and winner of the Moscow Pre-professional Physics Olympiad Lev Lezhenev from School No. 1434— the author of a project based on artificial intelligence for a large retail chain. Together with his team, the tenth-grader created a website that optimizes the work of the retail employee support service.
“Together with other participants in the project dedicated to artificial intelligence, I spent a week developing a program that would answer questions. After a theoretical course conducted by students from leading Moscow universities, we created an Internet service and built into it a neural network with a database of ready-made answers. In the format of text messages, the company’s employees could find out how many times a month their salary is accrued, how to receive maternity benefits and other important information. In total, the database included answers to about a thousand questions,” says Lev Lezhenev.
Before presenting the finished project at the conference, the schoolchildren made the necessary economic calculations. For the development, the children received an award from the customer company.
“Theoretically, such a model can be implemented at any enterprise. In the future, we want to continue working on the project and create a server that will allow us to enter a wide variety of data. I consider the “In the Center of Science” program to be very useful: it gives the opportunity to expand and deepen school knowledge, applying it in practice. In the future, I want to become a programmer, and this experience is very important to me,” the high school student shares.
The students worked in modern laboratories, collected and analyzed data, and modeled physical and biological processes. Ninth-grader Anastasia Levchenko from School No. 947participated in scientific and experimental courses on chemistry and biotechnology. She studied how the structure of DNA is related to a person’s biological predisposition to a particular chronotype (sleep and wakefulness regime).
“The two-month courses were held at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology. The participants in the experiment were schoolchildren from our and neighboring streams and teachers. After they answered questions about their daily routine, we took a scraping of their buccal epithelium – cells from the inside of the cheek. Then, using an amplifier (a device for conducting a polymerase chain reaction), we isolated DNA from these cells. The nucleotide chains were examined under ultraviolet light and the results were compared with the information from the questionnaires. A thin strip of a pair of nucleotides corresponds to the lark chronotype, a thick one – an owl, and two stripes indicate that their owner belongs to the mixed chronotype of a pigeon. The results coincided with the answers of the study participants by 95 percent. Such tests will help people plan their routine taking into account biological characteristics,” explains Anastasia Levchenko.
The schoolgirl also extracted essential oils and hydrolates (water solutions) from tangerine peel, mint and dried rose petals, and determined the content of chlorophyll and other pigments in different parts of plants. Earlier, she became a prize winner of the municipal stage of the All-Russian School Olympiad in Ecology.
“In the new academic year, I plan to participate in the “At the Center of Science” project again, to do other research. This is a very good base for schoolchildren, there is an opportunity to work with advanced laboratory equipment under the guidance of specialists, to implement their ideas,” says Anastasia Levchenko, who has dreamed of connecting her life with medicine and becoming a surgeon since childhood.
How bacteria develop in kefir and how resistant they are to modern antibiotics was studied by ninth-grader Artem Reutsky from School No. 1558, winner of the Moscow School Olympiad in Biology and English.
“During the scientific and experimental courses on biotechnology, we studied superbugs. This is the name given to microorganisms that have developed resistance to antibiotics during their development. First, we collected theoretical information, then we planted cultures to grow bacteria. The study was conducted on samples of kefir from different manufacturers – we added bacteria and a paper disk soaked in antibiotics to each, and then immersed the samples in a thermostat. After a week, colonies of superbugs resistant to drugs grew in some kefir samples,” says Artem Reutsky.
The schoolchildren’s project confirmed the scientific hypothesis that antibiotic-resistant bacteria can develop in fermented milk products, so food technologists need to pay special attention to production. The students presented the results of their research in the form of diagrams at an internal scientific conference.
“This was my first serious research. It’s great that there is an opportunity to work in a well-equipped laboratory, to gain practical experience. Now I want to get into the summer camp of the project “In the Center of Science”, and in the future – to become a virologist and create a vaccine against the human immunodeficiency virus,” the schoolboy shares.
In the new academic year, the project will continue to expand: the number of courses and clubs will increase, new areas will appear, and the mentoring format will develop. Registration for the summer visiting scientific school is now open, and professional competitions, hackathons, and festivals await schoolchildren in the future. You can find out more and register at website.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
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Broadcast journalist Antoinette Lattouf was sacked by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) for her political opinions concerning the war in Gaza, the Federal Court has found.
Lattouf has been awarded $70,000 in damages for non-economic loss, based on findings that her sacking caused her what the judge called “great distress”.
Justice Darryl Rangiah said this was obvious from her demeanour in the witness box. She had given evidence of feeling shock and humiliation at being sacked, and that this had affected her sleep and put strain on her personal relationships.
However, the court found Lattouf’s race or ethnicity had played no part in the ABC’s decision to sack her, as she had claimed.
The decision to sack her had been made by Chris Oliver-Taylor, who at the time was chief content officer of the ABC. His decision had been fortified by the views of the then managing director and editor-in-chief of the ABC, David Anderson, that Lattouf had expressed antisemitic opinions.
The court found Oliver-Taylor was under pressure from many sources: the external complaints, Anderson’s view of the matter, and the wishes of the then chair Ita Buttrose to put an end to it.
There was also a desire to appease the pro-Israel lobby, to defend the ABC’s reputation for impartiality, and to mitigate the impact of a story that he knew The Australian newspaper was about the publish on the issue.
The case arose from events that occurred in December 2023.
The ABC hired Lattouf, a journalist of Lebanese heritage, as a relief presenter on the mornings program of Sydney ABC Radio for one week leading up to Christmas. The mornings program consisted of light entertainment interspersed with hourly news bulletins. It did not otherwise offer news or current affairs content.
Lattouf had worked for the ABC previously and was well-regarded inside the organisation. Her appointment was uncontroversial among those involved in making it, and she started work on Monday December 18.
Before this stint began, Lattouf had made a series of personal social media posts accusing Israeli soldiers of using rape as a weapon of war. Then, early in the week she was on air, she posted on her personal social media profile a report by Human Rights Watch alleging Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza. A few days earlier, the ABC had also posted this report on its own website.
Like the ABC, Lattouf posted it without comment.
However, an orchestrated campaign by the Jewish lobby to have her taken off air had already begun, on the basis of what she had previously published on her private social media account, and Justice Rangiah observed that this had caused consternation among senior ABC management.
This consternation turned to panic after the posting of the Human Rights Watch report, and the campaign intensified. A coordinated email campaign by a pro-Israel lobbying group called “Lawyers for Israel”, and another group called “J.E.W.I.S.H creatives and academics”, demanded Lattouf be sacked, threatening legal action if she was not.
Messages from a WhatsApp group leaked to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age showed that in this way, the campaigners put intense pressure on the ABC’s most senior officers at the time, Anderson and Buttrose.
On December 20, Lattouf was told when she came off air she would not be required for the final two days of her engagement. The Fair Work Commission subsequently found this amounted to sacking her. She then sued the ABC in the Federal Court for unlawful termination, alleging she had been dismissed because of her race and political views.
When the matter came before the Federal Court in February 2025, the ABC argued she had been dismissed not because of her race or political views but because she had disobeyed a lawful instruction not to post anything “controversial” on social media while working for the ABC.
The ABC alleged her act of disobedience was the posting of the Human Rights Watch report. In the course of the proceedings, emails between Anderson and Buttrose were admitted into evidence. They showed Buttrose telling Anderson she was “over” getting these complaints about Lattouf, and asking “can’t she come down with flu or COVID or a stomach upset? We owe her nothing.”
Giving evidence during the court hearing, Buttrose said she had proposed this as a face-saving device for Lattouf’s benefit.
In making a formal determination that Lattouf had been terminated, Justice Rangiah dismissed the ABC’s argument that she had simply been told there would be no work for her on the final two days of her contracted period of employment.
He also found Lattouf had not been instructed not to post on her social media account but had merely been told she would be ill-advised to publish anything “controversial” while on air.
In dismissing Lattouf for her political opinions, the ABC breached section 772 of the Fair Work Act, and by depriving her of an opportunity to defend herself before dismissing her it also breached the ABC’s enterprise bargaining agreement.
The question of whether the ABC should suffer a financial penalty for these breaches will be decided at a later date.
It was evident throughout the proceedings that the ABC had been concerned not just to put an end to the complaints about Lattouf but to protect the organisation’s reputation for impartiality.
In the event, the way the case was handled has done substantial damage to the ABC’s reputation, not just for impartiality but for its capacity to stand up for its journalists and presenters when they come under external attack.
Lattouf is one of several journalists whom the ABC has failed to defend from attacks by politicians, pressure groups and News Corporation. The latter’s flagship newspaper, The Australian, has conducted virulent campaigns against ABC journalists, most notably Stan Grant, as well as Lattouf and others.
The managerial consternation and panic observed by Justice Rangiah in Lattouf’s case were discernible also in the Grant case and in the way the ABC handled the controversy over star journalist Laura Tingle’s observation at a writer’s festival that Australia was a racist country.
This is a cultural weakness in the ABC. Its editorial leadership seems not to understand that the first duty of an editor is to create a safe space in which their staff can do good journalism.
It is a malaise that goes back at least as far as the 2018 debacle in which a former chair, Justin Milne, and former managing director, Michelle Guthrie, showed themselves susceptible to pressure from the Turnbull government.
Both resigned within a few days of each other after a stream of sensational allegations leaked to the press about Milne allegedly calling on Guthrie to fire the chief economics correspondent, Emma Alberici, and the political editor, Andrew Probyn.
Perhaps the Lattouf case will at last stiffen their sinews and make standing up for their journalists a primary qualification for editorial leadership.
The Lattouf case also leaves unresolved the question of the extent to which a media organisation is entitled to place restrictions on a staff journalist’s private activities to protect its interests and reputation.
Denis Muller does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The more we learn about orcas, the more remarkable they are. These giant dolphins are the ocean’s true apex predator, preying on great white sharks and other lesser predators.
They’re very intelligent and highly social. Their clans are matrilineal, centred around a older matriarch who teaches her clan her own vocalisations. Not only this, but the species is one of only six known to experience menopause, pointing to the social importance of older females after their reproductive years. Different orca groups have fashion trends, such as one pod who returned to wearing salmon as a hat, decades after it went out of vogue.
But for all their intelligence, one thing has been less clear. Can orcas actually make tools, as humans, chimps and other primates do? In research out today by United States and British researchers, we have an answer: yes.
Using drones, researchers watched as resident pods in the Salish Sea broke off the ends of bull kelp stalks and rolled them between their bodies. This, the researchers say, is likely to be a grooming practice – the first tool-assisted grooming seen in marine animals.
This video shows whales using kelp tools in what appears to be social grooming behaviour. Credit: Center for Whale Research.
Self kelp: why would orcas make tools?
Tool use and tool making have been well documented in land-based species. But it’s less common among marine species. This could be partly due to the challenge of observing them.
This field of research expands what we know these animals are capable of. Not only are orcas spending time making kelp into a grooming tool, but they’re doing it socially – two orcas have to work together to rub the kelp against their bodies.
To make the tool, the orcas use their teeth to grab a stalk of kelp by its “stipe” – the long, narrow part near the seaweed’s holdfast, where it tethers to the rock. They use their teeth, motion of their body and the drag of the kelp to break off a piece of this narrow stipe.
Next, they approach a social partner, flip the length of the kelp onto their rostrum (their snout-like projection) and press their head and the kelp against their partner’s flank. The two orcas use their fins and flukes to trap the kelp while rolling it between their bodies. During this contact, the orcas would roll and twist their bodies – often in an exaggerated S-shaped posture. A similar posture has been seen among orcas in other groups, who adopt it when rubbing themselves on sand or pebbles.
Why do it? The researchers suggest this practise may be social skin-maintenance. Bottlenose dolphin mothers are known to remove dead skin from their calves using flippers, while tool-assisted grooming of a partner has been seen in primates, but infrequently and usually in captivity.
Orcas across different social groups, ages and genders were seen doing this. But they were more likely to groom close relatives or those of similar age. There was some evidence suggesting whales with skin conditions were more likely to do the kelp-based grooming.
Humpback whales are known to wear kelp in a practice known as “kelping”. But this study covers a different behaviour, which the authors dub “allokelping” (kelping others).
A surprise from well-studied pods
Interestingly, this new discovery comes from some of the most well-studied and famous orcas in the world – a group known as the southern resident killer whales. If you were a child of the 90s, you would have seen them in the opening scene of Free Willy, the movie which set me on my path to study cetaceans.
These orcas consist of three pods known as J, K and L pods. Each live in the Salish Sea in the Pacific Northwest on the border of Canada and the US.
Researchers fly drones over these resident pods most days and have access to almost 50 years of observations. But this is the first time the tool-making behaviour has been seen.
Unfortunately, these pods are critically endangered. They’re threatened by sound pollution from shipping, polluted water, vessel strike and loss of their main food source – Chinook salmon.
A pod of killer whales off Vancouver, Canada. Vanessa Pirotta, CC BY-NC-ND
Orcas are smart
In one sense, the findings are not a surprise, given the intelligence of these animals.
In the Antarctic, orcas catch seals by making waves to wash them off ice floes. Before European colonisation, orcas and First Nations groups near Eden hunted whales together.
While orcas are often called “killer whales”, they’re not whales. They’re the biggest species of dolphin, growing up to nine metres long. They’re found across all the world’s oceans.
Within the species, there’s a surprising amount of diversity. Scientists group orcas into different ecotypes – populations adapted to local conditions. Different orca groups can differ substantially, from size to prey to habits. For instance, transient orcas cover huge distances seeking larger prey, while resident orcas stick close to areas with lots of fish.
Not just a fluke
Because orcas differ so much, we don’t know whether other pods have discovered or taught these behaviours.
But what this research does point to is that tool making may be more common among marine mammals than we expected. No hands – no problem.
Vanessa Pirotta does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Imagine watching your favourite nature documentary. The predator lunges rapidly from its hiding place, jaws wide open, and the prey … suddenly goes limp. It looks dead.
For some animals, this freeze response – called “tonic immobility” – can be a lifesaver. Possums famously “play dead” to avoid predators. So do rabbits, lizards, snakes, and even some insects.
But what happens when a shark does it?
In our recent study, we explored this strange behaviour in sharks, rays and their relatives. In this group, tonic immobility is triggered when the animal is turned upside down – it stops moving, its muscles relax, and it enters a trance-like state. Some scientists even use tonic immobility as a technique to safely handle certain shark species.
But why does it happen? And does it actually help these marine predators survive?
The mystery of the ‘frozen shark’
Despite being well documented across the animal kingdom, the reasons behind tonic immobility remain murky – especially in the ocean. It is generally thought of as an anti-predator defence. But there is no evidence to support this idea in sharks, and alternative hypotheses exist.
We tested 13 species of sharks, rays, and a chimaera — a shark relative commonly referred to as a ghost shark — to see whether they entered tonic immobility when gently turned upside down underwater.
Seven species did, but six did not. We then analysed these findings using evolutionary tools to map the behaviour across hundreds of million years of shark family history.
So, why do some sharks freeze?
Tonic immobility is triggered in sharks when they are turned upside down. Rachel Moore
Three main hypotheses
There are three main hypotheses to explain tonic immobility in sharks:
Anti-predator strategy – “playing dead” to avoid being eaten
Reproductive role – some male sharks invert females during mating, so perhaps tonic immobility helps reduce struggle
Sensory overload response – a kind of shutdown during extreme stimulation.
Our results don’t support any of these explanations.
There’s no strong evidence sharks benefit from freezing when attacked. In fact, modern predators such as orcas can use this response against sharks by flipping them over to immobilise them and then remove their nutrient-rich livers – a deadly exploit.
The reproductive hypothesis also falls short. Tonic immobility doesn’t differ between sexes, and remaining immobile could make females vulnerable to harmful or forced mating events.
And the sensory overload idea? Untested and unverified. So, we offer a simpler explanation. Tonic immobility in sharks is likely an evolutionary relic.
A case of evolutionary baggage
Our evolutionary analysis suggests tonic immobility is “plesiomorphic” – an ancestral trait that was likely present in ancient sharks, rays and chimaeras. But as species evolved, many lost the behaviour.
In fact, we found that tonic immobility was lost independently at least five times across different groups. Which raises the question: why?
In some environments, freezing might actually be a bad idea. Small reef sharks and bottom-dwelling rays often squeeze through tight crevices in complex coral habitats when feeding or resting. Going limp in such settings could get them stuck – or worse. That means losing this behaviour might have actually been advantageous in these lineages.
So, what does this all mean?
Rather than a clever survival tactic, tonic immobility might just be “evolutionary baggage” – a behaviour that once served a purpose, but now persists in some species simply because it doesn’t do enough harm to be selected against.
It’s a good reminder that not every trait in nature is adaptive. Some are just historical quirks.
Our work helps challenge long-held assumptions about shark behaviour, and sheds light on the hidden evolutionary stories still unfolding in the ocean’s depths. Next time you hear about a shark “playing dead”, remember – it might just be muscle memory from a very, very long time ago.
Jodie L. Rummer receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She is affiliated with the Australian Coral Reef Society, as President.
Joel Gayford receives funding from the Northcote Trust.
Shutting off the internet within an entire country is a serious action. It severely limits people’s ability to freely communicate and to find reliable information during times of conflict.
In countries that have privatised mobile and internet providers, control is often exercised through legislation or through government directives – such as age restrictions on adult content. By contrast, Iran has spent years developing the capacity to directly control its telecommunications infrastructure.
So how can a country have broad control over internet access, and could this happen anywhere in the world?
How does ‘blocking the internet’ work?
The “internet” is a broad term. It covers many types of applications, services and, of course, the websites we’re familiar with.
A nation may opt to physically disconnect the incoming internet connectivity at the point of entry to the country (imagine pulling the plug on a telephone exchange).
This allows for easy recovery of service when the government is ready, but the impact will be far-reaching. Nobody in the country, including the government itself, will be able to connect to the internet – unless the government has its own additional, covert connectivity to the rest of the world.
This is where it gets more technical. Every internet-connected endpoint – laptop, computer, mobile phone – has an IP (internet protocol) address. They’re strings of numbers; for example, 77.237.87.95 is an address assigned to one of the internet service providers in Iran.
IP addresses identify the device on the public internet. However, since strings of numbers are not easy to remember, humans use domain names to connect to services – theconversation.com is an example of a domain name.
That connection between the IP address and the domain is controlled by the domain name system or DNS. It’s possible for a government to control access to key internet services by modifying the DNS – this manipulates the connection between domain names and their underlying numeric addresses.
An additional way to control the internet involves manipulating the traffic flow. IP addresses allow devices to send and receive data across networks controlled by internet service providers. In turn, they rely on the border gateway protocol (BGP) – think of it like a series of traffic signs which direct internet traffic flow, allowing data to move around the world.
Governments could force local internet service providers to remove their BGP routes from the internet. As a result, the devices they service wouldn’t be able to connect to the internet. In the same manner, the rest of the world would no longer be able to “see” into the country.
These events clearly show that if a government anywhere in the world wants to turn off the internet, it really can. The democratic state of the country is the most significant influence on the willingness to undertake such action – not the technical capability.
However, in today’s world, being disconnected from the internet will heavily impact people’s lives, jobs and the economy. It’s not an action to be taken lightly.
How can people evade internet controls?
Virtual private networks or VPNs have long been used to hide communications in countries with strict internet controls, and continue to be an effective internet access method for many people. (However, there are indications Iran has clamped down on VPN use in recent times.)
However, VPNs won’t help when the internet is physically disconnected. Depending on configuration, if BGP routes are blocked, this may also prevent any VPN traffic from reaching the target.
This is where independent satellite internet services open up the most reliable alternative. Satellite internet is great for remote and rural areas where traditional internet service providers have yet to establish their cabling infrastructure – or can’t do so.
Even if traditional wired or wireless internet connections are unavailable, services such as Starlink, Viasat, Hughesnet and others can provide internet access through satellites orbiting Earth.
To use satellite internet, users rely on antenna kits supplied by providers. In Iran, Elon Musk’s Starlink was activated during the blackout, and independent reports suggest there are thousands of Starlink receivers secretly operating in the country.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
On June 21, the United States launched airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities – Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan – pounding deeply buried centrifuge sites with bunker-busting bombs.
Conducted jointly with Israel, the operation took place without formal congressional authorisation, drawing sharp criticism from lawmakers that it was unconstitutional and “unlawful”.
Much of the political debate has centred on whether the US is being pulled into “another Middle East war”.
The New York Times’ Nick Kristof weighed in on the uncertainties following the US’ surprise bombing of Iran and Tehran’s retaliation.
Even US Vice President JD Vance understood the unease, stating:
People are right to be worried about foreign entanglement after the last 25 years of idiotic foreign policy.
These reactions have revived comparisons with George W. Bush’s 2003 invasion of Iraq: a Republican president launching military action on the basis of flimsy weapons of mass destruction (WMD) evidence.
Hauntingly familiar?
While the surface similarity is tempting, the comparison may in fact obscure more about President Donald Trump than it reveals.
Comparisons to the Iraq War
In 2003, Bush ordered a full-scale invasion of Iraq based on flawed intelligence, claiming Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein possessed WMDs. And while the war was extremely unpopular across the world, it did have bipartisan congressional support.
The invasion toppled Iraq’s regime in just a few weeks.
What followed was a brutal conflict and almost a decade of US occupation. The war triggered the rise of militant jihadism and a horrific sectarian conflict that reverberates today.
So far, Trump’s one-off strikes on Iran bear little resemblance to the 2003 Iraq intervention.
These were precision strikes within the context of a broader Iran-Israel war, designed to target Iran’s nuclear program.
And, so far, there appears to be little appetite for a full-scale military invasion or “boots on the ground”, and regime change seems unlikely despite some rumblings from both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Yet the comparison to Iraq persists, especially among audiences suspicious of repeated US military interventions in the Middle East. But poorly considered analogies carry costs.
For one, the Iraq comparison sheds little light on Trump’s foreign policy.
To better understand the recent strikes on Iran, we need to look at Trump’s broader foreign policy.
Much has been made of his “America first” mantra, a complex mix of prioritising domestic interests, questioning international agreements, and challenging traditional alliances.
Others, including Trump himself, have often touted his “no war” approach, pointing to large-scale military withdrawals from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq,and the fact he had not started a new war.
But beyond this, Trump has increased US military spending and frequently used his office to conduct targeted strikes on adversaries – especially across the Middle East.
For example, in 2017 and 2018, Trump ordered airstrikes on a Syrian airbase and chemical weapons facilities. In both instances, he bypassed Congress and used precision air power to target weapons infrastructure without pursuing regime change.
Also, from 2017 to 2021, Trump authorised US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, enabling airstrikes that targeted militant cells but also led to mass civilian casualties.
Trump’s policy was the subject of intense bipartisan opposition, culminating in the first successful congressional invocation of the War Powers Resolution – though it was ultimately vetoed by Trump.
And in 2020, Trump launched a sequence of attacks on Iranian assets in Iraq. This included a drone strike that killed senior Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.
Again, these attacks were conducted without congressional support. The decision triggered intense bipartisan backlash and concerns about escalation without oversight.
While such attacks are not without precedent – think back to former US President Barack Obama’s intervention in Libya or Joe Biden’s targeting of terrorist assets – the scale and veracity of Trump’s attacks on the Middle East are much more useful as a framework to understanding the recent attacks on Iran than any reference to the 2003 Iraq war.
What this reveals about Trump
It is crucial to scrutinise any use of force. But while comparing the 2025 Iran strikes to Iraq in 2003 may be rhetorically powerful, it is analytically weak.
A better path is to situate these events within Trump’s broader political style.
He acts unilaterally and with near-complete impunity, disregarding traditional constraints and operating outside established norms and oversight.
This is just as true for attacks on foreign adversaries as it is for the domestic policy arena.
For example, Trump recently empowered agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to operate with sweeping discretion in immigration enforcement, bypassing legal and judicial oversight.
Trump also uses policy as spectacle, designed to send shockwaves through the domestic or foreign arenas and project dominance to both friend and foe.
In this way, Trump’s dramatic attacks on Iran have some parallels to his unilateral imposition of tariffs on international trade. Both are abrupt, disruptive and framed as a demonstration of strength rather than a way to create a mutually beneficial solution.
Finally, Trump is more than willing to use force as an instrument of power rather than as a last resort. This is just as true for Iran as it is for the US people.
The recent deployment of US Marines to quell protests in Los Angeles reveals a similar impulse: military intervention as a first instinct in the absence of a broader strategy to foster peace.
To truly understand and respond to Trump’s Iran strikes, we need to move beyond sensationalist analogies and recognise a more dangerous reality. This is not the start of another Iraq; it’s the continuation of a presidency defined by impulsive power, unchecked force and a growing disdain for democratic constraint.
Benjamin Isakhan receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australian Department of Defence. The views expressed in this article do not reflect those of Government policy.
After 12 days of war, US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran that would bring to an end the most dramatic, direct conflict between the two nations in decades.
Israel and Iran both agreed to adhere to the ceasefire, though they said they would respond with force to any breach.
If the ceasefire holds – a big if – the key question will be whether this signals the start of lasting peace, or merely a brief pause before renewed conflict.
As contemporary war studies show, peace tends to endure under one of two conditions: either the total defeat of one side, or the establishment of mutual deterrence. This means both parties refrain from aggression because the expected costs of retaliation far outweigh any potential gains.
What did each side gain?
The war has marked a turning point for Israel in its decades-long confrontation with Iran. For the first time, Israel successfully brought a prolonged battle to Iranian soil, shifting the conflict from confrontations with Iranian-backed proxy militant groups to direct strikes on Iran itself.
This was made possible largely due to Israel’s success over the past two years in weakening Iran’s regional proxy network, particularly Hezbollah in Lebanon and Shiite militias in Syria.
Over the past two weeks, Israel has inflicted significant damage on Iran’s military and scientific elite, killing several high-ranking commanders and nuclear scientists. The civilian toll was also high.
Additionally, Israel achieved a major strategic objective by pulling the United States directly into the conflict. In coordination with Israel, the US launched strikes on three of Iran’s primary nuclear facilities: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.
Despite these gains, Israel has not accomplished all of its stated goals. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had voiced support for regime change, urging Iranians to rise up against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s government, but the senior leadership in Iran remains intact.
Although Iran was caught off-guard by Israel’s attacks — particularly as it was engaged in nuclear negotiations with the US — it responded by launching hundreds of missiles towards Israel.
Iran has demonstrated its capacity to strike back, though Israel has succeeded in destroying many of its air defence systems, some ballistic missile assets (including missile launchers) and multiple energy facilities.
Since the beginning of the assault, Iranian officials have repeatedly called for a halt to resume negotiations. Under such intense pressure, Iran has realised it would not benefit from a prolonged war of attrition with Israel — especially as both nations face mounting costs and the risk of depleting their military stockpiles if the war continues.
As theories of victory suggest, success in war is defined not only by the damage inflicted, but by achieving core strategic goals and weakening the enemy’s will and capacity to resist.
While Israel claims to have achieved the bulk of its objectives, the extent of the damage to Iran’s nuclear program is not fully known, nor is its capacity to continue enriching uranium.
Both sides could remain locked in a volatile standoff over Iran’s nuclear program, with the conflict potentially reigniting whenever either side perceives a strategic opportunity.
Sticking point over Iran’s nuclear program
Iran faces even greater challenges when it emerges from the war. With a heavy toll on its leadership and nuclear infrastructure, Tehran will likely prioritise rebuilding its deterrence capability.
That includes acquiring new advanced air defence systems — potentially from China — and restoring key components of its missile and nuclear programs. (Some experts say Iran has not used some of its most powerful missiles to maintain this deterrence.)
Iranian officials have claimed they safeguarded more than 400 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium before the attacks. This stockpile could theoretically be converted into nine to ten nuclear warheads if further enriched to 90%.
Trump declared Iran’s nuclear capacity had been “totally obliterated”, whereas Rafael Grossi, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog chief, said damage to Iran’s facilities was “very significant”.
However, analysts have argued Iran will still have a depth of technical knowledge accumulated over decades. Depending on the extent of the damage to its underground facilities, Iran could be capable of restoring and even accelerating its program in a relatively short time frame.
And the chances of reviving negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program appear slimmer than ever.
What might future deterrence look like?
The war has fundamentally reshaped how both Iran and Israel perceive deterrence — and how they plan to secure it going forward.
For Iran, the conflict has reinforced the belief that its survival is at stake. With regime change openly discussed during the war, Iran’s leaders appear more convinced than ever that true deterrence requires two key pillars: nuclear weapons capability, and deeper strategic alignment with China and Russia.
As a result, Iran is expected to move rapidly to restore and advance its nuclear program, potentially moving towards actual weaponisation — a step it had long avoided, officially.
At the same time, Tehran is likely to accelerate military and economic cooperation with Beijing and Moscow to hedge against isolation. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi emphasised this close engagement with Russia during a visit to Moscow this week, particularly on nuclear matters.
Israel, meanwhile, sees deterrence as requiring constant vigilance and a credible threat of overwhelming retaliation. In the absence of diplomatic breakthroughs, Israel may adopt a policy of immediate preemptive strikes on Iranian facilities or leadership figures if it detects any new escalation — particularly related to Iran’s nuclear program.
In this context, the current ceasefire already appears fragile. Without comprehensive negotiations that address the core issues — namely, Iran’s nuclear capabilities — the pause in hostilities may prove temporary.
Mutual deterrence may prevent a more protracted war for now, but the balance remains precarious and could collapse with little warning.
Ali Mamouri does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
We all like to imagine we’re ageing well. Now a simple blood or saliva test promises to tell us by measuring our “biological age”. And then, as many have done, we can share how “young” we really are on social media, along with our secrets to success.
While chronological age is how long you have been alive, measures of biological age aim to indicate how old your body actually is, purporting to measure “wear and tear” at a molecular level.
The appeal of these tests is undeniable. Health-conscious consumers may see their results as reinforcing their anti-ageing efforts, or a way to show their journey to better health is paying off.
But how good are these tests? Do they actually offer useful insights? Or are they just clever marketing dressed up to look like science?
How do these tests work?
Over time, the chemical processes that allow our body to function, known as our “metabolic activity”, lead to damage and a decline in the activity of our cells, tissues and organs.
Biological age tests aim to capture some of these changes, offering a snapshot of how well, or how poorly, we are ageing on a cellular level.
Our DNA is also affected by the ageing process. In particular, chemical tags (methyl groups) attach to our DNA and affect gene expression. These changes occur in predictable ways with age and environmental exposures, in a process called methylation.
Research studies have used “epigenetic clocks”, which measure the methylation of our genes, to estimate biological age. By analysing methylation levels at specific sites in the genome from participant samples, researchers apply predictive models to estimate the cumulative wear and tear on the body.
What does the research say about their use?
Although the science is rapidly evolving, the evidence underpinning the use of epigenetic clocks to measure biological ageing in research studies is strong.
Studies have shown epigenetic biological age estimation is a better predictor of the risk of death and ageing-related diseases than chronological age.
Epigenetic clocks also have been found to correlate strongly with lifestyle and environmental exposures, such as smoking status and diet quality.
In addition, they have been found to be able to predict the risk of conditions such as cardiovascular disease, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes.
Taken together, a growing body of research indicates that at a population level, epigenetic clocks are robust measures of biological ageing and are strongly linked to the risk of disease and death
But how good are these tests for individuals?
While these tests are valuable when studying populations in research settings, using epigenetic clocks to measure the biological age of individuals is a different matter and requires scrutiny.
For testing at an individual level, perhaps the most important consideration is the “signal to noise ratio” (or precision) of these tests. This is the question of whether a single sample from an individual may yield widely differing results.
A study from 2022 found samples deviated by up to nine years. So an identical sample from a 40-year-old may indicate a biological age of as low as 35 years (a cause for celebration) or as high as 44 years (a cause of anxiety).
While there have been significant improvements in these tests over the years, there is considerable variability in the precision of these tests between commercial providers. So depending on who you send your sample to, your estimated biological age may vary considerably.
Another limitation is there is currently no standardisation of methods for this testing. Commercial providers perform these tests in different ways and have different algorithms for estimating biological age from the data.
As you would expect for commercial operators, providers don’t disclose their methods. So it’s difficult to compare companies and determine who provides the most accurate results – and what you’re getting for your money.
A third limitation is that while epigenetic clocks correlate well with ageing, they are simply a “proxy” and are not a diagnostic tool.
In other words, they may provide a general indication of ageing at a cellular level. But they don’t offer any specific insights about what the issue may be if someone is found to be “ageing faster” than they would like, or what they’re doing right if they are “ageing well”.
So regardless of the result of your test, all you’re likely to get from the commercial provider of an epigenetic test is generic advice about what the science says is healthy behaviour.
Are they worth it? Or what should I do instead?
While companies offering these tests may have good intentions, remember their ultimate goal is to sell you these tests and make a profit. And at a cost of around A$500, they’re not cheap.
While the idea of using these tests as a personalised health tool has potential, it is clear that we are not there yet.
For this to become a reality, tests will need to become more reproducible, standardised across providers, and validated through long-term studies that link changes in biological age to specific behaviours.
So while one-off tests of biological age make for impressive social media posts, for most people they represent a significant cost and offer limited real value.
The good news is we already know what we need to do to increase our chances of living longer and healthier lives. These include:
We don’t need to know our biological age in order to implement changes in our lives right now to improve our health.
Hassan Vally does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
In our guides to the classics, experts explain key literary works.
Ibn Battuta, was born in Tangier, Morocco, on February 24, 1304. From a statement in his celebrated travel book the Rihla (“legal affairs are my ancestral profession,”) he evidently came from an intellectually distinguished family.
According to the Rihla (travelogue), Ibn Battuta embarked on his travels from Tangier at the age of 22 with the intention of performing the Hajj (the sacred pilgrimage to Mecca) in 1325. Although he returned to Fez (his adopted home-town) around the end of 1349, he continued to visit various regions, including Granada and Sudan, in subsequent years.
Over the course of his almost 30 years of travel, Ibn Battuta covered an astonishing distance of approximately 73,000 miles (117,000 kilometres), visiting a region that today encompasses more than 50 countries. His journeys covered much of the medieval Islamic world and beyond, excluding Northern Europe.
In 1355, he returned to Morocco for the last time and remained there for the rest of his life. Upon his return he dictated his experiences, observations and anecdotes to the Andalusian scholar Ibn Juzayy, with a compilation of his travels completed in 1355 or 1356.
The work, formally titled A Gift to Researchers on the Curiosities of Cities and the Marvels of Journeys, is more commonly referred to as Rihlat Ibn Battuta or simply Rihla.
A painting of Ibn Battuta (on right) in Egypt by Leon Benett. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY
More than a travelogue or geographical record, this book provides rich insights into 14th-century social and political life, capturing cultural diversity across nations. Ibn Battuta details local lifestyles, linguistic traits, beliefs, clothing, cuisines, holidays, artistic traditions and gender relations, as well as commercial activities and currencies.
His observations also include geographical features such as mountains, rivers and agricultural products. Notably, the work highlights his encounters with over 60 sultans and more than 2,000 prominent figures, making it a valuable historical resource.
The travels
His travels began after a dream. According to Ibn Battuta, one night, while in Fuwwa, a town near Alexandria in Egypt, he dreamed of flying on a massive bird across various lands, landing in a dark, greenish country.
To test the local sheikh’s mystical knowledge, he decided if the sheikh knew of his dream, he was truly extraordinary. The next morning, after leading the dawn prayer, he saw the sheikh bid farewell to visitors. Later, the sheikh astonishingly revealed knowledge of Ibn Battuta’s dream and prophesied his pilgrimage through Yemen, Iraq, Turkey and India.
At the time, the Middle East was under the rule of the Mamluk sultanate, Anatolia was divided among principalities and the Mongol Ilkhanate state controlled Iran, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.
Ibn Battuta initially travelled through North Africa, Egypt, Palestine and Syria, completing his first Hajj in 1326.
He then visited Iraq and Iran, returning to Mecca. In 1328, he explored East Africa, reaching Mogadishu, Mombasa, Sudan and Kilwa (modern Tanzania), as well as Yemen, Oman and Anatolia, where he documented cities like Alanya, Konya, Erzurum, Nicaea and Bursa.
His descriptions are vivid. Describing the city of Dimyat, on the bank of the Nile, he says:
Many of the houses have steps leading down to the Nile. Banana trees are especially abundant there, and their fruit is carried to Cairo in boats. Its sheep and goats are allowed to pasture at liberty day and night, and for this reason the saying goes of Dimyat, ‘Its wall is a sweetmeat and its dogs are sheep’. No one who enters the city may afterwards leave it except by the governor’s seal […]
Farmland on the banks of the Nile river today. Alice-D/shutterstock
When it comes to Anatolia (in modern-day Turkey), he declares:
This country, known as the Land of Rum, is the most beautiful in the world. While Allah Almighty has distributed beauty to other lands separately, He has gathered them all here. The most beautiful and well-dressed people live in this land, and the most delicious food is prepared here […] From the moment we arrived, our neighbors — both men and women — showed great concern for our wellbeing. Here, women do not shy away from men; when we departed, they bid us farewell as if we were family, expressing their sadness through tears.
A judge and husband
In 1332, Ibn Battutua met the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY
Since Ibn Battuta dictated his work, it’s difficult to assess the extent of the scribe’s influence in recording his narratives. Despite being an educated man, he occasionally narrates like a commoner and sometimes exceeds the bounds of polite language. At times, he provides excessive detail, giving the impression he may be quoting from sources beyond his own observations.
Nevertheless, the Rihla stands out for its engaging style and captivating anecdotes, drawing readers in.
Ibn Battuta later journeyed through Crimea, Central Asia, Khwarezm (a large oasis region in the territories of present-day Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), Bukhara (a city in Uzbekistan), and the Hindu Kush Mountains. In 1332, he met Byzantine Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos and travelled to Istanbul with the caravan of Uzbek Khan’s third wife. He mentions a caravan that even has a market:
Whenever the caravan halted, food was cooked in great brass cauldrons, called dasts, and supplied from them to the poorer pilgrims and those who had no provisions. […] This caravan contained also animated bazaars and great supplies of luxuries and all kinds of food and fruit. They used to march during the night and light torches in front of the file of camels and litters, so that you saw the countryside gleaming with light and the darkness turned into radiant day.
Ibn Battuta arrived in Delhi in 1333, where he served as a judge under Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq for seven years. He married or was married to local women in many of the places he stayed. Among his wives were ordinary people as well as the daughters of the administrative class.
Miniature painting in Mughal style depicting the court of Muhammad bin Tughluq. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY
The Sultan’s generosity, intelligence and unconventional ruling style both impressed and surprised Ibn Battuta. However, Muhammad bin Tughluq was known for making excessively harsh and abrupt decisions at times, which led Ibn Battuta to approach him with caution. Nevertheless, with the Sultan’s support, he remained in India for a long time and was eventually chosen as an ambassador to China in 1341.
In 1345 his mission was disrupted when his ship capsized off the coast of Calcutta (then known as Sadqawan) in the Indian Ocean. Though he survived, he lost most of his possessions.
After the incident, he remained in India for a while before continuing his journey by other means. During this period, he travelled through India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. He served as a judge in the latter for one and a half years. In 1345, he journeyed to China via Bengal, Burma and Sumatra, reaching the city of Guangzhou but limiting his exploration to the southern coast.
He was among the first Arab travellers to record Islam’s spread in the Malay Archipelago, noting interactions between Muslims and Hindu-Buddhist communities. Visiting Java and Sumatra, he praised Sultan Malik al-Zahir of Sumatra as a generous, pious and scholarly ruler and highlighted his rare practice of walking to Friday prayers.
On his return, Ibn Battuta explored regions such as Iran, Iraq, North Africa, Spain and the Kingdom of Mali, documenting the vast Islamic world.
Back in his homeland, Ibn Battuta served as a judge in several locations. He died around 1368-9 while serving as a judge in Morocco and was buried in his birthplace, Tangier.
Historic copy of selected parts of the Travel Report by Ibn Battuta, 1836 CE, Cairo. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY
The status of women
Ibn Battuta’s travels revealed intriguing insights into the status of women across regions. In inner West Africa, he observed matriarchal practices where lineage and inheritance were determined by the mother’s family.
Among Turks, women rode horses like raiders, traded actively and did not veil their faces.
In the Maldives, husbands leaving the region had to abandon their wives. He noted that Muslim women there, including the ruling woman, did not cover their heads. Despite attempting to enforce the hijab as a judge, he failed.
He offers fascinating insights into food cultures. In Siberia, sled dogs were fed before humans. He described 15-day wedding feasts in India.
He tried local produce such as mango in the Indian subcontinent, which he compared to an apple, and sun-dried, sliced fish in Oman.
Religious practices
Ibn Battuta’s accounts of the Hajj (pilgrimage) rituals he performed six times provide a unique perspective. He references a fatwa by Ibn Taymiyyah, prominent Islamic scholar and theologian known for his opposition to theological innovations and critiques of Sufism and philosophy, advising against shortening prayers for those travelling to Medina.
Ibn Battuta’s accounts, particularly regarding the Iranian region, offer important perspectives into religious sects during a period when Iran started shifting from Sunnism to Shiism. He describes societies with diverse demographics, including Persians, Azeris, Kurds, Arabs and Baluchis. His observations on religious practices are especially significant.
Inclined toward Sufism, Ibn Battuta often dressed like a dervish during his travels. He offers a compelling view of Islamic mysticism. He considered regions like Damascus as places of abundance and Anatolia as a land of compassion, interpreting them with a spiritual perspective.
His accounts of Sufi education, dervish lodges, zawiyas (similar to monasteries), and tombs, along with the special invocations of Sufi masters, are important historical records. He also observed and documented unique practices, such as the followers of the Persian Sufi saint Sheikh Qutb al-Din Haydar wearing iron rings on their hands, necks, ears, and even private parts to avoid sexual intercourse.
While Ibn Battuta primarily visited Muslim lands, he also travelled to non-Muslim territories, offering key understandings into different religious cultures, for instance interactions between Crimean Muslims and Christian Armenians in the Golden Horde region.
He also documented churches, icons and monasteries, such as the tomb of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem. His observation of Muslims openly reciting the call to prayer (adhan) in China is significant.
Other anecdotes include the division of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus into a mosque and Christian church. Most importantly, his encounters with Hindus and Buddhists in the Indian subcontinent and Malay Islands provide rich historical context.
His accounts of death rituals reveal diverse practices. In Sinop (a city in Turkey), 40 days of mourning were declared for a ruler’s mother, while in Iran, a funeral resembled a wedding celebration. He observed similarities in cremation practices between India and China and described a chilling custom in some regions where slaves and concubines were buried alive with the deceased.
Ibn Battuta’s Rihla, widely translated into Eastern and Western languages, has drawn some criticism for containing depictions that sometimes diverge from historical continuity or borrow from other works. Ibn Battuta himself admitted to using earlier travel books as references.
Despite limited recognition in older sources, the Rihla gained prominence in the West in the 19th century. His legacy remains vibrant today. Morocco declared 1996–1997 the “Year of Ibn Battuta,” and established a museum in Tangier to honour him. In Dubai, a mall is named after him.
Notably, Ibn Battuta travelled to more destinations than Marco Polo and shared a broader range of humane anecdotes, showcasing the depth and diversity of his experiences.
Ismail Albayrak does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
It’s almost a decade since San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started a worldwide trend and sparked fierce debate when he knelt during the US national anthem.
In 2016, Kaepernick refused to follow the pre-game protocol related to the national anthem and knelt instead, saying:
I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour.
Soon, many athletes and teams began “taking a knee” at sports events to express their solidarity with victims of racial injustice.
Following the intense public debate over the appropriateness of Kaepernick’s act, the ritual quickly spread worldwide, with athletes in major soccer leagues, cricket, rugby, Formula 1, top-tier tennis and the US’s Major League Baseball and National Basketball Association taking a knee.
Athletes didn’t always kneel during national anthems, with the majority kneeling at certain points pre-game.
Despite the occasional “defection” of a small number of players who would stand while their teammates knelt – such as Israel Folau in rugby league, Wilfried Zaha in soccer and Quinton de Kock in cricket – the ritual was widely embraced by teams and athletes and helped raise awareness of the issue.
Even major sports organisations notorious for prohibiting any type of political activism generally accepted the kneeling ritual. For example, soccer’s International Football Federation (FIFA) showcased kneeling as a “stand against discrimination” and as human rights advocacy.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) initially stood firm by its Rule 50, which states “no kind of demonstration or political, religious, or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas”.
But just three weeks before the 2021 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, the IOC relaxed its interpretation, and athletes were permitted to express their views in ways that included taking a knee.
A surprising turn of events
Despite permission and even encouragement from sports governing bodies, our research shows the practice is disappearing from major sports competitions.
Take soccer, for example. At the FIFA World Cup 2022, England and Wales were the only national teams that knelt at their games in Qatar.
At the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand, no teams or players knelt.
The same happened at the 2024 Olympic soccer tournament in Paris.
That only a handful of teams knelt in Tokyo at the 2021 Olympics, two at the FIFA Mens’ World Cup in Qatar in 2022, none at the FIFA Womens’ World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2023, and again none at the Paris 2024 Olympics indicates a growing reluctance throughout the sports world.
This surely cannot mean athletes have become indifferent to racial injustice or other forms of oppression in the interval between the late 2010s and the mid-2020s.
The explanation must be sought elsewhere. A hint was provided when Crystal Palace soccer player Zaha, the first player of colour in the UK who refused to kneel, explained:
I feel like taking the knee is degrading, because growing up my parents just let me know that I should be proud to be Black no matter what and I feel like we should just stand tall.
The explanation may therefore be, at least in part, the players’ uncomfortable feelings related to the kneeling posture.
In sociology, this bothersome state of mind is called “cognitive dissonance”: the mental conflict a person experiences in the presence of contrasting beliefs.
A history of kneeling
The body posture of kneeling is not deemed, in any culture, as expressing solidarity.
Ancient Greek and the Roman societies, on whose values Western civilisation was built, rejected kneeling as improper, even when praying to gods.
When performed outside the church, kneeling meant submission to nobility or royalty.
The significance of kneeling as humility is not limited to the Western world.
In African tribal culture, the young kneel in front of elders, and everyone kneels before the king.
In China in 1949, Chairman Mao famously proclaimed at the first plenary of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference:
From now on our nation […] will no longer be a nation subject to insult and humiliation. We have stood up.
With this in mind, kneeling may be deemed unfit at sporting events, which often feature a powerful cocktail of emotions, values and social expectations.
The inconsistency between the excitement of competition and the expectation to kneel — a gesture associated with submission and humility — likely creates a bothersome state of mind for athletes.
This potentially motivates some players to reject one of the two – in this case, the kneeling – to restore cognitive harmony.
What could replace the kneeling ritual?
After refusing, by unanimous players’ vote, to take a knee before their October 2020 game against the All Blacks, the Australian rugby union team chose instead to wear a First Nations jersey.
The same year, several teams in German soccer’s top league chose to show their support for Black Lives Matter by wearing distinctive armbands.
So it appears wearing a distinctive jersey or at least an armband is more easily accepted by modern-day athletes. This may be challenging given the governing bodies of many sports, such as FIFA, ban athletes from wearing political symbols on their clothing.
Depending on whether sports code accept this type of activism in the future, wearing suportive clothing could replace taking a knee as symbolic communication of solidarity with oppressed minorities.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Bats are often cast as the unseen night-time stewards of nature, flitting through the dark to control pest insects, pollinate plants and disperse seeds. But behind their silent contributions lies a remarkable and underappreciated survival strategy: seasonal fattening.
Much like bears and squirrels, bats around the world bulk up to get through hard times – even in places where you might not expect it.
In a paper published today in Ecology Letters, we analysed data from bat studies around the world to understand how bats use body fat to survive seasonal challenges, whether it’s a freezing winter or a dry spell.
The surprising conclusion? Seasonal fattening is a global phenomenon in bats, not just limited to those in cold climates.
Even bats in the tropics, where it’s warm all year, store fat in anticipation of dry seasons when food becomes scarce. That’s a survival strategy that’s been largely overlooked. But it may be faltering as the climate changes, putting entire food webs at risk.
Climate shapes fattening strategies
We found bats in colder regions predictably gain more weight before winter.
But in warmer regions with highly seasonal rainfall, such as tropical savannas or monsoonal forests, bats also fatten up. In tropical areas, it’s not cold that’s the enemy, but the dry season, when flowers wither, insects vanish and energy is hard to come by.
The extent of fattening is impressive. Some species increased their body weight by more than 50%, which is a huge burden for flying animals that already use a lot of energy to move around. This highlights the delicate balancing act bats perform between storing energy and staying nimble in the air.
In colder climates, female bats used their fat reserves more sparingly than males – a likely adaptation to ensure they have enough energy left to raise young when spring returns. Since females typically emerge from hibernation to raise their young, conserving fat through winter can directly benefit their reproductive success.
Interestingly, this sex-based difference vanished in warmer climates, where fat use by males and females was more similar, likely because more food is available in warmer climates. It’s another clue that climate patterns intricately shape behaviour and physiology.
Climate change is shifting the rules
Beyond the biology, our study points to a more sobering trend. Bats in warm regions appear to be increasing their fat stores over time. This could be an early warning sign of how climate change is affecting their survival.
Climate change isn’t just about rising temperatures. It’s also making seasons more unpredictable.
Bats may be storing more energy in advance of dry seasons that are becoming longer or harder to predict. That’s risky, because it means more foraging, more exposure to predators and potentially greater mortality.
The implications can ripple outward. Bats help regulate insect populations, fertilise crops and maintain healthy ecosystems. If their survival strategies falter, entire food webs could feel the effects.
Fat bats, fragile futures
Our study changes how we think about bats. They are not just passive victims of environmental change but active strategists, finely tuned to seasonal rhythms. Yet their ability to adapt has limits, and those limits are being tested by a rapidly changing world.
By understanding how bats respond to climate, we gain insights into broader ecosystem resilience. We also gain a deeper appreciation for one of nature’s quiet heroes – fattening up, flying through the night and holding ecosystems together, one wingbeat at a time.
Nicholas Wu was the lead author of a funded Australian Research Council Linkage Grant awarded to Christopher Turbill at Western Sydney University.
We know surprisingly little about the lives of children in ancient Egypt.
And what records we do have about them often concern the lives of the elite – the young king or the children of senior officials. They are more prominent in surviving material evidence, especially funerary art. Infant mortality rates were high in ancient Egypt.
As a result, much of the work in Egyptology on representations of childhood in ancient Egypt is dominated by evidence for the lives of boys and young adult men.
But what were the lives of ordinary girls like in ancient Egypt? And how did they make their way in a deeply patriarchal culture?
Finding hieroglyphic words for girls
An initial problem in studying girls’ lives in ancient Egypt is answering the question: who was a girl in ancient Egypt?
Chronological age was not always recorded by ancient Egyptians in their letters or inscriptions.
Instead, more general words and hieroglyphic signs tended to accompany images of men, women and children to indicate their social roles.
These words and signs were only loosely associated with biological development.
Hieroglyphic words for infants and small children, for instance, could be marked with an image of a small, seated child – sometimes with a finger held to its mouth.
Among the words used to describe young girls – talking, walking, and participating alongside adults in their work – was sheriyt.
This is the word often found in ancient accounting documents recording payments of wages, indicating a girl-child worker. They are distinguished from older women in these documents, although it is difficult to know precisely how young they might have been.
In this way, written administrative records and archaeological evidence reveals girls of many social classes were integrated into economic production from an early age.
Payment for work
Elephantine, a town at Egypt’s southern frontier near modern-day Aswan, provides a unique window into the urban life of some girls who worked in textile workshops during the ancient Egyptian Middle Kingdom, which dates approximately 2030–1650 BCE.
First published in 1996, archaeologists found a ceramic bowl repurposed as a writing surface in a house in the densely packed urban settlement.
The excavators initially dated the bowl to the reign of King Amenemhat III, who ruled almost 3,800 years ago. However, based on the style of writing and the types of names listed, some scholars have also dated it earlier. It contains lists of payments of provisions of grain for textile workers over the course of a month.
What makes this document so important is that it names at least 18 child workers. Of these, 11 are girls, clearly marked with the Egyptian word sheriyt, working alongside 28 adult women.
The list shows adult women in this workshop received between 50–57 heqat (around 240–274 litres) of grain – although it’s not entirely clear if this was a one-off payment, a payment per month, or something else. The girls earned smaller but still significant wages of 3–7 heqat (around 14–34 litres).
Some other adult women seem to have also received comparable provisions to the girls, although without further information it is difficult know their social status or age.
This document not only confirms that girls received payment for their labour. It also suggests a structured apprenticeship system where young girls (and boys) worked alongside experienced craftswomen.
Archaeological evidence suggests textile production occurred both within homes and in dedicated workshops.
Evidence from the excavations at Elephantine suggests homes had several rooms with multiple purposes, including courtyards, entrance vestibules, kitchens with ovens (recognisable by blackened walls and ash deposits), and possible stairs leading to roof spaces.
Privacy would have been limited. Daily life would have included close interaction with animals, as evidenced by attached animal pens.
More recently, close to the house where the provision list was discovered, archaeologists found needles, spindles, shuttles, and remains of pegs for a large loom.
These were found both inside houses and in the courtyards attached to them.
It’s hard to know what exactly these buildings were for; they probably served multiple purposes.
Lives shaped by class and legal status
Not all girls at Elephantine had the same experience of life. The town’s position at Egypt’s southern frontier in this period meant it was home to diverse populations, which included migrants, enslaved people and transitory workers.
A letter dating to the reign of King Amenemhat III documents some families, including women and children, arriving at Elephantine seeking work during a famine in their home region.
This evidence can be compared to a legal document from the same time period but from another Egyptian town, El Lahun. This document mentions the purchase and transfer of enslaved women and infants who are called Aamut, referring to a region in West Asia. The document shows they have been given new Egyptian names.
These documents remind us factors such as class and legal status have always profoundly shaped girls’ lives.
Valuing the work of girls
Accessing the everyday thoughts, feelings, and perspectives of many ancient people, especially children, is challenging for historians. We don’t, for instance, have a wealth of personal diaries from ancient Egypt to learn about girls’ interior lives.
But what’s clear is that girls were not merely passive participants in society. They were active economic contributors, who often received formal compensation for their work.
Historians must always look beyond elite contexts to incorporate diverse evidence types – administrative documents, archaeological remains, and artistic representations – to construct a more complete picture of ancient lives.
Julia Hamilton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Vitomir Kovanovic, Associate Professor and Associate Director of the Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning (C3L), Education Futures, University of South Australia
Since ChatGPT appeared almost three years ago, the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies on learning has been widely debated. Are they handy tools for personalised education, or gateways to academic dishonesty?
Most importantly, there has been concern that using AI will lead to a widespread “dumbing down”, or decline in the ability to think critically. If students use AI tools too early, the argument goes, they may not develop basic skills for critical thinking and problem-solving.
Is that really the case? According to a recent study by scientists from MIT, it appears so. Using ChatGPT to help write essays, the researchers say, can lead to “cognitive debt” and a “likely decrease in learning skills”.
So what did the study find?
The difference between using AI and the brain alone
Over the course of four months, the MIT team asked 54 adults to write a series of three essays using either AI (ChatGPT), a search engine, or their own brains (“brain-only” group). The team measured cognitive engagement by examining electrical activity in the brain and through linguistic analysis of the essays.
The cognitive engagement of those who used AI was significantly lower than the other two groups. This group also had a harder time recalling quotes from their essays and felt a lower sense of ownership over them.
Interestingly, participants switched roles for a final, fourth essay (the brain-only group used AI and vice versa). The AI-to-brain group performed worse and had engagement that was only slightly better than the other group’s during their first session, far below the engagement of the brain-only group in their third session.
The authors claim this demonstrates how prolonged use of AI led to participants accumulating “cognitive debt”. When they finally had the opportunity to use their brains, they were unable to replicate the engagement or perform as well as the other two groups.
Cautiously, the authors note that only 18 participants (six per condition) completed the fourth, final session. Therefore, the findings are preliminary and require further testing.
Does this really show AI makes us stupider?
These results do not necessarily mean that students who used AI accumulated “cognitive debt”. In our view, the findings are due to the particular design of the study.
The change in neural connectivity of the brain-only group over the first three sessions was likely the result of becoming more familiar with the study task, a phenomenon known as the familiarisation effect. As study participants repeat the task, they become more familiar and efficient, and their cognitive strategy adapts accordingly.
When the AI group finally got to “use their brains”, they were only doing the task once. As a result, they were unable to match the other group’s experience. They achieved only slightly better engagement than the brain-only group during the first session.
To fully justify the researchers’ claims, the AI-to-brain participants would also need to complete three writing sessions without AI.
Similarly, the fact the brain-to-AI group used ChatGPT more productively and strategically is likely due to the nature of the fourth writing task, which required writing an essay on one of the previous three topics.
As writing without AI required more substantial engagement, they had a far better recall of what they had written in the past. Hence, they primarily used AI to search for new information and refine what they had previously written.
What are the implications of AI in assessment?
To understand the current situation with AI, we can look back to what happened when calculators first became available.
Back in the 1970s, their impact was regulated by making exams much harder. Instead of doing calculations by hand, students were expected to use calculators and spend their cognitive efforts on more complex tasks.
Effectively, the bar was significantly raised, which made students work equally hard (if not harder) than before calculators were available.
The challenge with AI is that, for the most part, educators have not raised the bar in a way that makes AI a necessary part of the process. Educators still require students to complete the same tasks and expect the same standard of work as they did five years ago.
In such situations, AI can indeed be detrimental. Students can for the most part offload critical engagement with learning to AI, which results in “metacognitive laziness”.
However, just like calculators, AI can and should help us accomplish tasks that were previously impossible – and still require significant engagement. For example, we might ask teaching students to use AI to produce a detailed lesson plan, which will then be evaluated for quality and pedagogical soundness in an oral examination.
In the MIT study, participants who used AI were producing the “same old” essays. They adjusted their engagement to deliver the standard of work expected of them.
The same would happen if students were asked to perform complex calculations with or without a calculator. The group doing calculations by hand would sweat, while those with calculators would barely blink an eye.
Learning how to use AI
Current and future generations need to be able to think critically and creatively and solve problems. However, AI is changing what these things mean.
Producing essays with pen and paper is no longer a demonstration of critical thinking ability, just as doing long division is no longer a demonstration of numeracy.
Knowing when, where and how to use AI is the key to long-term success and skill development. Prioritising which tasks can be offloaded to an AI to reduce cognitive debt is just as important as understanding which tasks require genuine creativity and critical thinking.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
But the situation is perhaps not as rosy for the animal itself. Domesticated animals often live longer than their free-living counterparts, but the quality of those lives can be compromised. Pets can be fed processed foods that can lead to obesity. Many are denied a sexual life and experience of parenthood. Exercise can be limited, isolation is common and boredom must be endured.
Is this the best life for the species we feel closest to? This question was raised for me when I heard the story of Valerie, the dachshund recaptured in April this year after almost 18 months living on her own on South Australia’s Karta Pintingga/Kangaroo Island.
Is being a pet the best life for the species we feel closest to? Oleksandr Rupeta/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Valerie: the story that captivated a nation
Valerie, a miniature dachshund, escaped into the bush during a camping trip on Kangaroo Island in November 2023. After several days of searching, her bereft humans returned to their home in New South Wales. They assumed the tiny dog, who had lived her life as a “little princess”, was gone forever.
Fast-forward a year, and sightings were reported on the island of a small dog wearing a pink collar. Word spread and volunteers renewed the search. A wildlife rescue group designed a purpose-built trap, fitting it out with items from Valerie’s former home.
After several weeks, a remotely controlled gate clattered shut behind Valerie and she was caught.
Cue great celebrations. The searchers were triumphant and the family was delighted. Social media lit up. It was a canine reenactment of one of settler Australia’s enduring narratives: the lost child rescued from the hostile bush.
A dog’s-eye view
But imagine if Valerie’s story was told from a more dog-centred perspective. Valerie found herself alone in a strange place and took the opportunity to run away. She embarked on a new life in which she was responsible for herself and could exercise the intelligence inherited from her boar-hunting ancestors.
No longer required to be a good girl, Valerie applied her own judgement – that notorious dachshund “stubbornness” – to evade predators, fill her stomach and pass her days.
Some commentators assumed Valerie must have been fed by anonymous benefactors – reflecting a widely held view that pets have limited abilities.
Veterinary experts, however, said her diet likely consisted of small birds, mammals and reptiles she killed herself – as well as roadkill, other carrion and faeces.
Valerie was clearly good at life on the lam. Unlike the human competitors in the series Alone Australia, she did not waste away when left in an island wilderness. Instead, she gained 1.8 kg of muscle – and was so stocky she no longer fit the old harness her humans brought to collect her. She had literally outgrown her former bonds.
Valerie could have sought shelter with the island’s humans at any time, but chose not to. She had to be actively trapped. Once returned to her humans, she needed time to reacclimatise to life as a pet.
Not all missing pets thrive in the wild. But all this raises the question of whether Valerie’s rescue would be better understood as a forced return from a full life of freedom, to a diminished existence in captivity?
A long history of pets thriving in the wild
Other examples exist which suggest an animal’s best life can take place outside the constraints of being a pet.
Exotic parrots have fled lives in cages to form urban flocks. In the United States, 25 species initially imported as pets have set up self-sustaining, free-living populations across 23 states.
Or take the red-eared slider turtle, which is native to parts of the US and Mexico. It’s illegal to keep the turtles as pets in Australia, but some of those smuggled in have later been released into urban wetlands where they have established large and widespread populations.
Cats are perhaps the most notorious example of escaped pets thriving on their own in Australia. They numbers in the millions, in habitats from cities to the Simpson Desert to the Snowy Mountains, showing how little they need human assistance.
One mark of their success is their prodigious size. At up to 7kg, free-living cats can be more than twice the weight of the average domestic cat.
Of course, I am not advocating that pets be released to the wild, creating new problems. But I do believe current pet-keeping practices are due for reconsideration.
A dramatic solution would be to take the animal out of the pet relationship. Social robots that look like seals and teddy bears are already available to welcome you home, mirror your emotions and offer up cuddles without the cost to other animals.
A less radical option is to rethink the idea of animals as “pets” and instead see them as equals.
Some people already enjoy these unforced bonds. Magpies, for example, are known to have strong allegiances with each other and are sometimes willing to extend those connections to humans in multi-species friendships.
As for Valerie, she did make “her little happy sounds” when reunited with her humans. But she might look back with nostalgia to her 529 days of freedom on Kangaroo Island.
Nancy Cushing receives funding from the State Library of New South Wales as the Coral Thomas Fellow. She is a member of the executive committee of the Australian Historical Association.
