Ex-rapper Balendra Shah set to be Nepal PM after party’s landslide election win Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra party secures thumping victory in first poll since gen Z protests that toppled government

Gen Z earthquake. #auspol www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

David Pocock calls for inquiry into why Government collects more revenue from beer excise than PRRT Independent Senator for the ACT David Pocock has called for an inquiry into why gas companies pay less for gas exports than Australians pay in the beer excise.

Independent Senator for the ACT David Pocock has called for an inquiry into why gas companies pay less for gas exports than Australians pay in the beer excise. thepoint.com.au/news/260303-...

The Cherry Orchard hits home at Adelaide Festival Matthew Lutton’s first Adelaide Festival survived an almost fatal scandal to deliver a clear message about the interrogative power of art.

“It seems that too many of our major institutions are run by out-of-touch suits who consider art a kind of luxury widget created by especially colourful employees.” The politics, of course, nowhere so interesting as the art itself #ausart #art www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/share/22721/...

The hardest part of a limited two-week military action is the first several years.

Just ask Putin.

A lone battle: Why is Pedro Sánchez the only European leader to take on Trump? As the Spanish PM decries the war in Iran, other politicians are unable – or unwilling – to speak against the US president

Those with moral courage lead and can build health and prosperity lasting for generations. Those that force respect from their bombs lose that respect as soon as they stop bombing. They leave nothing but rubble, death and poverty behind. No to #aukus #auspol
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

I covered the Middle East when Saddam was America’s friend. The bloodletting hasn’t stopped Iranians deserve better than the ayatollahs – and they deserve better than an illegal war waged by a felonious, feckless president with no plan for what follows.

www.smh.com.au/world/middle...

Liberal senator breaks with party to urge ‘mercy for the children’ of IS-linked Australian women in Syria Backbencher Andrew McLachlan describes the 23 children as ‘innocents’ victimised by their parents’ ‘tragic attraction to a horrible ideology’

Coming from a consistent, coherent moral position, this senator shows a steadier heart and spirit than most in the major parties, and he has the courage to speak out. A chance to have a reasoned argument about something instead of jumping at every shadow. #auspol www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Trump killed Iran’s leader. It’s doubtful he has ideas beyond that The US president has sent a call to arms for the Iranian people to rise up against an unpopular regime. But that regime has thrived on the idea of resistance against overwhelming odds.

Trump’s war may last years, as per Iraq, at horrifying cost to the Iranian people - in whose name the war is almost certainly not. The Aus Gov and her advisors appear to have pulled out the 2003 playbook. So…don’t expect sanity anytime soon #auspol www.smh.com.au/world/middle...

AI and the End of Time Sami Mahroum explains how the technology is upending the measurement of human contributions to economic outcomes.

“As AI severs the link between time and output, and the foundation of modern labor contracts starts to give way…We are entering the first open conflict over the meaning of time since the Industrial Revolution” @australianunions.bsky.social #auspol www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/how-...

What are the kids going to do? This week’s job losses are the ripple before the tsunami Think you can offer career advice to your children? Even the world’s leading thinkers on AI are struggling.

“As if the illusion of home ownership, the destruction of the planet and the enormity of public and private debt were not enough of a burden to leave for the next generation” — an earthquake of political change coming too… #auspol www.smh.com.au/national/wha...

How a firebrand plumber triumphed for the Greens and infuriated the UK right Hannah Spencer walked through communities each day with a big smile, bright clothes and her four greyhounds. She was an antidote to the anodyne political class.

Inspiration all round in the UK! #auspol www.smh.com.au/world/europe...

Australia’s most costly anti-climate policy hits taxpayers for $30m a day as calls mount to wind back fuel tax credits | Adam Morton The government will hand over $10.8bn this financial year under the scheme that makes it cheaper for miners and other industries to use diesel and petrol

“This FY, taxpayers will hand over nearly $10.8bn to make it cheaper to use diesel and petrol…it is a clear fossil fuel subsidy and should be wound back, if not outright abolished, in this term of parliament.” Aus. Institute #auspol #envirinoment #climateheating www.theguardian.com/environment/...

If this country was truly “pro-life,” we would have Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, gun reform, universal child care, and a living wage.

The right-wing agenda isn’t about “life.”

It’s about control.

Liberals recast 'social cohesion' as US-style politics goes global If migration is treated primarily as a cultural fault line, rather than an economic system embedded in national growth, the debate will remain loud. The structural reform will remain unfinished.

This article may suffer an excess of intelligent reasoning. Could it have looked a step further at an economic system that relies on breaking solidarity to squeeze advantage out of workers, and at the formation of political parties for that express purpose? Who can say? #auspol url-shortener.me/D0G6

Something Big Is Happening A personal note for non-tech friends and family on what AI is starting to change.

This scary article referenced by Alan Kohler today ignores multiple obstacles to AI dominance: values, intent/meaning, complexities of human existence and experience not expressed as data, resources required for its current brute computing approach. #auspol #union shumer.dev/something-bi...

São Paulo names new law after dog that stayed by owner’s grave for 10 years The Bob Coveiro (the Gravedigger) Law ‘recognises the emotional bond between guardians and their pets’

The beauty of this story is as unfathomable as the mysteries running through every nook of our lives. Would the universe exist without love? What class of particles would that be? #love #bestfriends #physics www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

Israel pushes ahead in West Bank as Herzog visits Australia While Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited Sydney, his government was taking concrete actions in the West Bank designed to "continue to kill the idea of a Palestinian state".

Beating the crap out of protestors calling for the same rights for Palestinians and Israelis is not OK. This is a complete failure @australianlabor.bsky.social @australianunions.bsky.social #auspol www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...

Mamdani read @pookleblinky.bsky.social and was like "OK let's try some more of that"

Jewish Australians must be safe from fear or harassment. But shielding Isaac Herzog from legitimate protest is not the answer | George Newhouse Allowing fair and peaceful criticism of a foreign head of state, even amid a deeply fraught Middle Eastern crisis, is not antisemitism

“Love, sadly, cannot be legislated.” #auspol www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

What will the Israeli president be bringing on his trip to Australia? | Fiona Katauskas He isn’t travelling light

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... #auspol

Ye olde Sydney Opera House is packed for tonight's talk with @timbl.bsky.social inventor of the world wide web. Excited to hear his thoughts on how the community can reclaim the Web from corporate and dark forces. #www #community #foreveryone

Clip HD | The Mortal Storm | Warner Archive YouTube video by Warner Bros. Classics

For this week's #ThursdayFilmRec 🗃️🎥🍿🎬 #HATM

Watch or (Rewatch) "The Mortal Storm" (1940) - Dir. Frank Borzage, about the rise of Nazism (starring Jimmy Stewart & Margaret Sullavan).

It so infuriated Joseph Goebbels that he banned it in Germany & also all MGM films.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=p12s...

Read our advisory committee member, Josh Bornstein's important contribution in the ABC today (link in bio) about why Albanese should not have invited Herzog to Australia.

Rescind the invitation, now.

Masked government thugs snuffed out Alex Pretti’s life in broad daylight | Moira Donegan If they’re trying to eliminate witnesses, they cannot eliminate us all

From the cos-play executives to the hand that pulled the trigger…“After such knowledge, what forgiveness?” These killers, deep down, must know that they will not be forgiven.” Masked government thugs snuffed out Alex Pretti’s life in broad daylight | Moira Donegan www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Davos 2026: Special address by Mark Carney, PM of Canada Canadian PM Mark Carney stressed the end of the rules-based international order and urged middle powers to act together to counter the great power rivalry.

Canada’s PM: We know the old order is not coming back.…we can build something bigger…stronger, more just. This is the task of the middle powers, the countries that have the most to lose from a world of fortresses and most to gain from genuine cooperation. #auspol
www.weforum.org/stories/2026...

Please share. 💔

Don’t let this White House lie to you. Believe what you see.

Alex Pretti was trying to help a woman off the ground. Then immigration agents tackled, shot, and killed him.

It’s time for them to get the hell out of MN.

The Rise of the Tech Hamiltonians The political coalition that has formed under Trump’s banner has the potential to reshape American politics.

If you’re only out for yourself, think the world can be run like a machine, and suck all the resources out of your community - you’re no patriot, no friend of anybody, really: you’re a parasite offering short-term gain for long term pain - *no* to #aukus : www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

‘No new imperialism’: Macron throws shade at Trump in rebuke over Greenland The French president said the European Union “should not hesitate” to use sweeping trade sanctions against the US in the dispute over Greenland.

Global union “when we negotiate bilaterally with a hegemon, we negotiate from weakness. We accept what’s offered, compete with each other to be the most accommodating..the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination” @australianunions.bsky.social #auspol www.smh.com.au/world/europe...

'He's a T-Rex': Newsom warns US allies against 'rolling over' to Trump As European leaders struggle to come up with ways to ease the US president's ambition for a take over of Greenland, a prominent Democrat is accusing them of "rolling over".

Great analogy from one of the only effective leaders of - not so much The Left as ‘what’s left’ - of democratic political leaders of any strength in the US. Caucusing international support for a coming showdown of some kind… #auspol
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...