Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –
The owner of a furniture shopping center located in the North-West Administrative District of Moscow has sent humanitarian parcels to the special military operation (SVO) zone more than once. Together with his employees, he managed to collect comprehensive aid — from instant drinks to blankets.
“My friends communicate directly with the special operation fighters, and through them I learned what is needed at the front now. My friends gave me a list, and my colleagues and I bought everything our guys asked for directly from it,” Oleg shared.
The valuable cargo was divided into clothing and food. The first included seasonal clothing, including regular and thermal underwear, as well as footwear, sleeping bags, comfortable pillows and warm blankets. All of these items are in great demand on the front lines.
The entrepreneur also sent long-life food products and a large number of packages of tea and coffee. Food products for the military must have a long shelf life and be in sufficiently strong packaging to be guaranteed to withstand transportation in difficult conditions. Then the soldiers will receive everything safe and sound.
The entrepreneur noted that he will help our heroes as long as it is necessary. You need to ask your friends what exactly to buy – this way the soldier will get warm comfortable boots that will serve him for a long time.
Since the first days of the SVO, owners of Moscow stores, shopping centers, car dealerships and other service establishments, as well as Moscow restaurateurs, have regularly sent humanitarian aid to the combat zone. The parcels contain products that have a long shelf life: canned meat, fish and vegetables, tons of different cereals – from rice and buckwheat to pearl barley, pasta and sweets: cookies, candies, chocolate and much more. Entrepreneurs donate personal hygiene products and seasonal clothing, among which you can find jackets, boots and thermal underwear, as well as essential medicines, building materials and even military equipment, including quadcopters and entire columns of cars.
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Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –
Last academic year, over 108 thousand schoolchildren took part in the project “School Day at the Museum”. Young Muscovites attended over 4.2 thousand educational classes. This was reported by the press service of the capital’s Department of Education and Science.
“The “School Day at the Museum” project allows students in grades 1-11 to attend educational lessons at cultural institutions, where they study school subjects and complete various assignments. This format helps to better absorb the material and practice research skills. The project unites more than 40 different sites in city, federal, departmental and private museums. Among the most popular in the past academic year were the Cosmonautics Museum, the Moscow Zoo, the Tsaritsyno Museum-Reserve, the State Sports Museum and the State Museum of the Defense of Moscow,” the department’s press service reported.
More than 250 interactive lessons in all subjects have been developed for students in grades 1–11. More than 110 of them can be used online. For example, in a math lesson at the Cosmonautics Museum, fourth-graders learn how Yuri Gagarin landed, down to the mileage and time. They determine at what altitude and for how long the cosmonauts can find themselves in zero gravity on board the laboratory aircraft. Young researchers also analyze infographics from the Soyuz-Apollo program to build a chronology of the crews’ flights. And in a chemistry lesson at the State Sports Museum, eighth-ninth-graders study the properties of metals and alloys from which sports awards from different years are made.
Each school day has three to five lessons taught by school subject teachers. They use materials developed by museum staff and specialists from the Institute for the Development of Specialized Education at the Moscow City Pedagogical University.
Elizaveta Illarionova, a sixth-grader at School No. 2087 Otkrytie, said that this year she attended study days at the Timiryazev State Biological Museum and the Cosmonautics Museum. She liked the biological museum the most because she loves biology and wants to become an anesthesiologist in the future. Elizaveta noted that there was a large exposition with plants and animals, and they also carried out interesting tasks. The children compared the characteristics of various fungi and bacteria, looked for answers to questions in the halls, redrew tree bark and found out what it was needed for. According to the schoolgirl, it was as dark as space in the Cosmonautics Museum. She remembered the models of asteroids and rockets, as well as the story of the launch of the first artificial satellite and animal flights.
New sites regularly join the project. This year, its participants included the Borodino Battle Panorama Museum, the State Archives of the Russian Federation, the Alfred Mirek Museum of Russian Accordion, and the Radio and Television Museum of the Interactive Polytechnic Museum Dedushkin Attic.
“The “School Day at the Museum” project allows schoolchildren to leave the formal environment for an informal one, learn to work in a team and expand their horizons with the help of the educational opportunities of Moscow museums. Every year, new sites join the project, which are able to give children an interesting experience in studying school subjects. This format allows for the best use of the museum exposition opportunities to achieve subject results, familiarize themselves with the rich history and culture of our country, and effectively use the socio-cultural space of the capital in the educational activities of schoolchildren,” the press service noted.
Any school in the city can join the project. To do this, the teacher needs to fill out an electronic application atproject websiteThe materials necessary for conducting classes are also located here.
A conscious choice of a professional trajectory, as well as providing conditions for satisfying the creative interests and abilities of schoolchildren are the key tasks of the “Professionalism” and “All the Best for Children” projects of the national project “Youth and Children”.
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Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –
The “Fast Treasury Payments” service has been launched in Moscow in the public procurement system. This is one of the important stages in the development of a technological platform for managing public finances, reported Elena Zyabbarova, Minister of the Moscow Government, head of the capital’s Department of Finance. The purpose of the service is to robotize operations in settlements under government contracts within the framework of treasury services.
The Fast Treasury Payments project was implemented as a result of combining in a single circuit data from a single automated information system for trades, a supplier portal, an automated information system for managing the budget process, a single accounting system, and a single information system in the sphere of public procurement. This made it possible to synchronize the processing of data on government contracts from the moment they are concluded until payment and to make payments automatically.
“The service has improved the quality of services for clients – contractors and suppliers – recipients of budget funds. It has made it possible to automate and speed up the execution of routine operations by employees of financial services of capital organizations and the city treasury on the formation of payment documents, their verification and approval of payment of monetary obligations of city executive authorities and institutions subordinate to them,” Elena Zyabbarova emphasized.
Every year, Moscow treasurers process over 1.7 million payment orders for concluded contracts. Their validity is checked and payment is authorized manually and can take up to one day. On average, over 44 thousand documents are returned to suppliers and contractors for revision due to improper preparation. And the labor costs associated with the execution of payment orders reach almost 200 thousand man-hours per year.
In the “Fast Treasury Payments” service, data is generated immediately upon signing a contract. During execution, the system automatically checks the compliance of its terms with electronic acts on acceptance of goods, works and services. Based on this data, the service independently creates a draft payment order. It is signed by the customer, and the documents are transferred to the Moscow City Treasury, where automatic verification and authorization of payment occurs. At the same time, data on the settlements made and information on the execution of the contract are received in the unified procurement information system.
Elena Zyabbarova added that the service had been operating in test mode for over six months. The quality check was successful, and today everything is ready for its implementation in the system of execution of state contracts. The test results showed that “Fast Treasury Payments” allow to significantly increase the efficiency of settlements due to the robotization of standard operations and reduction of the number of errors. The number of payment documents returned by the treasury for revision has noticeably decreased. The labor costs of contractors and suppliers – recipients of budget funds associated with their preparation have decreased by 75 percent. The average time of automatic verification of payment details, contract parameters and payment approval was about seven seconds. The emergence of the service will allow to conduct all operations on state contracts concluded by executive authorities and institutions under the 44th federal law and financed from the Moscow budget, in automatic mode.
The use of the project has shown that the tools underlying the service can be scaled. The Moscow Department of Finance plans to implement it in the processes of providing subsidies and grants to state and non-state organizations.
The project is an important stage in the development of the city procurement system, which involves a complete transition to digital contracts and automation of all stages of their execution. The functionality of “Fast Treasury Payments” is being implemented by the Moscow Department of Finance together with Department of Information Technology capitals and Main Control Directorate cities.
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Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –
Moscow is a leading center for the development of high-tech industry in Russia. Moscow companies demonstrate a high level of competence, creating competitive technological developments for laser marking. This was reported by the Minister of the Moscow Government, head of the capital’s Department of Investment and Industrial Policy Anatoly Garbuzov.
“The development of domestic laser products in industry is of key importance for technological independence and competitiveness. Laser technologies are actively used in mechanical engineering, microelectronics, medicine and other industries, ensuring high precision and efficiency of production processes. Today, there are more than 260 enterprises operating in the mechanical engineering sector of Moscow. The city provides them with over 20 comprehensive support tools – from preferential investment loans to assigning special statuses. Enterprises from various industries can use them. The high demand for the developments of Moscow companies proves their ability to meet the key needs of the industry,” noted Anatoly Garbuzov.
For example, the leading capital manufacturer of laser equipment, the Lassard company, which is based at the Pechatniki production site of the Technopolis Moscow special economic zone, presented a new product – an ultraviolet laser engraving machine for cold marking of sensitive materials: plastic, glass, thin metals. After the presentation of the equipment, the company received five pre-orders. The company continues to increase production. Since the beginning of the year, 21 laser engraving machines have been manufactured – this is eight units more than for the same period in 2024. This year, it is planned to expand the range by producing 3D laser engraving units and special machines for the aerospace industry. The company has been operating in the special economic zone since 2023. During this time, it has produced more than 100 units of innovative products, which are supplied to all regions of Russia.
Thanks to advanced labeling solutions, Moscow-based technological equipment company Callisto has implemented a comprehensive equipment package for a new soft drink plant. This was done using a system for directly applying Data Matrix codes to drink caps, as well as a laser machine for marking aluminum caps, which allows for marking on a separate production line before the finished product is capped. Both solutions ensure high speed and quality of marking without affecting the technological process.
“We are proud to participate in such a large-scale project. Our systems were developed by Russian engineers and ensure uninterrupted marking even at maximum load of production lines,” said the company’s CEO Pavel Bulgakov.
The introduction of advanced labeling solutions has become part of the complex technological equipment of the enterprise. The plant is highly automated: the frontal storage warehouse for finished products is robotized, and the production lines are serviced by five employees. The production complex was built from scratch exclusively using funds from Russian investors, without attracting foreign capital. The volume of investment in the construction and equipment of the plant exceeded 10 billion rubles. The capacity of the enterprise is up to 800 million units of production per year.
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Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –
International Mediation Day is celebrated on June 18. Moscow has unique specialists — mediators — who help city residents resolve conflicts and disputes. You can get their support at family centers and the Center for Mediation and Social and Legal Assistance. Thanks to the specialists, in almost 70 percent of cases it is possible to find a solution that suits both parties.
People turn to mediators when there are disagreements in a couple, difficulties in communication between children and parents. The main goal of specialists is to help reach an agreement and find a solution that takes into account the interests of everyone, to maintain or restore relationships.
Conflicts between spouses
The mediation procedure is effective in a family crisis. Spouses can contact specialists at any stage of the conflict. The mediator will help resolve the conflict, and if this is impossible, get a divorce calmly and without lengthy court proceedings. Last year, a project was launched for couples without children who filed a joint application for divorce at the My Documents government services center. Within a month after that, they can receive a mediator’s consultation: take a fresh look at the current situation, find a way out of the crisis and, possibly, save the relationship.
For example, Olga and Pavel were on the verge of a breakup. At the My Documents government services center, the couple accepted an offer to participate in the project. Mediators held several sessions with the spouses, helped identify key points on which their opinions diverge: budget planning, respect for personal boundaries, and the format of joint leisure. The parties voiced their positions and, with the support of a specialist, found a compromise.
“The mediator managed to restore communication between the young spouses and help them come to agreements that saved the marriage. After completing the work with the specialist, Olga and Pavel went on a trip to Sochi. It turned out that this was what both had wanted for a long time, but could not voice to each other due to tense relations,” said Olga Gracheva, head of the Center for Mediation and Social and Legal Assistance (branch of the Center “Assistance”) of the capital
When the union cannot be saved, the mediator helps to transfer the current relationship to the stage of completed and agree on the future. Olga Gracheva noted that this is important, especially if the spouses have children. Specialists will help to understand the family conflict, using mediation tools and will provide psychological support. The result of the negotiations will be a mediation agreement, which will reflect all the agreements.
Working with children
Family center specialists instill a culture of communication in the younger generation and teach them conflict resolution skills. In the young mediators club, teenagers aged 12 to 18, under the guidance of experienced mentors, master mediation technologies and develop personal competencies that help build effective communication in everyday life. The kids learn to listen, hear, and find compromises.
“The knowledge that the children received in the young mediators’ club is not just theory, it is an opportunity to look at conflicts from a different angle, to understand themselves and others, to get real tools and learn how to use them. We help develop awareness, teach how to manage emotions, find a common language with others and take responsibility,” said Marina Kalmykova, head of the mediation service of family centers.
For example, Daniil’s parents and grandparents were constantly arguing about his future. The schoolboy found himself a hostage to the situation. Adults insisted that he go to 10th grade and then continue his education at a law school. As summer approached, the situation in the family became tense. Daniil did not want to be a lawyer and felt guilty for his choice. At the young mediators’ club, the boy learned conflict resolution techniques that could be applied in the current situation. He talked to his relatives one by one, listened to their opinions and wishes. The boy told his relatives that he was not attracted to the legal profession and that he wanted to be an engineer. Adults accepted this choice and helped him choose a suitable educational institution. Daniil noted that the young mediators’ club taught him to communicate without conflicts, seek compromises, and talk about his needs and desires.
Mediation is a modern and effective way of resolving conflicts, allowing to find a solution that will satisfy both parties to the dispute. With the support of an independent intermediary – a mediator – the participants come to a compromise taking into account the interests of each.
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Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
SHENZHEN, June 18 (Xinhua) — Scientists from the Global Ant Genomics Alliance (GAGA) published a groundbreaking study in the international scientific journal Cell on Monday, revealing the genetic basis behind major adaptive changes in ants’ evolution and their social traits that evolved in parallel.
Despite their small size, ants demonstrate impressive organizational skills. They are able to build intricate nests without using “language” to communicate, and they have the most rigorous system of division of labor.
By analyzing whole-genome data from 163 ant species collected from around the world, the research team reconstructed the evolutionary tree of the ant family, covering 12 of the 16 extant subfamilies.
The study sheds light on the complex phylogenetic relationships between ant species and traces the common ancestor of modern ants back to the late Jurassic period – about 157 million years ago – shedding light on the origins of ant organizational structure during the age of dinosaurs.
Scientists have found that ant gene families associated with olfactory perception were significantly expanded in the common ancestor’s genome, suggesting that it already possessed key molecular mechanisms for social communication.
The study also found that different ant species exhibit different mechanisms that regulate which ants become queens and which become workers, reflecting their adaptive evolution through natural selection.
The study involved scientists from Zhejiang University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Nanchang University and BGI Research in China, as well as scientists from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and the University of Münster in Germany. -0-
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
NEW YORK, June 17 (Xinhua) — The United States has full control over Iranian airspace, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday.
“We now have complete and total control over the Iranian skies,” he said.
“Iran had good tracking and other defense equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to what was made, designed, and manufactured in America. No one does it better than the good ol’ USA,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
D. Trump left the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada late Monday, a day earlier than expected, amid an exchange of missile strikes between Israel and Iran.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said he wanted a “real end” to the conflict, not just a truce. He also told the Truth Social website that the United States knows where Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is hiding, calling him an “easy target” and calling for Iran’s “unconditional surrender.”
“I think they know not to touch our troops,” Trump said of Iran, warning that the United States would not hold back if it had to respond.
In an interview with ABC News on Sunday, the White House chief said the United States was not involved in Israel’s military strikes on Iran, but did not rule out the possibility.
Israel has called on the United States to join the conflict with Iran to dismantle its nuclear program, local media reported. –0–
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
LOS ANGELES, June 17 (Xinhua) — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Tuesday lifted a weeklong curfew in part of the center of the second-largest U.S. city.
“The curfew, coupled with ongoing crime prevention efforts, has gone a long way to protecting stores, restaurants, businesses and neighborhoods from attackers who have no regard for the immigrant community,” Bass said in a statement.
“I am lifting the curfew effective today, and as we continue to quickly adapt to the chaos emanating from Washington, I will be prepared to reimpose the curfew if needed,” the mayor said, adding that “the priority will remain ensuring safety, stability, and support in downtown areas.”
On Monday afternoon, Bass announced that the curfew would be shortened by two hours because crime prevention efforts had been largely successful. The change followed an earlier order issued on June 10 that set the curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time. –0–
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 18 (Xinhua) — The Industrial Safety Commission of the State Council has decided to take charge of the investigation into the explosion at a fireworks factory in central China’s Hunan Province, the Ministry of Emergency Management told Xinhua.
The blast occurred at 8:23 a.m. Monday in Linli County, killing nine people and injuring 26 others.
The Committee ordered that an investigation into the explosion be promptly organized and conducted, that the causes of the explosion be determined as soon as possible, and that those responsible be held accountable in accordance with the law and regulations.
On Tuesday, China’s Ministry of Emergency Management said a task force had been dispatched to Hunan Province to lead rescue efforts at the scene. The ministry called on local authorities to quickly verify information about the victims and make every effort to prevent such tragedies from happening again. -0-
It’s my pleasure to be here today amongst some of the strongest guardians of our native biodiversity in the country. Wouldn’t we rather have more carrot than stick if we work for nature on our land? That’s what my announcement about expanding a voluntary nature credits market in New Zealand was about last week at Fieldays. We are backing the expansion of a market that will be durable, measurable and transparent. An enduring legacy of commitment to the land. The market will hopefully help you and other landowners and conservation groups unlock new income streams for looking after nature on your land. Now I say ‘hopefully’ because I haven’t yet fully transitioned into being a politician. I’m still a pragmatist. I still prefer to under promise and over deliver, and 28 years of farming makes me a firm believer in Murphy’s Law. But the only way to find out if this will work is to give it a crack, do some trials, see what works and doesn’t, and then take the lessons on board and move forward. So, assuming Murphy gives us a break, how do I envision these nature credit markets could work? Nature and carbon credit markets connect investors looking for reputable nature and climate opportunities with landowners, farmers and community groups who are actively restoring and repairing nature by adding biodiversity value to their land. At a high-level nature and carbon projects are developed, according to established evidence-based standards, to produce voluntary credits that can be issued for sale on a marketplace for purchasers to buy. Purchasers can then either use the credits, claiming support for the project and retiring the credits, or they can hold onto the credits (without claim) for resale or use down the track.
I’m often asked who would buy these credits? International and domestic investors—including corporates, banks, and philanthropists—are seeking high-quality nature and carbon credits that meet global standards. They are looking for reputable nature and climate action projects undertaken by landowners, farmers, and community groups. This allows investors to demonstrate their environmental commitment to their customers. In 2024 New Zealand investors spent over $20 million on voluntary nature and carbon credits; mostly on offshore projects due to the lack of suitable New Zealand projects. But with the right framework, we can keep more of that investment at home and restore and protect New Zealand’s unique native species. I’m told there’s interest from international investors in New Zealand credits with overseas companies and international investment funds purchasing them.
Expanding the nature credit market is both important to investors and New Zealand’s reputation. We all know how heavily New Zealand’s economy is dependent on the natural environment to support our exports and economy. Our exports rely on our ‘clean green’ environmental image. 80% of our exports ( $59.6 billion) go to markets where environmental, social, and governance reporting is required. Voluntary carbon and nature credits can help companies demonstrate commitment to addressing nature loss and climate change while satisfying regulation, trade agreements, and supply chain requirements of international markets and customers. A successful voluntary nature credits market can enable the many private and public agencies, individuals, and councils that already do great work, but lack the networks, expertise and resources to connect, to do more. This approach has worked well in nature markets in the United Kingdom and Australia. And it’s worth it financially. A 2024 report from the Worldwide Fund for Nature and EY suggests that halting and reversing biodiversity loss could save New Zealand more than $270 billion over the next 50 years. Many New Zealand carbon and nature credits projects use international standards to develop credits. However, the high costs and stringent reporting requirements often make this impractical for smaller landowners and projects. This results in untapped potential. Consequently, smaller-scale New Zealand carbon and nature credits projects are effectively excluded from the market due to these prohibitive costs and requirements. Market participants say formal arrangements and support from the New Zealand Government are necessary to create trust, growth and investment in the New Zealand market.
Privately funded pilot projects are underway to test how nature credits markets can work in the New Zealand context. As part of these pilots, we will test the role for Government which may include a government endorsed qual mark for project standards and measures to assure participants that market conduct is fair, honest and transparent. The pilots represent different land conditions – including many farms – locations, types of market participants, and activities. This real-life experience will provide valuable insights as we move to the next stage of market design.
Before I close – you’re probably wanting to know what’s next. We’ll be announcing further details on the Government’s role and the design of the expanded market in the coming months. In the meantime, we’re looking forward to working alongside groups and individuals involved in the pilots, and others interested in this project. Please get in touch with the Ministry for the Environment if you’re interested. It is also my pleasure to announce the Ministry for the Environment’s sponsorship of the biodiversity award which recognizes work done to protect our native flora and fauna. Our government believes in celebrating the fantastic work that you and many other farmers are doing and this is a tangible example of how we will support those who are investing in sustainable agriculture. Thank you for your time today – and I hope you enjoy the National Sustainability Showcase; I look forward to catching up with you later this evening.
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on June 18, 2025.
Saving species starts at home: how you can help Australia’s 1,000 threatened invertebrates Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Umbers, Associate Professor in Zoology, Western Sydney University Atlas Moth (_Attacus wardi_) Garry Sankowsky/flickr, CC BY When we think about animals, we tend to think of furry four-legged mammals. But 95% of all animal species are invertebrates – bees, butterflies, beetles, snails, worms, octopuses, starfish, corals,
Matariki and our diminishing night sky: light pollution from cities and satellites is making stars harder to see Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shea Esterling, Senior Lecturer Above the Bar, University of Canterbury Zhang Jianyong/Xinhua via Getty Images This week, Aotearoa New Zealand officially celebrates Matariki for the fourth time, marked by the reappearance in the night sky of the star cluster also known as the Pleiades. Yet, ironically, the
Why a US court allowed a dead man to deliver his own victim impact statement – via an AI avatar Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James D Metzger, Senior Lecturer in Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney Composite image: Arrington Watkins Architects / AI avatar: YouTube/StaceyWales, CC BY In November 2021, in the city of Chandler, Arizona, Chris Pelkey was shot and killed by Gabriel Horcasitas in a road rage altercation. Horcasitas was
What’s the difference between food poisoning and gastro? A gut expert explains Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Associate Professor and Clinical Academic Gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock If you’ve got a dodgy tummy, diarrhoea and have been vomiting, it’s easy to blame a “tummy bug” or “off food”. But which is it? Gastro or food poisoning? What’s the difference anyway? What’s gastroenteritis?
Sharks come in many different shapes and sizes. But they all follow a centuries-old mathematical rule Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodie L. Rummer, Professor of Marine Biology, James Cook University Rachel Moore From hand-sized lantern sharks that glow in the deep sea to bus-sized whale sharks gliding through tropical waters, sharks come in all shapes and sizes. Despite these differences, they all face the same fundamental challenge:
Iran war: from the Middle East to America, history shows you cannot assassinate your way to peace ANALYSIS: By Matt Fitzpatrick, Flinders University In the late 1960s, the prevailing opinion among Israeli Shin Bet intelligence officers was that the key to defeating the Palestinian Liberation Organisation was to assassinate its then-leader Yasser Arafat. The elimination of Arafat, the Shin Bet commander Yehuda Arbel wrote in his diary, was “a precondition to finding
Solomon Islanders safe but unable to leave Israel amid war on Iran RNZ Pacific The Solomon Islands Foreign Ministry says five people who completed agriculture training in Israel are safe but unable to come home amid the ongoing war between Israel and Iran. The ministry said in a statement that the Solomon Islands Embassy in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, was closely monitoring the situation and maintaining
We tracked Aussie teens’ mental health. The news isn’t good – and problems are worse for girls Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Scarlett Smout, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use and Australia’s Mental Health Think Tank, University of Sydney skynesher/Getty Images We know young people in Australia and worldwide are experiencing growing mental health challenges. The most recent national survey
Australia could become the world’s first net-zero exporter of fossil fuels – here’s how Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Jotzo, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy and Director, Centre for Climate and Energy Policy, Australian National University Photo by Jie Zhao/Corbis via Getty Images Australia is the world’s third largest exporter of gas and second largest exporter of coal. When burned overseas, these exports result
Would a corporate tax cut boost productivity in Australia? So far, the evidence is unclear Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Isaac Gross, Lecturer in Economics, Monash University The Conversation, CC BY-NC The first term of the Albanese government was defined by its fight against inflation, but the second looks like it will be defined by a need to kick start Australia’s sluggish productivity growth. Productivity is essentially
How high can US debt go before it triggers a financial crisis? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Hartigan, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney rarrarorro/Shutterstock The tax cuts bill currently being debated by the US Senate will add another US$3 trillion (A$4.6 trillion) to US debt. President Donald Trump calls it the “big, beautiful bill”; his erstwhile policy adviser Elon Musk called it
Jaws at 50: how two musical notes terrified an entire generation Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Cole, Composer and Lecturer in Screen Composition, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney Universal Pictures Our experience of the world often involves hearing our environment before seeing it. Whether it’s the sound of something moving through nearby water, or the rustling of vegetation, our fear
As Luxon heads to China, his government’s pivot toward the US is a stumbling block Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert G. Patman, Professor of International Relations, University of Otago Ahead of his first visit to China, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has been at pains to present meetings with Chinese premier Xi Jinping and other leaders as advancing New Zealand’s best interests. But there is arguably a
The story of the journalist on the Rainbow Warrior’s last voyage, David Robie Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – In April 2025, several of the Greenpeace crew visited Matauri Bay, Northland, the final resting place of the original flagship, the Rainbow Warrior. This article was one of the reflections pieces written by an oceans communications crew member. COMMENTARY: By Emma Page I was on the
As Israeli attacks draw tit-for-tat missile responses from Iran and shuts Haifa refinery, Gaza genocide continues Israeli media report that Iranian missile strikes on Haifa oil refinery yesterday killed 3 people and closed down the installation. The Israeli death toll has risen to 24, with 400 injured and more than 2700 people displaced. Israeli authorities report 370 missiles fired by Iran in total, 30 reaching their targets. Iranian military report they
View from the Hill: Cancelled Albanese-Trump meeting a setback on tariffs, AUKUS Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese’s failure to get his much-anticipated meeting with US President Donald Trump is not the prime minister’s fault, nor should it be characterised as a “snub” by the president. There was always a risk of derailment by outside events,
Decoding PNG leader Marape’s talks with French President Macron ANALYSIS: By Scott Waide, RNZ Pacific PNG correspondent The recent series of high-level agreements between Papua New Guinea and France marks a significant development in PNG’s geopolitical relationships, driven by what appears to be a convergence of national interests. The “deepening relationship” is less about a single personality and more about a calculated alignment of
There’s a new ban on vaping in childcare centres, but what else do we need to keep kids safe? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Harper, Lecturer, School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney On Monday, the federal government announced new rules to boost safety in the early childhood sector. From September there will be mandatory reporting of any allegations or incidents of child physical or sexual abuse within
Regime change wouldn’t likely bring democracy to Iran. A more threatening force could fill the vacuum Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Thomas, Lecturer in Middle East Studies, Deakin University The timing and targets of Israel’s attacks on Iran tell us that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s short-term goal is to damage Iran’s nuclear facilities in order to severely diminish its weapons program. But Netanyahu has made clear another
Why is there so much concern over Iran’s nuclear program? And where could it go from here? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin Zala, Senior Lecturer, Politics & International Relations, Monash University Maxar satellite imagery overview of the Fordow enrichment facility located southwest of Tehran. Maxar/Contributor/Getty Images Conflict between Israel and Iran is intensifying, after Israeli airstrikes on key nuclear sites and targeted assassinations last week were followed by
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on June 18, 2025.
Saving species starts at home: how you can help Australia’s 1,000 threatened invertebrates Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Umbers, Associate Professor in Zoology, Western Sydney University Atlas Moth (_Attacus wardi_) Garry Sankowsky/flickr, CC BY When we think about animals, we tend to think of furry four-legged mammals. But 95% of all animal species are invertebrates – bees, butterflies, beetles, snails, worms, octopuses, starfish, corals,
Matariki and our diminishing night sky: light pollution from cities and satellites is making stars harder to see Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shea Esterling, Senior Lecturer Above the Bar, University of Canterbury Zhang Jianyong/Xinhua via Getty Images This week, Aotearoa New Zealand officially celebrates Matariki for the fourth time, marked by the reappearance in the night sky of the star cluster also known as the Pleiades. Yet, ironically, the
Why a US court allowed a dead man to deliver his own victim impact statement – via an AI avatar Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James D Metzger, Senior Lecturer in Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney Composite image: Arrington Watkins Architects / AI avatar: YouTube/StaceyWales, CC BY In November 2021, in the city of Chandler, Arizona, Chris Pelkey was shot and killed by Gabriel Horcasitas in a road rage altercation. Horcasitas was
What’s the difference between food poisoning and gastro? A gut expert explains Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Associate Professor and Clinical Academic Gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock If you’ve got a dodgy tummy, diarrhoea and have been vomiting, it’s easy to blame a “tummy bug” or “off food”. But which is it? Gastro or food poisoning? What’s the difference anyway? What’s gastroenteritis?
Sharks come in many different shapes and sizes. But they all follow a centuries-old mathematical rule Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodie L. Rummer, Professor of Marine Biology, James Cook University Rachel Moore From hand-sized lantern sharks that glow in the deep sea to bus-sized whale sharks gliding through tropical waters, sharks come in all shapes and sizes. Despite these differences, they all face the same fundamental challenge:
Iran war: from the Middle East to America, history shows you cannot assassinate your way to peace ANALYSIS: By Matt Fitzpatrick, Flinders University In the late 1960s, the prevailing opinion among Israeli Shin Bet intelligence officers was that the key to defeating the Palestinian Liberation Organisation was to assassinate its then-leader Yasser Arafat. The elimination of Arafat, the Shin Bet commander Yehuda Arbel wrote in his diary, was “a precondition to finding
Solomon Islanders safe but unable to leave Israel amid war on Iran RNZ Pacific The Solomon Islands Foreign Ministry says five people who completed agriculture training in Israel are safe but unable to come home amid the ongoing war between Israel and Iran. The ministry said in a statement that the Solomon Islands Embassy in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, was closely monitoring the situation and maintaining
We tracked Aussie teens’ mental health. The news isn’t good – and problems are worse for girls Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Scarlett Smout, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use and Australia’s Mental Health Think Tank, University of Sydney skynesher/Getty Images We know young people in Australia and worldwide are experiencing growing mental health challenges. The most recent national survey
Australia could become the world’s first net-zero exporter of fossil fuels – here’s how Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Jotzo, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy and Director, Centre for Climate and Energy Policy, Australian National University Photo by Jie Zhao/Corbis via Getty Images Australia is the world’s third largest exporter of gas and second largest exporter of coal. When burned overseas, these exports result
Would a corporate tax cut boost productivity in Australia? So far, the evidence is unclear Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Isaac Gross, Lecturer in Economics, Monash University The Conversation, CC BY-NC The first term of the Albanese government was defined by its fight against inflation, but the second looks like it will be defined by a need to kick start Australia’s sluggish productivity growth. Productivity is essentially
How high can US debt go before it triggers a financial crisis? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Hartigan, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney rarrarorro/Shutterstock The tax cuts bill currently being debated by the US Senate will add another US$3 trillion (A$4.6 trillion) to US debt. President Donald Trump calls it the “big, beautiful bill”; his erstwhile policy adviser Elon Musk called it
Jaws at 50: how two musical notes terrified an entire generation Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Cole, Composer and Lecturer in Screen Composition, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney Universal Pictures Our experience of the world often involves hearing our environment before seeing it. Whether it’s the sound of something moving through nearby water, or the rustling of vegetation, our fear
As Luxon heads to China, his government’s pivot toward the US is a stumbling block Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert G. Patman, Professor of International Relations, University of Otago Ahead of his first visit to China, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has been at pains to present meetings with Chinese premier Xi Jinping and other leaders as advancing New Zealand’s best interests. But there is arguably a
The story of the journalist on the Rainbow Warrior’s last voyage, David Robie Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – In April 2025, several of the Greenpeace crew visited Matauri Bay, Northland, the final resting place of the original flagship, the Rainbow Warrior. This article was one of the reflections pieces written by an oceans communications crew member. COMMENTARY: By Emma Page I was on the
As Israeli attacks draw tit-for-tat missile responses from Iran and shuts Haifa refinery, Gaza genocide continues Israeli media report that Iranian missile strikes on Haifa oil refinery yesterday killed 3 people and closed down the installation. The Israeli death toll has risen to 24, with 400 injured and more than 2700 people displaced. Israeli authorities report 370 missiles fired by Iran in total, 30 reaching their targets. Iranian military report they
View from the Hill: Cancelled Albanese-Trump meeting a setback on tariffs, AUKUS Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese’s failure to get his much-anticipated meeting with US President Donald Trump is not the prime minister’s fault, nor should it be characterised as a “snub” by the president. There was always a risk of derailment by outside events,
Decoding PNG leader Marape’s talks with French President Macron ANALYSIS: By Scott Waide, RNZ Pacific PNG correspondent The recent series of high-level agreements between Papua New Guinea and France marks a significant development in PNG’s geopolitical relationships, driven by what appears to be a convergence of national interests. The “deepening relationship” is less about a single personality and more about a calculated alignment of
There’s a new ban on vaping in childcare centres, but what else do we need to keep kids safe? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Harper, Lecturer, School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney On Monday, the federal government announced new rules to boost safety in the early childhood sector. From September there will be mandatory reporting of any allegations or incidents of child physical or sexual abuse within
Regime change wouldn’t likely bring democracy to Iran. A more threatening force could fill the vacuum Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Thomas, Lecturer in Middle East Studies, Deakin University The timing and targets of Israel’s attacks on Iran tell us that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s short-term goal is to damage Iran’s nuclear facilities in order to severely diminish its weapons program. But Netanyahu has made clear another
Why is there so much concern over Iran’s nuclear program? And where could it go from here? Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin Zala, Senior Lecturer, Politics & International Relations, Monash University Maxar satellite imagery overview of the Fordow enrichment facility located southwest of Tehran. Maxar/Contributor/Getty Images Conflict between Israel and Iran is intensifying, after Israeli airstrikes on key nuclear sites and targeted assassinations last week were followed by
The Cultural and Competence Committee at Region Gävleborg, Sweden, has decided to award the 2025 World Heritage Scholarship to Polish playwright and poet Alejandro Radawski. His poetic project connects the World Heritage Site Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland with the Historic Centre of Krakow – and was selected from among 993 applications from 100 countries.
“It’s fantastic that the World Heritage Scholarship sparks such curiosity. It weaves places together – Gävleborg reaches out to the World, and the World finds its way into Gävleborg”.
Now in its seventh year, the scholarship has attracted record levels of interest. But it was Polish playwright and poet Alejandro Radawski who caught the jury’s attention.
His project, Symphony of the Little Simple Things, is a poetic diary in which each poem reflects sensory experiences from two World Heritage Sites – the Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland in Sweden and the Historic Centre of Krakow in Poland. Through words, a journey is created that allows the reader to walk through the two cultural environments.
“That the scholarship has grown so much in seven years is fantastic – and also a challenge. Managing so many applications takes time as interest continues to grow”.
The scholarship gives Alejandro the opportunity to stay at one of the World Heritage farmhouses for one month. He will also receive 50,000 SEK for his project, which is expected to result in a unique literary interpretation of two places with strong cultural histories.
“There is great interest in the World Heritage Site Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland all around the World. We naturally hope that the World Heritage Scholarship will gain even more international recognition going forward”.
A Growing International Success
Since its inception, the World Heritage Scholarship has gained increasing international traction. It is open to professional artists, researchers, and cultural practitioners with a connection to World Heritage – regardless of where in the World they are based. The aim is to encourage innovative thinking and create unexpected encounters between World Heritage Sites, in line with UNESCO’s intentions.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
ASTANA, June 18 — Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech Tuesday at the second China-Central Asia Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.
The following is the full text of the speech:
Championing the China-Central Asia Spirit For High-Quality Cooperation in the Region
Keynote Speech by H.E. Xi Jinping
President of the People’s Republic of China
At the Second China-Central Asia Summit
Astana, June 17, 2025
Your Excellency President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev,
Distinguished Colleagues,
Friends,
I am delighted to join you at the second China-Central Asia Summit in the beautiful city of Astana. I’d like to thank President Tokayev and the government of Kazakhstan for the gracious hospitality and thoughtful arrangement.
During our meeting in Xi’an two years ago, we jointly outlined the Xi’an Vision for China-Central Asia cooperation. The six pomegranate trees we planted together are in full bloom today, auguring the vitality of the cooperation among the six nations.
Two years on, China and Central Asian countries have further deepened and substantiated Belt and Road cooperation. Our trade has grown by 35 percent, and we have made important progress in industrial investment, green mining, technological innovation, and other fields of cooperation. The package of projects with Chinese financial support are well underway. While more and more Chinese new energy vehicles and photovoltaic products are entering Central Asian markets, Central Asian agricultural products, including honey, fruits, wheat and poultry, are diversifying the dinner tables of Chinese families.
Two years on, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project has been officially launched. We are making steady progress in planning for the third railway link between China and Kazakhstan, in phase-II restoration of the China-Tajikistan highway, and in China-Turkmenistan energy cooperation. Freight train services are connecting more and more Chinese cities to Central Asia. The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route has been upgraded and expanded. Green industries, digital economy, artificial intelligence, aviation and space are becoming new drivers of our cooperation. Cross-border e-commerce, online education, and other new business models are benefiting more and more people in China and Central Asia.
Two years on, China and Central Asian countries have made progress in establishing cultural centers in each other as well as in opening branches of Chinese universities and Luban Workshops. China has made mutual visa-free arrangements with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, facilitating more than 1.2 million travels between China and Kazakhstan alone in 2024. Tourism and culture years and art festivals of Central Asian countries are very popular in China. Chinese films and TV dramas, such as Min-Ning Town and To the Wonder, have become great hits in Central Asia. The China-Central Asia train services for cultural tourism have been successfully inaugurated. And today, we will witness the number of sister cities between China and Central Asia reach the milestone of 100 pairs.
Two years on, we have launched 13 ministerial cooperation platforms under the China-Central Asia mechanism. The Secretariat is fully functioning, and the core framework of the mechanism is largely in place.
I am pleased to see that our consensus at the first Summit has been implemented across the board — from the millennium-old Xi’an to Astana “the pearl of the steppe,” from the coast of the Yellow Sea to the shores of the Caspian Sea, from the Tianshan Mountain Range to the Pamir Plateau. The path of our cooperation is steadily widening, and our friendship is blooming ever more brightly.
Distinguished Colleagues,
Friends,
Our cooperation is rooted in more than 2,000 years of friendly exchanges, cemented by solidarity and mutual trust cultivated through more than three decades of diplomatic ties, and taken forward via openness and win-win cooperation of the new era. Building on our collective efforts over the years, we have forged a China-Central Asia Spirit of “mutual respect, mutual trust, mutual benefit, and mutual assistance for the joint pursuit of modernization through high-quality development.”
— We practice mutual respect and treat each other as equals. All countries, big or small, are equal. We handle issues through consultation and make decisions by consensus.
— We seek to deepen mutual trust and enhance mutual support. We firmly support each other in safeguarding independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national dignity. We do not do anything harmful to the core interests of any party.
— We pursue mutual benefit and win-win cooperation and strive for common development. We view each other as priority partners, and share development opportunities together. We accommodate each other’s interests, and work to build a win-win and symbiotic relationship.
— We help each other in time of need and stand together through thick and thin. We support each other in choosing development paths suitable to our respective national conditions and in taking domestic matters into our own hands. We work together to address various risks and challenges, and uphold regional security and stability.
This China-Central Asia Spirit is an important guideline for our endeavor to carry forward friendship and cooperation from generation to generation. We should always uphold it and let it shine forever.
Distinguished Colleagues,
Friends,
Today, unprecedented changes are unfolding at a faster pace across the globe, thrusting the world into a new state of heightened turbulence and volatility. A strong belief in fairness and justice and an unyielding commitment to mutual benefit and win-win cooperation are the only way to maintain world peace and achieve common development. There is no winner in tariff wars or trade wars. Unilateralism, protectionism and hegemonism will surely backfire while hurting others.
I always maintain that history should move forward, not backward; and the world should be united, not divided. Humanity must not regress to the law of the jungle. Instead, we should build a community with a shared future for mankind.
Three years ago, we announced together that we would build a China-Central Asia community with a shared future, setting out the goal and direction of our six nations in building consensus, overcoming challenges and pursuing development. We should act on the China-Central Asia Spirit, enhance cooperation with renewed vigor and more practical measures, promote high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative, and forge ahead toward our goal of a community with a shared future for the region.
First, we should stay committed to our fundamental goal of unity, and always trust and support each other. China consistently takes Central Asia as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy. With a firm belief in an amicable, secure and prosperous neighborhood as well as a strong dedication to amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, China interacts with Central Asian countries on the basis of equality and sincerity. We always wish our neighbors well.
Today, we will sign together a treaty on eternal good-neighborliness, friendship and cooperation to enshrine the principle of everlasting friendship in the form of law. This is a new landmark in the history of the relations between our six countries and a pioneering initiative in China’s diplomatic engagement with its neighbors. It is a milestone for today and a foundation for tomorrow.
Second, we should optimize our cooperation framework to make it more results-oriented, more efficient, and more deeply integrated. We have agreed to designate 2025 and 2026 as the Years of High-Quality Development of China-Central Asia Cooperation. We should focus our cooperation on smooth trade, industrial investment, connectivity, green mining, agricultural modernization and personnel exchanges, and roll out more projects on the ground. We should do our best to get early harvests as soon as possible.
China is ready to share with Central Asian countries development experience and latest technological advances, promote connectivity in digital infrastructure, enhance cooperation on artificial intelligence, and foster new quality productive forces.
In order to promote relevant cooperation, China has decided to establish three cooperation centers, i.e. on poverty reduction, on education exchange, and on desertification prevention and control, as well as a cooperation platform on smooth trade under the China-Central Asia cooperation framework. China will provide a grant of RMB 1.5 billion yuan to Central Asian countries this year to be used in livelihood and development projects high on their agenda. China will also provide 3,000 training opportunities to Central Asian countries in the next two years.
Third, we should develop a security framework for peace, tranquility and solidarity. We should step up regional security governance, deepen law enforcement and security cooperation, jointly prevent and thwart extreme ideologies, and resolutely fight terrorism, separatism and extremism, so as to maintain peace and stability in our region.
China supports Central Asian countries in modernizing their national defense, law enforcement and security capacities. We will do our best to help Central Asian countries combat terrorism and transnational organized crime and safeguard cybersecurity and biosecurity. We will launch more Safe City projects, and conduct more joint exercises and joint training cooperation.
Afghanistan is our close neighbor. We should strengthen coordination to help the country boost its development capacity and achieve peace, stability, reconstruction and development at an early date.
Fourth, we should cement the bonds of shared vision, mutual understanding and mutual affection between our peoples. China will enhance cooperation between legislatures, political parties, women, youth, media and think tanks with Central Asian countries, conduct in-depth exchange of governance experience, and share experience in green development, poverty reduction and anti-corruption.
China is ready to set up more cultural centers, university branches and Luban Workshops in Central Asia, and launch new majors in Central Asian languages in Chinese universities. We will continue to carry out effectively the “China-Central Asia technology and skills improvement scheme” to train more high-caliber talent for Central Asian countries.
China supports deepening subnational cooperation with Central Asia. We will make good use of sister-city relations and people-to-people exchanges to nurture heart-to-heart connections at central and subnational levels, between official and non-governmental actors, and from adjacent to broader areas.
I hope that the travel-facilitation measures we adopt today will be implemented as soon as possible to help our people visit each other more conveniently, efficiently and frequently like relatives, and in the course help them become ever closer to each other.
Fifth, we should uphold a fair and equitable international order and an equal and orderly world structure. China supports Central Asian countries in playing a bigger role in international affairs. We stand ready to work with all parties to defend international fairness and justice, oppose hegemonism and power politics, and promote an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, and the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. In the strenuous times of war, Chinese and Central Asian peoples supported each other through adversity, and jointly made important contributions to the cause of justice of humanity. We should promote the correct view of history, defend the fruits of the victory of World War II, uphold the UN-centered international system, and provide more stability and certainty for world peace and development.
Distinguished Colleagues,
Friends,
China is building a great modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through Chinese modernization. No matter how the international situation changes, China will remain unwavering in opening up to the outside world, and embrace higher-quality cooperation with Central Asian countries to deepen the integration of interests and achieve common development.
Distinguished Colleagues,
Friends,
Ancient Chinese philosophy advocates “mutual care and mutual benefit.” Similarly, a Central Asian proverb compares harmony and unity to happiness and wealth. China is ready to work with all parties to carry forward the China-Central Asia Spirit, pursue the goal of a community with a shared future, and strive for new progress in China-Central Asia cooperation.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jeffrey Fields, Professor of the Practice of International Relations, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
People observe fire and smoke from an Israeli airstrike on an oil depot in Tehran, Iran, on June 15, 2025. Stringer/Getty Images
The two countries have been particularly hostile to each other since Iranian students took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in November 1979, resulting in economic sanctions and the severing of formal diplomatic relations between the nations.
Some of the major events in U.S.-Iran relations highlight the differences between the nations’ views, but others arguably presented real opportunities for reconciliation.
In 1951, the Iranian Parliament chose a new prime minister, Mossadegh, who then led lawmakers to vote in favor of taking over the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, expelling the company’s British owners and saying they wanted to turn oil profits into investments in the Iranian people. The U.S. feared disruption in the global oil supply and worried about Iran falling prey to Soviet influence. The British feared the loss of cheap Iranian oil.
President Dwight Eisenhower decided it was best for the U.S. and the U.K. to get rid of Mossadegh. Operation Ajax, a joint CIA-British operation, convinced the Shah of Iran, the country’s monarch, to dismiss Mossadegh and drive him from office by force. Mossadegh was replaced by a much more Western-friendly prime minister, handpicked by the CIA.
Demonstrators in Tehran demand the establishment of an Islamic republic. AP Photo/Saris
1979: Revolutionaries oust the shah, take hostages
After more than 25 years of relative stability in U.S.-Iran relations, the Iranian public had grown unhappy with the social and economic conditions that developed under the dictatorial rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Iranian students at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran show a blindfolded American hostage to the crowd in November 1979. AP Photo
In October 1979, President Jimmy Carter agreed to allow the shah to come to the U.S. to seek advanced medical treatment. Outraged Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, taking 52 Americans hostage. That convinced Carter to sever U.S. diplomatic relations with Iran on April 7, 1980.
Two weeks later, the U.S. military launched a mission to rescue the hostages, but it failed, with aircraft crashes killing eight U.S. servicemembers.
The shah died in Egypt in July 1980, but the hostages weren’t released until Jan. 20, 1981, after 444 days of captivity.
An Iranian cleric, left, and an Iranian soldier wear gas masks to protect themselves against Iraqi chemical-weapons attacks in May 1988. Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images
The U.S. was concerned that the conflict would limit the flow of Middle Eastern oil and wanted to ensure the conflict didn’t affect its close ally, Saudi Arabia.
U.S. officials moderated their usual opposition to those illegal and inhumane weapons because the U.S. State Department did not “wish to play into Iran’s hands by fueling its propaganda against Iraq.” In 1988, the war ended in a stalemate. More than 500,000 military and 100,000 civilians died.
1981-1986: US secretly sells weapons to Iran
The U.S. imposed an arms embargo after Iran was designated a state sponsor of terrorism in 1984. That left the Iranian military, in the middle of its war with Iraq, desperate for weapons and aircraft and vehicle parts to keep fighting.
The last shipment, of anti-tank missiles, was in October 1986. In November 1986, a Lebanese magazine exposed the deal. That revelation sparked the Iran-Contra scandal in the U.S., with Reagan’s officials found to have collected money from Iran for the weapons and illegally sent those funds to anti-socialist rebels – the Contras – in Nicaragua.
At a mass funeral for 76 of the 290 people killed in the shootdown of Iran Air 655, mourners hold up a sign depicting the incident. AP Photo/CP/Mohammad Sayyad
Either during or just after that exchange of gunfire, the Vincennes crew mistook a passing civilian Airbus passenger jet for an Iranian F-14 fighter. They shot it down, killing all 290 people aboard.
The U.S. called it a “tragic and regrettable accident,” but Iran believed the plane’s downing was intentional. In 1996, the U.S. agreed to pay US$131.8 million in compensation to Iran.
1997-1998: The US seeks contact
In August 1997, a moderate reformer, Mohammad Khatami, won Iran’s presidential election.
U.S. President Bill Clinton sensed an opportunity. He sent a message to Tehran through the Swiss ambassador there, proposing direct government-to-government talks.
Shortly thereafter, in early January 1998, Khatami gave an interview to CNN in which he expressed “respect for the great American people,” denounced terrorism and recommended an “exchange of professors, writers, scholars, artists, journalists and tourists” between the United States and Iran.
However, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei didn’t agree, so not much came of the mutual overtures as Clinton’s time in office came to an end.
In his 2002 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush characterized Iran, Iraq and North Korea as constituting an “Axis of Evil” supporting terrorism and pursuing weapons of mass destruction, straining relations even further.
Inside these buildings at the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran, technicians enrich uranium. AP Photo/Vahid Salemi
That was a violation of the terms of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which Iran had signed, requiring countries to disclose their nuclear-related facilities to international inspectors.
One of those formerly secret locations, Natanz, housed centrifuges for enriching uranium, which could be used in civilian nuclear reactors or enriched further for weapons.
Starting in roughly 2005, U.S. and Israeli government cyberattackers together reportedly targeted the Natanz centrifuges with a custom-made piece of malicious software that became known as Stuxnet.
An excerpt of the document sent from Iran, via the Swiss government, to the U.S. State Department in 2003, appears to seek talks between the U.S. and Iran. Washington Post via Scribd
In May 2003, senior Iranian officials quietly contacted the State Department through the Swiss embassy in Iran, seeking “a dialogue ‘in mutual respect,’” addressing four big issues: nuclear weapons, terrorism, Palestinian resistance and stability in Iraq.
Hardliners in the Bush administration weren’t interested in any major reconciliation, though Secretary of State Colin Powell favored dialogue and other officials had met with Iran about al-Qaida.
When Iranian hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president of Iran in 2005, the opportunity died. The following year, Ahmadinejad made his own overture to Washington in an 18-page letter to President Bush. The letter was widely dismissed; a senior State Department official told me in profane terms that it amounted to nothing.
After a decade of unsuccessful attempts to rein in Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the Obama administration undertook a direct diplomatic approach beginning in 2013.
Iran, the U.S., China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom signed the deal in 2015. It severely limited Iran’s capacity to enrich uranium and mandated that international inspectors monitor and enforce Iran’s compliance with the agreement.
In return, Iran was granted relief from international and U.S. economic sanctions. Though the inspectors regularly certified that Iran was abiding by the agreement’s terms, President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in May 2018.
2020: US drones kill Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani
At the time, the Trump administration asserted that Soleimani was directing an imminent attack against U.S. assets in the region, but officials have not provided clear evidence to support that claim.
Hamas’ brazen attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, provoked a fearsome militarized response from Israel that continues today and served to severely weaken Iran’s proxies in the region, especially Hamas – the perpetrator of the attacks – and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
2025: Trump 2.0 and Iran
Trump saw an opportunity to forge a new nuclear deal with Iran and to pursue other business deals with Tehran. Once inaugurated for his second term, Trump appointed Steve Witkoff, a real estate investor who is the president’s friend, to serve as special envoy for the Middle East and to lead negotiations.
Negotiations for a nuclear deal between Washington and Tehran began in April, but the countries did not reach a deal. They were planning a new round of talks when Israel struck Iran with a series of airstrikes on June 13, forcing the White House to reconsider is position.
Jeffrey Fields receives funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Schmidt Futures.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
On June 16, the broadcast of the TV series “Catchphrases from the Classics, Favorite by Xi Jinping” (international version) was launched in five Central Asian countries. In this regard, the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev expressed his warm congratulations.
Launched by China Media Group (CMG), the TV series “Xi Jinping’s Favorite Classical Quotes” (International Edition) carefully selects quotations from Chinese classical poetry and prose masterpieces used by Chinese President Xi Jinping in important speeches, articles and talks. They focus on themes of open cooperation, technological development, environmental protection and cultural innovation. With an international approach and vivid storytelling, the TV project explains to Central Asian audiences the deep historical and cultural roots of the Chinese leader’s ideas on governance, and also showcases the diversity of China’s modernization.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
On June 6, a ceremony was held in Lhasa to launch the filming of the documentary film “The Story of Time,” dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Xizang Autonomous Region.
Pictured: Title page of the script for the documentary film “The History of Time”
The documentary, using the “road trip plus memory lane” narrative method, follows the footsteps of 70-year-old Tsering Lhamo from Chamdo to Lhasa. With a professional eye and dynamic film language, the film vividly shows how the remote rural areas of the past have been transformed into vibrant new settlements; how ancient Lhasa, weaving together historical heritage and modern energy, has shone with a new, never-before-seen noble light.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Astana, June 18 (Xinhua) — China and five Central Asian countries on Tuesday reaffirmed their firm support for each other’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the principles of sovereign equality and the inviolability of borders, according to the Treaty of Eternal Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation signed by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
According to the document, the six countries also reaffirmed their determination to jointly build a closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future.
All parties stressed that they would not use force or threaten to use it and would resolve disputes peacefully. States committed to supporting each other’s development paths and models chosen in accordance with national conditions and to supporting each other’s positions on issues of fundamental interest.
The parties must not enter into any alliances or groups directed against the other parties and must not support any actions hostile to the other parties, the agreement says.
All parties expressed their willingness to cooperate in the areas of trade, economy, investment, infrastructure connectivity, engineering and technology, energy (including hydro and renewable energy), transport, mineral resources, agriculture, ecology and environmental protection, processing industry, science and technology, as well as other areas of mutual interest, on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.
The states also agreed to cooperate within the framework of bilateral and multilateral mechanisms to jointly combat terrorism, separatism, extremism and transnational organized crime. –0–
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
“Lu Ban Workshop” is a Chinese brand of international cooperation in vocational education, which has now become an important platform for technology transfer and talent training in the joint construction of the “Belt and Road”. In November 2022, the first “Lu Ban Workshop” in Central Asia was launched in Tajikistan. Over the next year, Lu Ban Workshops were launched in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries. This project not only opened up opportunities for Central Asian youth, but also built a bridge of understanding between the people of China and the Central Asian region.
Lu Ban’s workshops, opened in several Central Asian countries, have achieved good results and reflect three main features of practical cooperation between China and the region. First, it is demand-driven, when all specialties are selected taking into account the actual needs of the industries of Central Asian countries. Second, it is technology adaptation, that is, an organic combination of China’s advanced technologies in infrastructure construction, new energy sources, etc., with local resources and development conditions. Third, it is sustainability, when, based on the medium- and long-term development strategies of countries, not only the current problem of shortage of qualified personnel is solved, but also special attention is paid to the development of the ability for independent economic development. China has always promoted cooperation with Central Asian countries in the field of vocational education on the basis of equality and win-win cooperation, which reflects the Chinese concept of “benevolence, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness” towards neighboring countries.
In the long term, Lu Ban Workshops will continue to play the role of a technology incubator and talent reservoir, providing a steady impetus to long-term cooperation between China and Central Asian countries. As generations of local talents grow and individual joint projects steadily advance, Lu Ban Workshops will become a source of new energy for cooperation between China and Central Asia, laying a solid foundation for building a closer community of shared destiny between China and the region.
Author: Yang Jin, Deputy Director of the Central Asia and Caucasus Department, Institute of Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)
WATCH: Padilla Delivers Floor Speech Following His Forcible Removal From DHS Press Conference
WATCH: Padilla: “If this Administration is this afraid of just one Senator with a question, colleagues, imagine what the voices of tens of millions of Americans peacefully protesting can do.”
“If that is what the Administration is willing to do to a United States Senator for having the [audacity] to simply ask a question, imagine what they’ll do to any American who dares to speak up. If what you saw happen can happen when the cameras are on, imagine not only what can happen — but what is happening — in so many places where there are no cameras.”
Video of Senator Padilla’s full speech can be viewed here and downloaded here.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, spoke on the Senate floor following his forcible removal from Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s press conference, where he was thrown to the ground and handcuffed after attempting to ask a question. Padilla delivered a strong rebuke to the Trump Administration’s unprecedented militarization of Los Angeles and called for his colleagues on both sides of the aisle, as well as the American people, to speak up against Trump’s abuse of power.
Last week, Trump deployed approximately 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 active-duty Marines to Los Angeles amid unrest caused by his indiscriminate immigration raids across the region. Padilla flew to Los Angeles to conduct oversight over the Trump Administration’s unprecedented military deployment to California — without Governor Newsom’s consent — and was in the high-security Los Angeles Federal Building for a scheduled oversight meeting with the commanding general in charge of the military presence in the region before law enforcement escorted him into Secretary Noem’s briefing room.
“The Trump Administration has done everything in their power but to provide transparency to the American people about their mission in Los Angeles. And so last week, I chose to go home to try to get answers from the Administration as they are literally militarizing our city.”
“I want to share what I learned. I want to share what I heard because it should shock the conscience of our country.”
In the hopes of learning new information after having his requests ignored for months, Padilla tried to ask a question in response to Noem’s demonizing rhetoric toward immigrants and Los Angeles’ democratically elected leadership.
“At one point, the United States Secretary of Homeland Security said that the purpose of federal law enforcement and the purpose of the United States military was to ‘liberate’ Los Angeles from our governor and our mayor. To somehow liberate us from the very people that we democratically elected to lead our city and our state.”
“Colleagues, let that fundamentally un-American mission statement sink in. That is not a mission focused on public safety. And that simply is not, and cannot be, the mission of federal law enforcement and the United States military.”
“To my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, are we truly prepared to live in a country where the President can deploy the Armed Forces to decide which duly elected governors and mayors should be allowed to lead their constituents? Is that really the precedent that we’re okay with setting?”
“Throughout the country’s history, we’ve had conflict, we’ve had tumult, but we’ve never had a tyrant as a commander-in-chief.”
Padilla detailed his own background as the proud son of immigrants from Mexico who left behind his MIT engineering degree to protest against the vile anti-immigrant rhetoric in the 1990s that a Republican governor up for reelection spread across California. He said he felt he had to speak out against the Trump Administration’s “un-American” scapegoating of immigrants and California, and detailed the violent reaction to his question.
“So last week, when I heard something so blatantly un-American from the Secretary of Homeland Security, a cabinet official — of course I was compelled, both as a Senator and as an American, to speak up.”
“But before I could even get out my question, I was physically and aggressively forced out of the room — even as I repeatedly announced I was a United States Senator, and I had a question for the Secretary. And even as the National Guardsman and the FBI agent who served as my escorts and brought me into that press briefing room stood by, silently, knowing full well who I was.”
“You’ve seen the video. I was pushed and pulled, struggled to maintain my balance. I was forced to the ground — first on my knees and then flat on my chest. And as I was handcuffed and marched down a hallway, repeatedly asking why am I being detained, not once did they tell me why.”
Padilla expressed his gratitude for the immense support for him and his family that poured in since his forcible removal. However, he emphasized that this fight was not about him but about the fundamental democratic rights of all Americans across the country.
“If you watched what unfolded last week and thought what happened is just about one politician and one press conference, you’re missing the point.”
“If that is what the Administration is willing to do to a United States Senator for having the [audacity] to simply ask a question, imagine what they’ll do to any American who dares to speak up. If what you saw happen can happen when the cameras are on, imagine not only what can happen — but what is happening — in so many places where there are no cameras.”
“Colleagues, this isn’t about me. In fact, it’s not just about immigrant communities or even just the State of California. It’s about every single American who values their Constitutional rights. It’s about anyone who’s ever exercised their First Amendment rights, or anyone who’s ever disagreed with a president, or anyone who simply values our democracy and wants to keep it.”
Padilla set the record straight on Republican misinformation on undocumented immigrants as Trump has used the same playbook when the headlines turn against him: scapegoat immigrants and manufacture a crisis. Public reporting shows that the majority of immigrants currently in ICE custody have no prior criminal conviction, and under 10 percent of immigrants taken into ICE custody since October have serious criminal convictions. Yet, President Trump has blamed immigrants to distract from his failed policies, including Republicans’ billionaire-first budget reconciliation bill that would cut critical services like health care and nutrition for millions of working families across the country.
As President Trump takes unprecedented action to militarize Los Angeles without justification or the Governor’s request, Padilla warned of the stakes for cities across the United States and American democracy.
“Donald Trump is continuing to test the boundaries of his power. And he’s surrounded himself with yes-men and underqualified attack dogs — from the DHS Secretary to the FBI Director to the Secretary of Defense — who will rubberstamp every anti-democratic step he takes.”
“This Administration’s officials and maybe not all, but many Republicans in Congress may choose not to do their job, but they cannot stop me from doing mine.”
“Again, if you really think this is just about immigrants and immigration, it’s time to wake up. What’s happening is not just a threat to California; it’s a threat to everyone in every state. If Donald Trump can bypass the Governor and activate the National Guard to put down protests on immigrant rights, he can do it to suppress your rights, too. If he can deploy the Marines to Los Angeles without justification, he can deploy them to your state, too. And if he can ignore due process, strip away First Amendment rights, and disappear people to foreign prisons without their day in court, he can do it to you too.”
“California is just the test case for the rest of the country. Last week for many was a warning shot. But I pray that it also serves as a wakeup call.”
Padilla concluded his speech with a call to action for Angelenos and millions of Americans to stand up and keep peacefully protesting against the Trump Administration’s attack on fundamental rights.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican, or a Democrat, or an Independent — we all have a responsibility to speak up and to push back, before it’s too late. So I do encourage people to keep peacefully protesting. There’s nothing more patriotic than to peacefully protest for your rights.”
“Because no one will liberate Los Angeles but Angelenos. No one will redeem America but Americans. No one is coming to save us but us.”
“And we know that the cameras are not on in every corner of the country. But if this Administration is this afraid of just one Senator with a question, colleagues, imagine what the voices of tens of millions of Americans peacefully protesting can do.”
Senator Padilla has been outspoken in calling out the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in Los Angeles and Trump’s misguided deployment of the National Guard and U.S. Marine Corps. This weekend, Padilla led the entire Senate Democratic Caucus in demanding that President Trump immediately withdraw all military forces from Los Angeles and cease all threats to deploy the National Guard or active-duty servicemembers to American cities. Last week, Padilla and Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) demanded answers regarding the Trump Administration’s decision to deploy approximately 700 Marines to Los Angeles. Padilla has spoken at a spotlight hearing and on the Senate floor multiple times to blast President Trump for manufacturing a crisis by launching indiscriminate ICE raids across Los Angeles and deploying the National Guard and active-duty servicemembers to the region. He also joined all Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats today in calling on Chairman Grassley to schedule Department of Homeland Security Secretary Noem for a broad oversight hearing for testimony before the committee.
Padilla’s full remarks as prepared for delivery are available below:
[Mr./Madam] President,
Over the last two weeks in Los Angeles – my hometown – we’ve seen masked federal agents in tactical gear ordered into our communities . . .
We’ve seen a disturbing pattern of extreme and cruel immigration enforcement operations, targeting non-violent people at places of worship, schools, and courthouses.
All to meet an arbitrary quota.
Now, we’re seeing President Trump federalize and deploy the National Guard without the Governor’s consent . . .
Active-duty Marines have been deployed, escalating tensions in our city . . .
All without coordination with the state and local law enforcement.
Despite repeated requests for justification for these extreme actions…and after months of little to no response from the Administration on their aggressive and theatrical immigration raids…
The Trump administration has done everything in their power BUT provide transparency to the American people about their mission in Los Angeles.
So last week, I went home to try to get answers from the administration as they militarize our city.
What I heard should shock the conscience of our country.
One of the first items on my schedule last Thursday was a meeting with General Guillot, the four-star general in charge of U.S. Northern Command at the Federal Building in west Los Angeles, where they are overseeing these military operations.
When the United States military is deployed domestically…
When our own troops are deployed against the wishes of the Governor for the first time since 1965, against the wishes of the mayor, against even the wishes of local law enforcement — then we’re in uncharted territory.
So in an effort to do my duty to conduct congressional oversight — and to try to get answers from the Department of Defense that state and local officials were not receiving— I went to the federal building in West LA.
I was met at the entrance by a National Guardsman and an FBI agent, who escorted me through the security screening and up to a conference room for my scheduled briefing.
While waiting for my scheduled briefing with General Guillot, I learned that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was holding a press conference just down the hall and that the press conference was causing my briefing to be delayed.
The thought occurred to me that maybe I could attend and listen in, in the hopes of hearing Secretary Noem provide some new information that could help us make sense of what was happening.
I asked and was escorted by my National Guard and FBI escorts into the press conference. They opened the door for me. They accompanied me into the press briefing room.
It was there that I listened as the United States Secretary of Homeland Security said that the purpose of federal law enforcement and the United States military was to “liberate” Los Angeles from our governor and our mayor . . .
. . . To somehow liberate us from the very people we democratically elected to lead our city and our state.
Colleagues, let that fundamentally un-American mission statement sink in.
That’s not a mission focused on public safety.
That simply is not, and cannot be, the mission of federal law enforcement and the United States military.
To my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, are you truly prepared to live in a country where the President can deploy the armed forces to decide which duly elected governors and mayors should be allowed to lead their constituents?
Is that really the precedent you’re okay with setting?
As Secretary Noem herself said last year when serving as Governor of South Dakota, “If Joe Biden federalizes the National Guard, that would be a direct attack on states’ rights.”
Throughout the country’s history, we’ve had conflict, and we’ve had tumult. But we have never had a tyrant as a commander-in-chief.
That’s not by coincidence!
It’s because the American people have always been willing to speak up and exercise their First Amendment right to protest – especially when our fundamental rights have been threatened.
As the proud son of immigrants from Mexico, it’s that same right I came to revere when marching through the streets of Los Angeles in 1994 alongside friends and family protesting against the vile anti-immigrant rhetoric that was growing in California.
It was that year that a Republican Governor up for reelection and down in the polls, turned to scapegoating immigrants to try to improve his political standing.
That fight is what got me to leave an engineering career behind and dedicate myself to influencing government and politics. So, I’ve seen this before. Californians have seen this before.
So last week, when I heard something so blatantly un-American from the Secretary of Homeland Security — I was compelled, both as a Senator AND as an American, to speak up.
But before I could even get out my question, I was physically and aggressively forced out of the room — even as I announced I was a United States Senator, and I had a question for the Secretary.
And even as the National Guardsman and FBI agent who escorted me into the press conference stood by, silently, knowing full well who I was.
You’ve seen the video.
I was pushed and pulled, struggling to maintain my balance.
I was forced to the ground — first to my knees and then flat on my chest.
As I was handcuffed and marched down a hallway, I repeatedly asked why I was being detained. Not once did they tell me why.
In that moment, a lot of questions run through your head.
Where are they taking me?
Am I being arrested?
What will a city already on edge from being militarized think when they see their Senator has been handcuffed just for trying to ask a question? Or . . .
What will my wife and our three boys think?
I also remember asking myself: if this aggressive escalation is the result of speaking up against the abuses and overreach of the Trump administration, was it really worth it?
But colleagues, how many Americans in our nation’s history have marched, have protested, have shed blood and lost their lives to protect our rights?
How many Americans have served in wars overseas to protect our freedoms here at home?
And how many Americans in the year 2025 see a vindictive president on a tour of retribution, unrestrained by the majority of this separate but co-equal branch of government in this building, and wonder if it’s worth it to stand up or to speak out?
If a United States Senator is too afraid to speak up, how can we expect any other American to do the same?
Colleagues, you know me.
I’m not aware of anyone who would describe me as a flamethrower. I try to be respectful and considerate to every member of this body— regardless of your politics.
So I want to thank all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who reached out to share messages of support — whether it was public or in private.
In means a great deal to me and my family.
But if you watched what unfolded last week and thought this was about one politician or one press conference, you’re missing the point.
If that’s what this Administration will do to a United States Senator for having the audacity to simply ask a question, imagine what they’ll do to any American who dares to speak up.
If that’s what can happen when the cameras are on, imagine not only what can happen — but what is happening — when the cameras are off.
This isn’t about me. In fact, it’s not even just about immigrant communities or about Californians.
It’s about every single American who values their constitutional rights. It’s about anyone who’s ever exercised their First Amendment rights, or ever disagreed with a president, or who simply values living in a democracy and wants to keep it.
The President will tell you this is about undocumented immigrants, and about law and order and about targeting dangerous, violent criminals.
But we know differently.
Public data released by the administration shows that the majority of immigrants currently in ICE custody do not have a prior criminal conviction.
And new reporting shows that less than 10 percent of immigrants taken into ICE custody since October have serious criminal convictions.
Less than 10 percent!
Two weeks ago, Donald Trump was at the lowest point in his presidency so far.
He was drowning in a week of terrible headlines.
The American people were finally waking up to the realities of the budget reconciliation bill that will cut health care, nutrition assistance, and good paying clean energy jobs in order to cut taxes for billionaires.
He was losing his tariff wars as the costs of everyday goods were continuing to rise.
His promises to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were falling flat.
He’d been handed loss after loss in federal court.
And maybe the most embarrassing part was his public breakup with Elon Musk.
But we know what happens when the headlines turn on Donald Trump. Donald Trump turns to the same tired playbook he always has: when in doubt, scapegoat immigrants. And manufacture a crisis to distract the media from your failures.
That’s the reason he ramped up ICE raids in California.
And when Californians took to the streets to peacefully protest, that’s the reason he bypassed the Governor and federalized the National Guard. And as things began to settle in Los Angeles, he escalated even further by sending in the Marines.
He wants the spectacle — not just to distract, but to justify his undemocratic crackdowns and his authoritarian power grabs.
That’s the reason why even while the vast majority of protests have remained peaceful, the President, the Vice President, and their allies have called protestors insurrectionists!
Yes, this is the same man who provoked an actual insurrection on our Capitol on January 6th.
The same man who incited a violent mob, carrying confederate flags, against Congress.
The same man who then pardoned the convicted felons who assaulted our brave Capitol Police officers.
Trump is testing the boundaries of his power. And he’s surrounded himself with yes-men and underqualified attack dogs — from the DHS Secretary to the FBI Director to the Secretary of Defense — who will rubberstamp every anti-democratic step he takes.
This Administration’s officials and Congressional Republicans may choose not to do their job, but they cannot stop me from doing mine.
And I refuse to let immigrants be pawns on the path to fascism.
Again, if you really think this is just about immigrants, it’s time to wake up.
What’s happening isn’t just a threat to California, it’s a threat to everyone in every state.
If Donald Trump can bypass the Governor and activate the National Guard to put down protests for immigrant rights, he can do it to suppress your rights, too.
If he can deploy Marines to Los Angeles without justification, he can deploy them to your city, too.
If he can ignore due process, strip away First Amendment rights, and disappear people to foreign prisons without their day in court, he can do it to you too.
California is just Trump’s test case for the rest of the country.
Last week was a warning shot.
But I pray that it can be our wakeup call, too.
We’ve now seen Trump threaten to do the same in other cities run by elected Democrats.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican, a Democrat, or an independent — we all have a responsibility to speak up and to push back, before it’s too late.
So I encourage people to keep peacefully protesting. There’s nothing more patriotic than peacefully protesting for your rights.
No one will liberate Los Angeles but Angelenos.
No one will redeem America but Americans.
No one is coming to save us but us.
The cameras won’t always be on.
But if this Administration is this scared of just one Senator with a question, imagine what the voices of tens of millions of Americans in the streets can do.
Thank you, [Mr./Madam] President, I yield the floor.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Top two seeds Carlos Alcaraz and Jack Draper both advanced to the second round of the men’s singles at the Queen’s Club Championships on Tuesday.
Spain’s Alcaraz arrived in London fresh off his second consecutive French Open title. The world No. 2 overcame a late challenge from lucky loser Alex Walton to win his first grass-court match of the season 6-4, 7-6(7).
Alcaraz had initially been scheduled to face fellow Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the opening round, but the world No. 28 withdrew just hours before the match due to illness following his recent wedding.
“I didn’t know his game, which shot is his best,” Alcaraz talked about his opponent Walton from Australia. “What I tried is not to think about him but myself. I tried to play as good as I can and that’s all.”
Earlier, Draper thrilled the home crowd at Andy Murray Arena with a commanding 6-3, 6-1 victory over American Jenson Brooksby.
“I feel good. I feel confident. I feel relaxed. Like I said on court, I’m happy to be home. I’m happy to be playing in front of home crowd,” said the 23-year-old British No. 1.
Draper will next face Australian Alexei Popyrin, while Alcaraz is set to play compatriot Jaume Munar.
Our cultural touchstones series looks at influential works.
Gilles Deleuze was one of the most original and imaginative thinkers of postwar France. A lifelong teacher, he spent most of his career at the University of Paris VIII, influencing generations of students but largely shunning the mantle of public intellectual.
His complex, creative books mix philosophy, literature, film and politics – not to give clear answers, but to spark new ways of thinking.
Written at a time when the Cold War was ending, computers were becoming more common, and the internet was beginning to connect institutions, the essay describes the emergence of a new kind of society – one not ruled by a single stern voice but by the soft hum of networks.
How societies work
Postscript was written as an update to the work of Deleuze’s contemporary Michel Foucault, who had died in 1984. Deleuze called it a “postscript” not just because of its brevity (it’s only around 2,300 words in English translation) but to highlight he wasn’t refuting Foucault, just building on his work.
From the 18th to early 20th centuries, Foucault had argued, Western societies were “disciplinary societies”. Schools, factories, prisons and hospitals – institutions with walls, schedules, routines and clear expectations – moulded behaviour. People were trained, observed, tested and corrected as they passed from one institution to the next.
But in the late 20th century, Deleuze saw something shifting. He thought the stodgy old disciplinary institutions were “in a generalized crisis” due to technological advances and a new form of capitalism that demanded more flexibility in workers and consumers.
New systems of management and technology were starting to reshape people without sending them through traditional institutions. Deleuze wrote presciently, for example, that “perpetual training tends to replace the school, and continuous control to replace the examination”.
In business, he saw a growing idea of “salary according to merit”, transforming work into “challenges, contests, and highly comic group sessions” – something much at odds with the old model of the standard wage and the assembly line. Traditional government institutions like hospitals and the classic factory were embracing the model of the corporation, driven always by a profit motive and the need for better human tools.
To Deleuze, all this meant people were becoming more “free-floating” – they could be still playing socially useful roles but were being gently steered into them. This greater freedom, however, required a new system to keep everyone in line. He called this “modulation” to underline its dynamic, enveloping nature.
Like nudging, but everywhere
Deleuze described modulation as “a self-deforming cast that will continuously change from one moment to the other”. He meant that people were beginning to live in an environment where everything shape-shifts to encourage or discourage us in the right direction without explicitly putting up walls.
A prime example of how modulation has since become commonplace is nudging – the use of psychological techniques, often subtle and data-driven, to shape people’s behaviour.
Nudging didn’t really exist in 1990, but governments and tech companies use nudges all the time now. We’re nudged to eat healthier, buy, save, recycle, donate. Web sites use “dark patterns” – tricky designs that steer (or nudge) us toward certain choices. Social media feeds use algorithms to exclude us if we say the wrong thing. In fact, entire teams of behavioural scientists operate behind the scenes to manipulate many aspects of our lives.
Nudges can be good and can save us from poor choices, but their newfound moral acceptability (sometimes called libertarian paternalism) is very much a clue that Deleuze’s control society has arrived.
Control in your pocket
Deleuze, who died in 1995, wrote Postscript before the advent of the smartphone, but he foresaw that an “electronic collar” would assume a central role in society. He envisaged a “computer that tracks each person’s position – licit or illicit – and effects a universal modulation.”
Smartphones more than fit the bill. In the old disciplinary ways, they track where we go, what we search for, what we buy, how many steps we take, even how well we sleep. But if we apply Deleuze’s ideas to these phones, detailed surveillance is no longer their most important function. Our phones present and curate options.
In effect, they shape how we see the world. When you scroll through news or social media, for instance, you’re reading about a version of the world built just for you, designed to keep you looking, clicking and reacting – and keep you very finely attuned to what is acceptable or dangerous behaviour.
In Deleuze’s terms, this is pure modulation: not a forceful “No” but a softly spoken, “How about this?” Your phone doesn’t lock you in – it draws you in. It shapes what you see, rewards your cooperation, ignores your silence, and always keeps score. And it does this 24/7. You might unlock it hundreds of times a day. And each time it’s updated to guide your next move more precisely.
At the same time our phones quietly turn us into a set of credentials useful for regulating physical access to workplaces, bank accounts, information: In the societies of control, writes Deleuze, “what is important is no longer either a signature or a number, but a code: the code is a password.”
Data points not people?
Deleuze warned that, in a control society: “Individuals have become ‘dividuals,’ and masses have become samples, data, markets, or ‘banks.’” A dividual to Deleuze is a person transformed into a set of data points and metrics.
You are your credit rating, your search history, your likes and clicks – a different dataset to every institution. Such fragments are used to make decisions about you until they effectively replace you. In fact, for Deleuze a dividual has internalised this treatment and thinks of themselves as a net worth, a mortgage size, a car value – psychological anchors for control.
He illustrates this point with healthcare, predicting a
new medicine ‘without doctor or patient’ that singles out potential sick people and subjects at risk, which in no way attests to individuation.
How many health decisions are now made for us collectively before we ever see a doctor? We should be grateful for advances in public health and epidemiology, but this has certainly impacted our individuality and how we are treated.
Hard to detect
An unsettling part of Deleuze’s perspective is that control doesn’t usually feel like control. It’s often dressed up as convenience, efficiency or progress. You set up internet-linked video cameras because then you can work from home. You agree to long terms and conditions because your banking app won’t work otherwise.
One problem is there are no longer clear barriers we can rail against. As Deleuze said:
In disciplinary societies one was always starting again (from school to the barracks, from the barracks to the factory), while in control societies one is never finished with anything.
Control doesn’t always crush – it can enable. Digital networks bring real freedom, economic possibility, even joy. We move more easily – both mentally and geographically – than ever before. But while we move, it always inside a kind of invisible map shaped by capitalism.
It’s no conspiracy because nobody has the whole map. So it’s difficult to work out exactly what action, if any, to take. As Deleuze concludes: “The coils of a serpent are even more complex than the burrows of a molehill.”
So what can we do?
Postscript doesn’t offer a political program beyond the sardonic comment that:
Many young people strangely boast of being ‘motivated’ […] It’s up to them to discover what they’re being made to serve.
There are ways to resist control. Some people demand more privacy or digital rights. Others opt out selectively – logging off, turning off, refusing to be nudged. Some look to art as a way of resisting its smooth grip. These acts – however small – may offer what Deleuze and his collaborator, the French psychiatrist and philosopher Félix Guattari, called lines of flight: creative ways to move not just against control, but beyond it.
The real message of Postscript, however, is its invitation to consider a timeless perspective. Any society must have a way to make people useful. So, what kind of society do we want? What kinds of restrictions are we willing to live under? And, crucial to this current age, how explicit should control be?
Cameron Shackell 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.
From June 19 to 22, 2025, Samsung Electronics will collaborate with globally renowned artists to celebrate global diversity, artistic innovation and the power of display technology at Art Basel in Basel 2025, the world’s largest art fair held in Basel, Switzerland.
▲ As Art Basel’s official display partner, Samsung Electronics offers exclusive access to curated exhibition artworks via the Samsung Art Store, also on display onsite at Art Basel in Basel 2025.
With participation from approximately 280 galleries across 42 countries, Art Basel in Basel 2025 offers a comprehensive view of the latest ideas shaping contemporary art today. As the official display partner, Samsung Electronics presents a new digital art experience that brings together art and technology through its premium screens including The Frame, Micro LED and Neo QLED 8K.
Immersive Digital Art Experience: ‘ArtCube’ Draws Visitors Into the World of Art
At Art Basel in Basel 2025, Samsung Electronics unveiled ‘ArtCube,’ a lounge dedicated to digital art experiences on Samsung devices. Created under the theme “Borderless, Dive Into the Art,” ArtCube offers a progressively immersive journey as visitors navigate the space.
Passing through a large LED entrance where the Art Basel in Basel Collection from Samsung Art Store is reinterpreted as digital artworks, visitors discover a space showcasing the full lineup of Samsung Art TVs in the ArtCube. Artworks from the Samsung Art Store, displayed across ‘The Frame,’ ‘Micro LED’ and ‘Neo QLED 8K’ screens, envelope the front and side walls to create a deeply immersive experience — one that makes visitors feel as though they have stepped directly into the art itself.
▲ Samsung Art TVs — including The Frame Pro, MICRO LED and Neo QLED 8K — line the interior walls of ArtCube.
▲ A visitor views Basim Magdy’s artwork on display at ArtCube, part of the Samsung Art Store collection at Art Basel in Basel 2025.
An interactive experience zone, powered by Samsung Art Store, is also featured. Visitors can select an artist showcased in the exhibition, take a photo and generate a personalized selfie in the chosen artist’s style, using generative AI — offering a distinctive and engaging experience.
Bringing Art Into Everyday Life Through the Samsung Art Store
Earlier this week, Samsung Electronics has unveiled a new collection featuring 38 highlighted pieces from Art Basel in Basel 2025, now available on the Samsung Art Store. With this launch, Samsung Art Store subscribers around the world can enjoy a diverse selection of Art Basel artworks from the comfort of their homes — without needing to travel to Basel, Switzerland.
As the official display partner of Art Basel for 2025, Samsung Electronics will continue its participation in the annual exhibitions held in Basel, Hong Kong, Paris and Miami. Through Samsung Art Store, the company aims to make art more accessible and seamlessly integrated into everyday life.
The Samsung Art Store* is a subscription-based art service available on Samsung’s The Frame and QLED TVs. Now accessible in 117 countries, the Samsung Art Store offers more than 3,500 artworks in stunning 4K resolution through collaboration with over 70 leading partners.
▲ Basim Magdy, featured in the Samsung Art Store collection at Art Basel in Basel 2025, views his own work on display at ArtCube.
▲ Visitors take in the vibrant, dreamlike works of Basim Magdy on display at ArtCube, part of Samsung’s digital art showcase at Art Basel in Basel 2025.
▲ A visitor captures Lee Kun-yong’s artwork on display at Samsung ArtCube.
▲ A visitor views Marc Dennis’ artwork on display at Samsung ArtCube.
▲ A vivid portrait in the style of Marc Dennis captures visitors’ attention at ArtCube, part of Samsung’s digital art showcase at Art Basel in Basel 2025.
▲ A vivid portrait in the style of Saya Woolfalk captures visitors’ attention at ArtCube, part of Samsung’s digital art showcase at Art Basel in Basel 2025.
▲ The experience zone highlights the Samsung Art Store and lets visitors create immersive, AI-powered photos with animated elements from featured artworks.
▲ One of the most striking pieces at ArtCube, Basim Magdy’s “The Dictator and His Cockroach Count Their Blessings” merges satire and dreamlike visuals in Samsung’s digital art showcase.
▲ Visitors explore the immersive artworks by Marc Dennis at ArtCube, where his vivid, hyperreal art pieces are brought to life with digital projections.
* All artworks in Samsung Art Store are available with a membership subscription. Artwork availability is subject to change without prior notice and may vary by region.
Israeli defence systems intercept Iranian missiles over the city of HaifaAhmad Gharabli / AFP via Getty Images
Late last week, Israel began a wave of attacks on Iran under the banner of Operation Rising Lion, with the stated goal of crippling the Islamic republic’s nuclear program and long-range strike capabilities. At the outset, Israel claimed Iran would soon be able to build nine nuclear weapons, a situation Israel regarded as completely unacceptable.
Following Israeli strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, and targeted assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists and key members of the Iranian armed forces, Iran retaliated with a large barrage of ballistic missiles and drones against Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The first wave consisted of some 200 ballistic missiles and 200 drones.
The conflict continues to escalate, with population centres increasingly being targeted. Israel’s missile defence systems (including the vaunted Iron Dome) have so far staved off most of Iran’s attacks, but the future is uncertain.
Ballistic missiles and how to stop them
Iran possesses a large arsenal of ballistic missiles and long-range drones, alongside other long-range weapons such as cruise missiles. Ballistic missiles travel on a largely fixed path steered by gravity, while cruise missiles can adjust their course as they fly.
Iran is approximately 1,000km from Israel, so the current strikes mostly involve what are classified as medium-range ballistic missiles, alongside long-range drones. It is not clear exactly what type of missile Iran has used in its latest strikes, but the country has several including the Fattah-1 and Emad.
It is very difficult to defend against ballistic missiles. There is not much time between launch and impact, and they come down at very high speed. The longer the missile’s range, the faster and higher it flies.
An incoming missile presents a small, fast-moving target – and defenders may have little time to react.
Israel’s missile defence and the Iron Dome
Israel possesses arguably one of the most effective, battle-tested air defence systems in service today. The system is often described in the media as the “Iron Dome”, but this is not quite correct.
Israel’s defences have several layers, each designed to address threats coming from different ranges.
In essence, Iron Dome consists of a network of radar emitters, command and control facilities, and the interceptors (special surface-to-air missiles). The radar quickly detects incoming threats, the command and control elements decide which are most pressing, and the interceptors are sent to destroy the incoming shells or rockets.
Ballistic defence systems
The other layers of Israel’s defence system include David’s Sling, and the Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 interceptors. These are specifically designed to engage longer-range ballistic missiles, both within the atmosphere and at very high altitudes above it (known as exoatmospheric interception).
Spectacular footage has been captured of what are likely exoatmospheric interceptions taking place during this latest conflict, demonstrating Israel’s capacity to engage longer-range missiles.
The US military has comparable missile defence systems. The US Army has the Patriot PAC-3 (comparable to David’s Sling) and THAAD (comparable to Arrow 2), while the US Navy has the Aegis and the SM-3 (comparable to Arrow 3) and the SM-6 (comparable again to Arrow 2).
Iran possesses some air defence systems such as the Russian S300 which has some (very limited) ballistic missile defence capabilities, but only against shorter range (and thus slower) ballistic missiles. Further, Israel has been focusing on degrading Iran’s air defences, so it is not clear how many are still operational.
Iran has been focusing on developing technology such as maneuverable warheads, which are harder to defend against. However, it is not clear whether these are yet operational and in Iranian service.
Missile defences are finite. The defender is always limited by the number of interceptors it possesses.
The attacker is also limited by the number of missiles it possesses. However, the defender must often assign multiple interceptors to each attacking missile, in case the first misses or otherwise fails.
The attacker will plan for some losses to interceptors (or mechanical failures) and send what it determines to be enough missiles for at least some to penetrate the defences.
When it comes to ballistic missiles, the advantage lies with the attacker. Ballistic missiles can carry large explosive payloads (or even nuclear warheads), so even a handful of missiles “leaking” past defensive systems can still wreak significant damage.
What now?
Israel’s missile defences are unlikely to stop working completely. However, as attacks deplete its stocks of interceptors, the system may become less effective.
As the conflict continues, it may become a race to see who runs out of weapons first. Will it be Iran’s stocks of ballistic missiles and drones, or the interceptors and anti-air munitions of Israel, the US and any other supporters?
It is impossible to say who would prevail in such a race of stockpile attrition. Some reports suggest Iran has fired approximately 1,000 ballistic missiles of an estimated 3,000. However, this still leaves it with an enormous stockpile to use, and it is unclear how fast Iran can make new missiles to replenish its resources.
But we should hope it doesn’t come to that. Beyond the tit-for-tat exchange of missiles, the latest conflict between Israel and Iran risks escalating. If it is not resolved soon, and if the US is drawn into the conflict more directly, we may see broader conflict in the Middle East.
James Dwyer 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.
Israeli defence systems intercept Iranian missiles over the city of HaifaAhmad Gharabli / AFP via Getty Images
Late last week, Israel began a wave of attacks on Iran under the banner of Operation Rising Lion, with the stated goal of crippling the Islamic republic’s nuclear program and long-range strike capabilities. At the outset, Israel claimed Iran would soon be able to build nine nuclear weapons, a situation Israel regarded as completely unacceptable.
Following Israeli strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, and targeted assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists and key members of the Iranian armed forces, Iran retaliated with a large barrage of ballistic missiles and drones against Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The first wave consisted of some 200 ballistic missiles and 200 drones.
The conflict continues to escalate, with population centres increasingly being targeted. Israel’s missile defence systems (including the vaunted Iron Dome) have so far staved off most of Iran’s attacks, but the future is uncertain.
Ballistic missiles and how to stop them
Iran possesses a large arsenal of ballistic missiles and long-range drones, alongside other long-range weapons such as cruise missiles. Ballistic missiles travel on a largely fixed path steered by gravity, while cruise missiles can adjust their course as they fly.
Iran is approximately 1,000km from Israel, so the current strikes mostly involve what are classified as medium-range ballistic missiles, alongside long-range drones. It is not clear exactly what type of missile Iran has used in its latest strikes, but the country has several including the Fattah-1 and Emad.
It is very difficult to defend against ballistic missiles. There is not much time between launch and impact, and they come down at very high speed. The longer the missile’s range, the faster and higher it flies.
An incoming missile presents a small, fast-moving target – and defenders may have little time to react.
Israel’s missile defence and the Iron Dome
Israel possesses arguably one of the most effective, battle-tested air defence systems in service today. The system is often described in the media as the “Iron Dome”, but this is not quite correct.
Israel’s defences have several layers, each designed to address threats coming from different ranges.
In essence, Iron Dome consists of a network of radar emitters, command and control facilities, and the interceptors (special surface-to-air missiles). The radar quickly detects incoming threats, the command and control elements decide which are most pressing, and the interceptors are sent to destroy the incoming shells or rockets.
Ballistic defence systems
The other layers of Israel’s defence system include David’s Sling, and the Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 interceptors. These are specifically designed to engage longer-range ballistic missiles, both within the atmosphere and at very high altitudes above it (known as exoatmospheric interception).
Spectacular footage has been captured of what are likely exoatmospheric interceptions taking place during this latest conflict, demonstrating Israel’s capacity to engage longer-range missiles.
The US military has comparable missile defence systems. The US Army has the Patriot PAC-3 (comparable to David’s Sling) and THAAD (comparable to Arrow 2), while the US Navy has the Aegis and the SM-3 (comparable to Arrow 3) and the SM-6 (comparable again to Arrow 2).
Iran possesses some air defence systems such as the Russian S300 which has some (very limited) ballistic missile defence capabilities, but only against shorter range (and thus slower) ballistic missiles. Further, Israel has been focusing on degrading Iran’s air defences, so it is not clear how many are still operational.
Iran has been focusing on developing technology such as maneuverable warheads, which are harder to defend against. However, it is not clear whether these are yet operational and in Iranian service.
Missile defences are finite. The defender is always limited by the number of interceptors it possesses.
The attacker is also limited by the number of missiles it possesses. However, the defender must often assign multiple interceptors to each attacking missile, in case the first misses or otherwise fails.
The attacker will plan for some losses to interceptors (or mechanical failures) and send what it determines to be enough missiles for at least some to penetrate the defences.
When it comes to ballistic missiles, the advantage lies with the attacker. Ballistic missiles can carry large explosive payloads (or even nuclear warheads), so even a handful of missiles “leaking” past defensive systems can still wreak significant damage.
What now?
Israel’s missile defences are unlikely to stop working completely. However, as attacks deplete its stocks of interceptors, the system may become less effective.
As the conflict continues, it may become a race to see who runs out of weapons first. Will it be Iran’s stocks of ballistic missiles and drones, or the interceptors and anti-air munitions of Israel, the US and any other supporters?
It is impossible to say who would prevail in such a race of stockpile attrition. Some reports suggest Iran has fired approximately 1,000 ballistic missiles of an estimated 3,000. However, this still leaves it with an enormous stockpile to use, and it is unclear how fast Iran can make new missiles to replenish its resources.
But we should hope it doesn’t come to that. Beyond the tit-for-tat exchange of missiles, the latest conflict between Israel and Iran risks escalating. If it is not resolved soon, and if the US is drawn into the conflict more directly, we may see broader conflict in the Middle East.
James Dwyer 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 the late 1960s, the prevailing opinion among Israeli Shin Bet intelligence officers was that the key to defeating the Palestinian Liberation Organisation was to assassinate its then-leader Yasser Arafat.
The elimination of Arafat, the Shin Bet commander Yehuda Arbel wrote in his diary, was “a precondition to finding a solution to the Palestinian problem.”
For other, even more radical Israelis – such as the ultra-nationalist assassin Yigal Amir – the answer lay elsewhere. They sought the assassination of Israeli leaders such as Yitzak Rabin who wanted peace with the Palestinians.
Despite Rabin’s long personal history as a famed and often ruthless military commander in the 1948 and 1967 Arab-Israeli Wars, Amir stalked and shot Rabin dead in 1995. He believed Rabin had betrayed Israel by signing the Oslo Accords peace deal with Arafat.
It’s been 20 years since Arafat died as possibly the victim of polonium poisoning, and 30 years after the shooting of Rabin. Peace between Israelis and the Palestinians has never been further away.
Since its attacks on Iran began on Friday, Israel has killed numerous military and intelligence leaders, including Iran’s intelligence chief, Mohammad Kazemi; the chief of the armed forces, Mohammad Bagheri; and the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami. At least nine Iranian nuclear scientists have also been killed.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said:
We got their chief intelligence officer and his deputy in Tehran.
Iran, predictably, has responded with deadly missile attacks on Israel.
Far from having solved the issue of Middle East peace, assassinations continue to pour oil on the flames.
A long history of extra-judicial killings
Israeli journalist Ronen Bergman’s book Rise and Kill First argues assassinations have long sat at the heart of Israeli politics.
In the past 75 years, there have been more than 2,700 assassination operations undertaken by Israel. These have, in Bergman’s words, attempted to “stop history” and bypass “statesmanship and political discourse”.
This normalisation of assassinations has been codified in the Israeli expression of “mowing the grass”. This is, as historian Nadim Rouhana has shown, a metaphor for a politics of constant assassination. Enemy “leadership and military facilities must regularly be hit in order to keep them weak.”
The point is not to solve the underlying political questions at issue. Instead, this approach aims to sow fear, dissent and confusion among enemies.
Thousands of assassination operations have not, however, proved sufficient to resolve the long-running conflict between Israel, its neighbours and the Palestinians. The tactic itself is surely overdue for retirement.
Targeted assassinations elsewhere
Israel has been far from alone in this strategy of assassination and killing.
Former US President Barack Obama oversaw the extra-judicial killing of Osama Bin Laden, for instance.
After what Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch denounced as a flawed trial, former US President George W. Bush welcomed the hanging of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as “an important milestone on Iraq’s course to becoming a democracy”.
Current US President Donald Trump oversaw the assassination of Iran’s leader of clandestine military operations, Qassem Soleimani, in 2020.
More recently, however, Trump appears to have baulked at granting Netanyahu permission to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
And it’s worth noting the US Department of Justice last year brought charges against an Iranian man who said he’d been tasked with killing Trump.
Elsewhere, in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, it’s common for senior political and media opponents to be shot in the streets. Frequently they also “fall” out of high windows, are killed in plane crashes or succumb to mystery “illnesses”.
A poor record
Extra-judicial killings, however, have a poor record as a mechanism for solving political problems.
Cutting off the hydra’s head has generally led to its often immediate replacement by another equally or more ideologically committed person, as has already happened in Iran. Perhaps they too await the next round of “mowing the grass”.
But as the latest Israeli strikes in Iran and elsewhere show, solving the underlying issue is rarely the point.
In situations where finding a lasting negotiated settlement would mean painful concessions or strategic risks, assassinations prove simply too tempting. They circumvent the difficulties and complexities of diplomacy while avoiding the need to concede power or territory.
As many have concluded, however, assassinations have never killed resistance. They have never killed the ideas and experiences that give birth to resistance in the first place.
Nor have they offered lasting security to those who have ordered the lethal strike.
Enduring security requires that, at some point, someone grasp the nettle and look to the underlying issues.
The alternative is the continuation of the brutal pattern of strike and counter-strike for generations to come.
Matt Fitzpatrick receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
The Middle East is a region of intense beauty and ancient kingdoms. It has also repeatedly endured periods of geopolitical instability over many centuries.
Today, geopolitical, socio-political and religious tensions persist. The world is currently watching as longstanding regional tensions come to a head in the shocking and escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.
The global airline industry takes a special interest in how such tensions play out. This airspace is a crucial corridor linking Europe, Asia and Africa.
The Middle East is now home to several of the world’s largest international airlines: Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways. These airlines’ home bases – Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, respectively – have become pivotal hubs in international aviation.
Keeping passengers safe will be all airlines’ highest priority. What could an escalating conflict mean for both the airlines and the travelling public?
Safety first
History shows that the civil airline industry and military conflict do not mix. On July 3 1988, the USS Vincennes, a US navy warship, fired two surface-to-air missiles and shot down Iran Air Flight 655, an international passenger service over the Persian Gulf.
More recently, on July 17 2014, Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine as the battle between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists continued.
Understandably, global airlines are very risk-averse when it comes to military conflict. The International Civil Aviation Organization requires airlines to implement and maintain a Safety Management System (SMS).
One of the main concerns – known as “pillars” – of the SMS is “safety risk management”. This includes the processes to identify hazards, assess risks and implement risk mitigation strategies.
The risk-management departments of airlines transiting the Middle East region will have been working hard on these strategies.
Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, the International Civil Aviation Organization has strict requirements and protocols to keep passengers safe. meunierd/Shutterstock
Route recalculation
The most immediate and obvious evidence of such strategies being put in place are changes to aircraft routing, either by cancelling or suspending flights or making changes to the flight plans. This is to ensure aircraft avoid the airspace where military conflicts are flaring.
At the time of writing, a quick look at flight tracking website Flightradar24 shows global aircraft traffic avoiding the airspace of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Israel, Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon. The airspace over Ukraine is also devoid of air traffic.
Rerouting, however, creates its own challenges. Condensing the path of the traffic into smaller, more congested areas can push aircraft into and over areas that are not necessarily equipped to deal with such a large increase in traffic.
Having more aircraft in a smaller amount of available safe airspace creates challenges for air traffic control services and the pilots operating the aircraft.
More time and fuel
Avoiding areas of conflict is one of the most visible forms of airline risk management. This may add time to the length of a planned flight, leading to higher fuel consumption and other logistical challenges. This will add to the airlines’ operating costs.
There will be no impact on the cost of tickets already purchased. But if the instability in the region continues, we may see airline ticket prices increase.
It is not just the avoidance of airspace in the region that could place upward pressure on the cost of flying. Airliners run on Jet-A1 fuel, produced from oil.
If Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz, the “world’s most important oil transit chokepoint”, this could see the cost of oil, and in turn Jet-A1, significantly increase. Increasing fuel costs will be passed on the paying passenger. However, some experts believe such a move is unlikely.
A major hub
The major aviation hubs in the Middle East provide increased global connectivity, enabling passengers to travel seamlessly between continents.
Increased regional instability has the potential to disrupt this global connectivity. In the event of a prolonged conflict, airlines operating in and around the region may find they have increased insurance costs. Such costs would eventually find their way passed on to consumers through higher ticket prices.
Across the globe, airlines and governments are issuing travel advisories and warnings. The onus is on the travelling public to stay informed about changes to flight status, and potential delays.
Such warnings and advisories can lead to a drop in passenger confidence, which may then lead to a drop in bookings both into and onwards from the region.
Until the increase in instability in the Middle East, global airline passenger traffic numbers were larger than pre-pandemic figures. Strong growth had been predicted in the coming decades.
Anything that results in falling passenger confidence could negatively impact these figures, leading to slowed growth and affecting airline profitability.
Despite high-profile disasters, aviation remains the safest form of transport. As airlines deal with these challenges they will constantly work to keep flights safe and to win back passenger confidence in this unpredictable situation.
Natasha Heap 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.
Our cultural touchstones series looks at influential works.
Gilles Deleuze was one of the most original and imaginative thinkers of postwar France. A lifelong teacher, he spent most of his career at the University of Paris VIII, influencing generations of students but largely shunning the mantle of public intellectual.
His complex, creative books mix philosophy, literature, film and politics – not to give clear answers, but to spark new ways of thinking.
Written at a time when the Cold War was ending, computers were becoming more common, and the internet was beginning to connect institutions, the essay describes the emergence of a new kind of society – one not ruled by a single stern voice but by the soft hum of networks.
How societies work
Postscript was written as an update to the work of Deleuze’s contemporary Michel Foucault, who had died in 1984. Deleuze called it a “postscript” not just because of its brevity (it’s only around 2,300 words in English translation) but to highlight he wasn’t refuting Foucault, just building on his work.
From the 18th to early 20th centuries, Foucault had argued, Western societies were “disciplinary societies”. Schools, factories, prisons and hospitals – institutions with walls, schedules, routines and clear expectations – moulded behaviour. People were trained, observed, tested and corrected as they passed from one institution to the next.
But in the late 20th century, Deleuze saw something shifting. He thought the stodgy old disciplinary institutions were “in a generalized crisis” due to technological advances and a new form of capitalism that demanded more flexibility in workers and consumers.
New systems of management and technology were starting to reshape people without sending them through traditional institutions. Deleuze wrote presciently, for example, that “perpetual training tends to replace the school, and continuous control to replace the examination”.
In business, he saw a growing idea of “salary according to merit”, transforming work into “challenges, contests, and highly comic group sessions” – something much at odds with the old model of the standard wage and the assembly line. Traditional government institutions like hospitals and the classic factory were embracing the model of the corporation, driven always by a profit motive and the need for better human tools.
To Deleuze, all this meant people were becoming more “free-floating” – they could be still playing socially useful roles but were being gently steered into them. This greater freedom, however, required a new system to keep everyone in line. He called this “modulation” to underline its dynamic, enveloping nature.
Like nudging, but everywhere
Deleuze described modulation as “a self-deforming cast that will continuously change from one moment to the other”. He meant that people were beginning to live in an environment where everything shape-shifts to encourage or discourage us in the right direction without explicitly putting up walls.
A prime example of how modulation has since become commonplace is nudging – the use of psychological techniques, often subtle and data-driven, to shape people’s behaviour.
Nudging didn’t really exist in 1990, but governments and tech companies use nudges all the time now. We’re nudged to eat healthier, buy, save, recycle, donate. Web sites use “dark patterns” – tricky designs that steer (or nudge) us toward certain choices. Social media feeds use algorithms to exclude us if we say the wrong thing. In fact, entire teams of behavioural scientists operate behind the scenes to manipulate many aspects of our lives.
Nudges can be good and can save us from poor choices, but their newfound moral acceptability (sometimes called libertarian paternalism) is very much a clue that Deleuze’s control society has arrived.
Control in your pocket
Deleuze, who died in 1995, wrote Postscript before the advent of the smartphone, but he foresaw that an “electronic collar” would assume a central role in society. He envisaged a “computer that tracks each person’s position – licit or illicit – and effects a universal modulation.”
Smartphones more than fit the bill. In the old disciplinary ways, they track where we go, what we search for, what we buy, how many steps we take, even how well we sleep. But if we apply Deleuze’s ideas to these phones, detailed surveillance is no longer their most important function. Our phones present and curate options.
In effect, they shape how we see the world. When you scroll through news or social media, for instance, you’re reading about a version of the world built just for you, designed to keep you looking, clicking and reacting – and keep you very finely attuned to what is acceptable or dangerous behaviour.
In Deleuze’s terms, this is pure modulation: not a forceful “No” but a softly spoken, “How about this?” Your phone doesn’t lock you in – it draws you in. It shapes what you see, rewards your cooperation, ignores your silence, and always keeps score. And it does this 24/7. You might unlock it hundreds of times a day. And each time it’s updated to guide your next move more precisely.
At the same time our phones quietly turn us into a set of credentials useful for regulating physical access to workplaces, bank accounts, information: In the societies of control, writes Deleuze, “what is important is no longer either a signature or a number, but a code: the code is a password.”
Data points not people?
Deleuze warned that, in a control society: “Individuals have become ‘dividuals,’ and masses have become samples, data, markets, or ‘banks.’” A dividual to Deleuze is a person transformed into a set of data points and metrics.
You are your credit rating, your search history, your likes and clicks – a different dataset to every institution. Such fragments are used to make decisions about you until they effectively replace you. In fact, for Deleuze a dividual has internalised this treatment and thinks of themselves as a net worth, a mortgage size, a car value – psychological anchors for control.
He illustrates this point with healthcare, predicting a
new medicine ‘without doctor or patient’ that singles out potential sick people and subjects at risk, which in no way attests to individuation.
How many health decisions are now made for us collectively before we ever see a doctor? We should be grateful for advances in public health and epidemiology, but this has certainly impacted our individuality and how we are treated.
Hard to detect
An unsettling part of Deleuze’s perspective is that control doesn’t usually feel like control. It’s often dressed up as convenience, efficiency or progress. You set up internet-linked video cameras because then you can work from home. You agree to long terms and conditions because your banking app won’t work otherwise.
One problem is there are no longer clear barriers we can rail against. As Deleuze said:
In disciplinary societies one was always starting again (from school to the barracks, from the barracks to the factory), while in control societies one is never finished with anything.
Control doesn’t always crush – it can enable. Digital networks bring real freedom, economic possibility, even joy. We move more easily – both mentally and geographically – than ever before. But while we move, it always inside a kind of invisible map shaped by capitalism.
It’s no conspiracy because nobody has the whole map. So it’s difficult to work out exactly what action, if any, to take. As Deleuze concludes: “The coils of a serpent are even more complex than the burrows of a molehill.”
So what can we do?
Postscript doesn’t offer a political program beyond the sardonic comment that:
Many young people strangely boast of being ‘motivated’ […] It’s up to them to discover what they’re being made to serve.
There are ways to resist control. Some people demand more privacy or digital rights. Others opt out selectively – logging off, turning off, refusing to be nudged. Some look to art as a way of resisting its smooth grip. These acts – however small – may offer what Deleuze and his collaborator, the French psychiatrist and philosopher Félix Guattari, called lines of flight: creative ways to move not just against control, but beyond it.
The real message of Postscript, however, is its invitation to consider a timeless perspective. Any society must have a way to make people useful. So, what kind of society do we want? What kinds of restrictions are we willing to live under? And, crucial to this current age, how explicit should control be?
Cameron Shackell 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 tax cuts bill currently being debated by the US Senate will add another US$3 trillion (A$4.6 trillion) to US debt. President Donald Trump calls it the “big, beautiful bill”; his erstwhile policy adviser Elon Musk called it a “disgusting abomination”.
Foreign investors have already been rattled by Trump’s upending of the global trade system. The eruption of war in the Middle East would usually lead to “flight to safety” buying of the US dollar, but the dollar has barely budged. That suggests US assets are not seen as the safe haven they used to be.
Greg Combet, chair of Australia’s own sovereign wealth fund, the Future Fund, outlined many of the new risks arising from US policies in a speech on Tuesday.
As investors turn cautious on the US, at some point the surging US debt pile will become unsustainable. That could risk a financial crisis. But at what point does that happen?
The public sector holds a range of debt
When talking about the sustainability of US government debt, we have to distinguish between total debt and public debt.
Public debt is owed to individuals, companies, foreign governments and investors. This accounts for about 80% of total US debt. The remainder is intra-governmental debt held by government agencies and the Federal Reserve.
Public debt is a more correct measure of US government debt. And it is much less than the headline total government debt amount that is frequently quoted, which is running at US$36 trillion or 121% of GDP.
Are there limits to government debt?
Governments are not like households. They can feasibly roll over debt indefinitely and don’t technically need to repay it, unlike a personal credit card. And countries such as the US that issue debt in their own currency can’t technically default unless they choose to.
Debt also serves a useful role. It is the main way a government funds infrastructure projects. It is an important channel for monetary policy, because the US Federal Reserve sets the benchmark interest rate that affects borrowing costs across the economy. And because the US government issues bonds, known as Treasuries, to finance the debt, this is an important asset for investors.
There is probably some limit to the amount of debt the US government can issue. But we don’t really know what this amount is, and we won’t know until we get there. Additionally, the US’s reserve currency status, due to the US dollar’s dominant role in international finance, gives the US government more leeway than other governments.
Interest costs are surging
What is important is the government’s ability to service its debt – that is, to pay the interest cost. This depends on two components: growth in economic activity, and the interest rate on government debt.
If economic growth on average is higher than the interest rate, then the government’s effective interest cost is negative and it could sustainably carry its existing debt burden.
The interest cost of US government debt has surged recently following a series of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes in 2022 and 2023 to quell inflation.
The US government is now spending more on interest payments than on defence – about US$882 billion annually. This will soon start crowding out spending in other areas, unless taxes are raised or further spending cuts made.
Recent policy decisions not helping
The turmoil caused by Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs and heightened uncertainty about future government policy are expected to weaken US economic growth and raise inflation. This, coupled with the recent credit downgrade of US government debt by ratings agency Moody’s, is likely to put upward pressure on US interest rates, further increasing the servicing cost of US government debt.
Moody’s cited concerns about the growth of US federal debt. This comes as the US House of Representatives passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”, which seeks to extend the 2017 tax cuts indefinitely while slashing social spending. This has caused some to question the sustainability of the US government’s fiscal position.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill will add a further US$3 trillion to government debt over the ten years to 2034, increasing debt to 124% of GDP. And this would increase to US$4.5 trillion over ten years and take debt to 128% of GDP if some tax initiatives were made permanent.
Also troubling is Section 899 of the bill, known as the “revenge tax”. This controversial provision raises the tax payable by foreign investors and could further deter foreign investment, potentially making US government debt even less attractive.
A compromised Federal Reserve is the next risk
The passing of the tax and spending bill is unlikely to cause a financial crisis in the US. But the US could be entering into a period of “fiscal dominance”, which is just as concerning.
In this situation, the independence of the Federal Reserve might be compromised if it is pressured to support the US government’s fiscal position. It would do this by keeping interest rates lower than otherwise, or buying government debt to support the government instead of targeting inflation. Trump has already been putting pressure on Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, demanding he cut rates immediately.
This could lead to much higher inflation in the US, as occurred in Germany in the 1920s, and more recently in Argentina and Turkey.
Luke Hartigan receives funding from the Australian Research Council (DP230100959)
Three major French financial institutions, including two of the country’s largest banks and the state’s public investment arm, have announced their rejection of deep sea mining during the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) last week in Nice.
The three institutions are:
BNP Paribas– France’s largest and Europe’s second largest bank.BNP Paribasconfirms itdoes not invest in deep sea mining projectsdue to the intrinsic environmental and social risks involved.
Crédit Agricole– The second largest bank in France and the world’s largest cooperative financial institution.Crédit Agricolestatedit will not finance deep sea mining projectsuntil it has been proven that such operationspose no significant harm to marine ecosystems.
Groupe Caisse des Dépôts– The public investment arm of the French Government, which also holds a majority stake in La Banque Postale.The Grouphas pledgedto exclude all financing and investmentin companies whose main activity is deep sea mining, as well as in deep sea mining projects.
Amundi Asset Managementalso made a statement that it seeks to avoid investment in companies “involved in deep sea mining and/or exploration”.
Deep Sea Mining Campaign Finance Advocacy Officer Andy Whitmore says: “This is a truly significant outcome from UNOC. Until recently no French financiers had matched their Government’s position calling for a ban. This UN Ocean Conference, co-hosted by France, was the perfect opportunity for the most important national players to step up and be counted”
These financial announcements are a sign of global concern pushing itself on to the agenda. World leadersrenewed calls for a global moratoriumon the dangerous industry, with French President Emmanuel Macron denouncing it as “madness”, with UN Secretary-General António Guterres responding to recent announcements from President Trump by warning that the deep sea “cannot become the Wild West.” Slovenia, Latvia, Cyprus and the Marshall Islands also announced their support for a moratorium or precautionary pause, bringing thenumber of like-minded countries to 37.
Andy Whitmore concluded “the events at UNOC have added further momentum to the financial establishment rejecting deep sea mining. The recent unseemly rush to mine is creating push-back from the financial world, as much as from governments and civil society.”
