US-German billionaire Peter Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies, is holding a controversial series of lectures on the Antichrist in Rome this week, prompting criticism from Vatican-linked officials and institutions, according to multiple media reports. Thiel continues to face scrutiny over his ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The invitation-only conference, which began on Sunday and runs through Wednesday, is taking place at a secret location near the Vatican.

The content of the lectures – closed to the media and under tight security – is unclear, but is expected to focus on Thiel’s theory that the biblical Antichrist may appear not as a malevolent figure, but as “a reassuring actor” and heroic administrator aiming to manage technological risks.

As the US-Israeli war with Iran enters its third week, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria breaks down the United States’ latest attempt to reshape the political landscape in the Middle East through military action.

0:00 Fareed says America could learn from the British empire’s decline
3:02 Is America falling for the same imperial temptations that plagued the British empire?
4:40 Will the US intervention in Iran result in a tactical gain?
8:40 Is Iran’s new leader a win for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGDVTgOw_4Q&t=472s

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The RBA has managed to make a questionable interest rate decision worse by undermining its own credibility, as the dollar drops. Michael Pascoe writes.

The Law of Unintended Consequences is always at work. It’s a fair bet those who crafted the RBA review and the cheer squad who campaigned for it didn’t intend to diminish the institution,

an institution whose credibility matters as much as what it actually does.

But diminished the RBA is, and thus the message it tried to deliver with Tuesday’s rate rise is weakened, the pain of tighter monetary policy delivering less gain.

Instead of a strong message about the bank being committed to lower inflation, the mechanism invented by the review has resulted in a rise, the strength of which was quickly assessed by the market as being half-arsed.

HUMANS! WE OWE IT TO HUMANITY! WE HAVE TO DEFEAT DONALD TRUMP’S WAR OF CHOICE…. 

IT’S A DILEMMA FOR OUR OWN FUTURE… SHOULD WE LET OR EVEN HELP DONALD WIN HIS “EXCURSION” WE BECOME LIKE HIM. WE BECOME WAR CRIMINALS.

WHETHER WE LIKE OR DISLIKE THE “REGIME” IN IRAN, EVEN SHOULD WE BE ATHEIST AND NOT APPROVE OF THIS “REGIME” RELIGIOUS BELIEF, LETTING DONALD TRUMP GET AWAY WITH MURDER WILL BE A STAIN ON OUR CONSCIENCE THAT WILL LAST FOR A LONG TIME.

“THERE'S A SMELL IN HERE THAT WILL OUTLAST RELIGION” SAID KENNY PROPHETICALLY… AND THE SMELL IS DONALD TRUMP’S DESPICABLE RUTHLESS PSYCHOPATHY…

HIS WAR IS A CRIME. WE CANNOT LET HIM WIN....

WE CANNOT BE HIS PARTNER IN CRIME.

                     GUS LEONISKY

===========================

Australia’s carefully calibrated but confusing diplomacy has struggled to cope with the political and strategic consequences of the US-Israeli war with Iran.

The government’s problems in explaining its commitment to President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s war on Iran derives essentially from confusion about Australian roles and responsibilities in a Trump charged turbulent world.

James Curran

The European Union is losing credibility because it is not pushing back against the US, former EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said. He criticized the bloc’s passive stance on the Iran war and a trade deal with Washington, according to Politico.

In comments to the outlet on Monday, Borrell accused EU leaders of weak and selective policies that let Washington act with impunity and damage Europe’s interests.

Borrell, who has long criticized Israel’s actions in Gaza, has increasingly targeted the European Commission since leaving office. He said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has “continued to overstep her powers” in foreign policy, which the bloc’s founding treaties “clearly state” is not within her competence.

Let’s be honest, most people don’t think twice about portable toilets or what happens after they flush. But in 2006, an Aussie bloke in hi-vis changed all that. His name was Kenny Smyth, and his mission? Keeping the world turning one portable dunny at a time.

“Kenny”, the film, did something incredible. It took the often-overlooked world of liquid waste management and made it heartfelt, hilarious, and even a little bit philosophical. And somehow, it managed to make septic tanks, portaloos, and festival toilets… a little bit endearing?

That’s no small feat.

Monday, March 16, 2026: Officials in the administration of Donald Trump have increased pressure on American media outlets over their reporting on the ongoing war with Iran, raising concerns among journalists and free-speech organizations about possible threats to press freedom in the United States.

Antisemitism Envoy Jillian Segal backtracks on claims Sydney Harbour Bridge protests were antisemitic. Stephanie Tran reports on antisemitism meeting.

Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal has faced criticism following a Victorian local government forum hosted alongside the US-based Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), with attendees questioning the organisation’s influence and its push for councils to adopt International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism.

The IHRA definition conflates criticising the state of Israel with antisemitism.

The Victorian Local Government Forum on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, held at Glen Eira City Council, brought together councillors and mayors from across the state as part of a broader campaign by CAM to engage local governments.

US President Donald Trump has said that he has asked ‘about seven’ countries to join a coalition to police the Strait of Hormuz.

In a Sunday interview, he warned that NATO faces a “very bad” future if US allies fail to assist in securing the vital waterway currently blocked by Iran, which normally allows for 20 percent of the world’s oil to be shipped from the Persian Gulf.

None have responded to Trump’s request for assistance. While EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that it’s in Europe’s “interest” to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, she added that “it is out of NATO’s area of action” and that “there are no NATO countries in the Strait of Hormuz.”

Little shocks me these days, but when I heard President Trump’s remark this weekend that after “totally demolishing” much of Iran’s Kharg Island, the United States “may hit it a few more times just for fun,” I was taken aback.

War is not fun.

Trump’s ‘Just for Fun’ War Talk Shows a Dangerous Trivialization

When leaders frame war as entertainment, they desensitize citizens to its real human and geopolitical stakes.

By David L. Nevins

Hearing a president speak about bombing “just for fun” reflects something much more troubling than rhetorical bravado. It reveals an appalling disregard for the human facts of war. A commander‑in‑chief speaking casually regarding striking a strategic oil hub “for fun” signals something deeper than excess language: a trivialization of war itself.

THE CARTOON IN THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD TODAY (16 MARCH 2026) IS A HORRID PIECE OF PROPAGANDA... YES, WE KNOW, CARTOONIST BADIUCAO IS FIERCELY ANTI-CHINESE FOR PERSONAL REASONS AND WE APPRECIATE THIS... BUT BY PUBLISHING BADIUCAO'S WORK, THE SMH GENERALISE A PROPAGANDA AGAINST CHINA THAT IS BASED ON LIMITED AND INCORRECT GENERAL FACTS...

BUT THIS IS NOT NEW... SINCE THE MID 19TH CENTURY, THE CHINESE, WHO LIVE HERE AND ABROAD, HAVE BEEN VILIFIED IN AUSTRALIA... BADIUCAO AND THE SMH ONLY ADD TO THIS VILIFICATION... 

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Jan Fran picks an issue of the week that is living rent free in her head. Right now, it's Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke's decision to grant asylum to some members of the Iranian women's soccer team, while passing legislation that prevents people from conflict and crisis-affected countries from visiting Australia.

So ... while Burke is patting himself on the back for doing a thing, Labor’s moving legislation that prevents the thing he’s patting himself on the back for doing …from happening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDcj6Aq36Ag

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SEE ALSO: 

Conservative activist and commentator Tucker Carlson has been at the center of a row after he claimed that the CIA is purportedly preparing a criminal referral against him to the DOJ.