China today is not the China of the pre-COVID age, but many commentators think it is still an economy based on cheap manufacturing.

Several weeks ago, Thomas Friedman, diplomatic editor of The New York Times, travelled to China and published his impressions in a syndicated article on the country’s “staggering manufacturing muscle”. He concluded that “while we were sleeping China took a great leap forward in high-tech manufacturing of everything.” He failed to understand that this is not China redux.

Hard-right lobby group Advance Australia has amassed a $14m warchest to target Greens and Teals at the Federal Election. Michael West reports.

The latest political donations data released by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) reveal that right-wing lobby group Advance Australia has tripled its receipts since 22/23, now holding over $15 million for the 23/24 period. 

     by Michael West 

The story: Did you believe it 30 years ago when they told you that the Oslo Accords would bring peace to the Middle East? That Israel would finally withdraw from the Palestinian territories it had illegally occupied for decades, end its brutal repression of the Palestinian people, and allow a Palestinian state to be created there? That the longest runing sore for the Arab and Muslim worlds would finally be brought to an end?

As trade negotiations played out, Trump welcomed billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch to the Oval Office as he signed an executive order to begin creating a US sovereign wealth fund. Trump praised the “legendary” Murdoch, as well as fellow billionaire Larry Ellison, who was also present for the announcement.

But Trump did not shy away from criticising Murdoch’s newspaper The Wall Street Journal in front of him. The business-friendly paper has been highly critical of Trump’s tariffs, calling the move “the dumbest trade war in history”.

Zelensky has no idea where most of ‘$200 billion’ in US aid went
Kiev has received far less than the amount cited by President Donald Trump and other US officials, the Ukrainian leader says

Washington has provided Kiev with just over $75 billion in military and other types of assistance, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has claimed, adding that he has no idea where US President Donald Trump’s estimate of $200 billion originated or where it could have vanished.

Trump, who has been highly critical of his predecessor Joe Biden’s generosity toward Ukraine, has argued that NATO states and the EU should “equalize”their contributions with Washington’s support.

Past FAA Administrators Endorse Phil Washington, Biden’s Nominee for FAA Administrator

March 8, 2023

Republican attacks on Washington’s experience and qualifications drive former leaders to speak out – “We know what it takes to effectively run the FAA”    

Once again, US President Donald Trump has waded into the Palestinian issue, proposing radical solutions from a staunchly pro-Israel stance. The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which came into effect on January 19, is set to last 42 days, during which both sides have committed to negotiating further steps towards a resolution. However, the US president expressed skepticism about its longevity, noting the scale of destruction in Gaza.

Cambridge student:
Thank you very much. That was quite remarkable. It definitely isn’t sort of the mainstream opinion, … You talked about how there isn’t this kind of struggle with China and how the United States, the US empire, doesn’t need to position itself as kind of the leader, but there is kind of a struggle between, if not between US and China, between, between democracy and dictatorship in sort of various countries, various economies, various circles.

Donald Trump’s “snatch-and-grab” foreign policy rejects the belief in US primacy and exception that was sliding towards a military confrontation with China.

Some have been surprised by the speed with which President Donald Trump is moving on his agenda. Yet, his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, served notice only days after last November’s election, declaring Trump had two years to revolutionise the government.

As a tsunami of crocodile tears engulfs Western politicians, history is suppressed. More than a generation ago, Afghanistan won its freedom, which the United States, Britain and their “allies” destroyed.

In 1978, a liberation movement led by the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) overthrew the dictatorship of Mohammad Dawd, the cousin of King Zahir Shah. It was an immensely popular revolution that took the British and Americans by surprise.

The Great Game of Smashing Nations

2021 ARTICLE BY JOHN PILGER

French Prime Minister François Bayrou has warned that he will use special executive powers to force his government’s contentious 2025 budget through parliament without a vote – a move that is certain to trigger a no-confidence motion...

French PM Bayrou says will force through contentious budget without a vote

France’s minority government faced the prospect of a no-confidence motion next week after Prime Minister François Bayrou confirmed he would use special powers to force through his budget without a vote in parliament.

China will file a lawsuit at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and take other retaliatory measures against US President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on its goods, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement on Sunday. According to the statement, Beijing sees Washington’s unilateral tariff increase as “seriously violating” WTO rules.

Trump announced new tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada on Saturday, citing concerns over the three countries’ failures in stemming the flow of migrants and illegal drugs, such as fentanyl, into the US. In order to hike the tariffs, Trump declared a national economic emergency, invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which authorizes the president to unilaterally manage imports.

As campaigning ramps up ahead of the date announcement for the 2025 federal election, shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash says Opposition Leader Peter Dutton would take action in the same manner as US President Donald Trump.

Answering a question on Nine’s Today this morning, Cash said Trump was showing that “he’s a man of action” by delivering his promised tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China.

Dutton would deliver the ‘exact same’ attitude as Trump: Michaelia Cash
By Josefine Ganko

“The American people, they expect action. And that is what they’re getting. And they’ll get the exact same attitude under a Peter Dutton government,” Cash said.

In 2024, member states collectively spent an average of 1.9% of GDP on defence, while Russia was spending 9%, Kaja Kallas told the audience of the European Defence Agency annual conference on Monday.

The European Union must boost its defence spending to "prepare for the worst" and be able to defend itself "alone if needed" against a belligerent Russia, the EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday. 

"Many of our national intelligence agencies* are giving us the information that Russia could test the EU's readiness to defend itself in three to five years," Kallas told the audience at the European Defence Agency's annual conference in Brussels. 

What do Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and John Howard have in common with the Piltdown Man? They all managed to sell a hoax that lasted for decades, before it was exposed as completely false. But wait, their hoax is still central to transglobal neoliberal capitalism’s stranglehold on us all, whereas Charles Dawson’s 1912 forged ‘missing link’ skull from East Sussex became a lesson in how dangerous it is to let preconceptions override evidence.