‘My heart is broken’: Indigenous Australians lose landmark climate case
Federal court says government not obliged to shield residents of Torres Strait Islands from the effects of climate change. Indigenous Australians living on a string of climate-threatened islands have lost a landmark court case to hold the government responsible for lacklustre emissions targets, dealing a blow to Indigenous rights in the country. Australia’s Federal Court ruled on Tuesday that the government was not obliged to shield the Torres Strait Islands from the effects of climate change. “The applicants have not succeeded in making their primary case in negligence. The Commonwealth did not and does not owe Torres Strait Islanders the duty of care alleged by the applicants in support of their primary case,” Justice Michael Wigney was quoted by SBS news outlet as saying in his ruling. Scattered through the warm waters off Australia’s northernmost tip, the sparsely populated Torres Strait Islands are threatened by seas rising much faster than the global average. Torres Strait elders have spent the past four years fighting through the courts to prove the government failed to protect them through meaningful climate action. “I thought that the decision would be in our favour, and I’m in shock,” said Torres Strait Islander Paul Kabai, who helped to bring the case. “What do any of us say to our families now?” Fellow plaintiff Pabai Pabai said: “My heart is broken for my family and my community.” In his decision, Justice Wigney criticised the government for setting emissions targets between 2015 and 2021 that failed to consider the “best available science”. But these targets would have had little effect on global temperature rise, he found. Advertisement “Any additional greenhouse gases that might have been released by Australia as a result of low emissions targets would have caused no more than an almost immeasurable increase in global average temperatures,” Wigney said. Australia’s previous conservative government sought to cut emissions by about 26 percent before 2030. The incumbent left-leaning government in 2022 adopted new plans to slash emissions by 40 percent before the end of the decade and reach net zero by 2050. Torres Strait Islanders and allies march during a protest in Melbourne, Australia, November 13, 2019 [File: EPA] Fewer than 5,000 people live in the Torres Strait, a collection of about 274 mud islands and coral cays wedged between Australia’s mainland and Papua New Guinea. Lawyers for traditional land owners from Boigu and Saibai – among the worst-affected islands – asked the court to order the government “to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to a level that will prevent Torres Strait Islanders from becoming climate refugees”. Sea levels in some parts of the archipelago are rising almost three times faster than the global average, according to official figures. Rising tides have washed away graves, eaten through huge chunks of exposed coastline, and poisoned once-fertile soils with salt. The lawsuit argued some islands would soon become uninhabitable if global temperatures rose more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (34.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. The World Meteorological Organization has warned this threshold could be breached before the end of the decade. More than one billion people will live in coastal areas at risk of rising sea levels by 2050, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Global sea levels could rise by up to 60cm (24 inches) by the end of the century, even if greenhouse gas emissions are not dramatically reduced, it said. Adblock test (Why?)
Australian activist sends “shoutout” to Tel Aviv embassy
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Aboard the flotilla to Gaza, activist Tania Safi slams Australia’s Tel Aviv embassy for urging her to drop the mission.
Trump announces new weapons for Ukraine, threatens tariffs on Russia
[unable to retrieve full-text content] US President Donald Trump announced a shipment of weapons for Ukraine while threatening tariffs on Russia.
Why are Afghan refugees being sent back to Taliban rule?
Afghans who fled decades ago are now being forced back to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan as Iran, Pakistan, or the US turn their backs on them. With refugees who were once promised safety now being deported into crisis, why are these countries choosing to abandon them, and what does this reveal about the state of asylum worldwide? Adblock test (Why?)
Trump again slams ‘stupid’ US Fed chairman over interest rate levels
The president’s frequent attacks against Jerome Powell have sparked concerns about the independence of the central bank. United States President Donald Trump has again attacked Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, stepping up criticism that has sparked concerns over efforts to undermine the independence of the country’s central bank. In remarks before religious figures at the White House on Monday, Trump called Powell a “knucklehead” and insisted that he should lower interest rates. “He’s a knucklehead. Stupid guy. He really is,” Trump said, insisting that inflation is not currently a serious concern for the economy and that interest rates should be brought down to one percent. The US president’s frequent barbs and threats to replace Powell have previously spooked markets, wary of what some investors see as an effort to bring the central bank and the crafting of monetary policy under greater political control. The central bank chief has thus far refused to budge on the question of interest rates, saying that it is still too early to bring them down given sources of potential disruption such as changing tariff policy. Trump said over the weekend that he is planning to place important US trading partners such as the European Union and Mexico under a 30 percent tariff starting on August 1, and has warned other countries they could face similar rates or worse if they do not swiftly come to individual agreements with the US. Kevin Hassett, an economic adviser to Trump, also stated over the weekend that the president might be able to fire Powell for cause, citing higher-than-expected expenses for the renovation of the bank’s headquarters. Advertisement The Fed has been in the process of renovating two buildings for its offices in Washington, DC for several years, with a current cost estimate of $2.5bn, about $700m more than originally anticipated. Such cost overruns are far from atypical in Washington, but officials in the Trump administration have pounced on them as a potential door to firing Powell, whom Trump has long criticised. Trump’s top budget adviser Russell Vought said last week that the White House is “extremely troubled” by the expense of the project, which critics saw as an effort to pile additional pressure on the central bank. Vought played an important role in the controversial conservative blueprint for a second Trump term known as Project 2025, which envisions a radical restructuring of government and consolidation of greater power in the executive branch. A spokesperson for the US Inspector General, a nonpartisan government watchdog, says that Powell has requested a review of the cost overruns. Adblock test (Why?)
EU delays retaliatory tariffs against US amid hopes for trade deal
Ursula von der Leyen says bloc hopes to see negotiated solution to trade tensions. The European Union has delayed retaliatory tariffs on exports from the United States as officials scramble to reach a trade deal with Washington ahead of US President Donald Trump’s August 1 deadline. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said on Sunday that the bloc would extend its suspension of countermeasures as it continued negotiations with the Trump administration. “At the same time, we will continue to prepare for the countermeasures, so we’re fully prepared,” von der Leyen said during a news conference in Brussels. “We have always been very clear that we prefer a negotiated solution,” she added. “This remains the case, and we will use the time that we have now until the 1st of August.” The EU’s announcement comes after Trump on Saturday unveiled plans to slap a 30 percent tariff on European and Mexican exports from August 1. The EU in March announced retaliatory tariffs on 26 billion euros ($30bn) of US exports in response to Trump’s duties on steel and aluminium. The bloc paused the measures for 90 days the following month after Trump announced he would delay the implementation of his so-called “reciprocal tariffs”. The EU’s pause had been due to expire at midnight on Monday. EU trade ministers are scheduled to convene in Brussels on Monday to discuss options for responding to Trump’s latest tariff threats. On Sunday, White House Economic Adviser Kevin Hassett said that Trump was not happy with the “sketches of deals” presented by US trade partners so far and that their offers would “need to be better”. Advertisement “These tariffs are real if the president doesn’t get a deal that he thinks is good enough, but, you know, conversations are ongoing, and we’ll see where the dust settles,” Hassett told ABC News’s This Week. Taken together, EU member countries are the US’s largest trading partner. US-EU trade in goods and services amounted to 1.7 trillion euros ($2 trillion) in 2024, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat. Adblock test (Why?)
Historic Grand Canyon lodge burns to ashes in wildfire at US national park
About 50 to 80 other structures also destroyed as two wildfires burn at or near the Grand Canyon’s North Rim in Arizona. Wildfires have engulfed a historic lodge, destroying it and dozens of other structures along the Grand Canyon’s North Rim in the state of Arizona in the southwestern United States, park officials say. Rangers were forced to close access to that part of the Grand Canyon National Park on Sunday. Superintendent Ed Keable said the Grand Canyon Lodge was consumed by flames. He said a park visitor centre, petrol station, wastewater treatment plant, administrative building and employee housing were also among the 50 to 80 structures lost. Two wildfires are burning at or near the North Rim. They are known as the White Sage Fire and the Dragon Bravo Fire. The latter is the one that destroyed the lodge and other structures. Started by lightning on July 4, the Dragon Bravo Fire was initially managed by authorities with a “confine and contain” strategy. However, due to hot temperatures, low humidity and strong winds, it grew to 20 square kilometres (7.8 square miles), fire officials said. No injuries have been reported so far. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs urged the federal government late on Sunday to investigate the National Park Service’s response to the wildfire. “They must first take aggressive action to end the wildfire and prevent further damage,” she said in a post on X. “But Arizonans deserve answers for how this fire was allowed to decimate the Grand Canyon National Park.” I am incredibly saddened by the destruction of the historic Grand Canyon Lodge, and my heart goes out to every person impacted by the Dragon Bravo Fire near the Grand Canyon’s North Rim. Thank you to every firefighter and first responder taking action to combat the flames. — Governor Katie Hobbs (@GovernorHobbs) July 14, 2025 Advertisement Millions of people visit the park annually with most going to the South Rim. The North Rim is open seasonally. It was evacuated on Thursday because of the wildfire and will remain closed for the rest of the season, the park said in a statement. The Grand Canyon Lodge was often the first prominent feature that visitors would see, even before viewing the canyon. “It just feels like you’re a pioneer when you walk through [the lodge],” said Tim Allen, an Arizona resident and yearly visitor to the Grand Canyon. “It really felt like you were in a time gone by.” Caren Carney, another visitor to the park evacuated with her family, said she was heartbroken to hear that such a “magical place” had burned down. Firefighters at the North Rim and hikers in the inner canyon were also evacuated on Saturday and Sunday. The park said that beside the fire risk, they could also potentially be exposed to chlorine gas after the treatment plant burned. Aramark, the company that operated the lodge, said all employees and guests were safely evacuated. “As stewards of some of our country’s most beloved national treasures, we are devastated by the loss,” spokesperson Debbie Albert said. One of the greatest wonders of the natural world, the Grand Canyon is the result of the Colorado River eating away at layers of red sandstone and other rock for millions of years, leaving a gash up to 30km (18 miles) wide and more than 1.6km (1 mile) deep. Last year, almost five million people visited the site. Adblock test (Why?)
‘Inexcusable’: US Senate report faults Secret Service for Trump shooting
Presidential protection service accused of pattern of negligence, communications breakdowns in planning and execution of Trump rally. A United States Senate inquiry into an attempt to assassinate President Donald Trump at a campaign rally last year has blamed the Secret Service for “inexcusable” failures in its operations and response and called for more serious disciplinary action. The report, released on Sunday, a year after a 20-year-old gunman opened fire on Trump, accused the presidential protection service of a pattern of negligence and communications breakdowns in planning and executing the rally. On July 13, 2024, a gunman shot the then-Republican Party presidential candidate during a campaign rally in the town of Butler in the state of Pennsylvania, grazing his ear. One bystander was killed and two people in addition to Trump were wounded before a government sniper killed the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks. “What happened was inexcusable and the consequences imposed for the failures so far do not reflect the severity of the situation,” said the report released by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The shooting energised Trump’s bid to return to the White House as his campaign used a photo of him bloodied and pumping his fist as he was hurried offstage to woo voters. ‘Complete breakdown’ The report did not shed new light on the gunman’s motive, which still remains a mystery, but accused the Secret Service of “a cascade of preventable failures that nearly cost President Trump his life”. “The United States Secret Service failed to act on credible intelligence, failed to coordinate with local law enforcement,” said the committee’s Republican chairman, Rand Paul. Advertisement “Despite those failures, no one has been fired,” he added. “It was a complete breakdown of security at every level – fuelled by bureaucratic indifference, a lack of clear protocols and a shocking refusal to act on direct threats. “We must hold individuals accountable and ensure reforms are fully implemented so this never happens again.” The Secret Service identified communications, technical and human errors and said reforms were under way, including improving coordination between different law enforcement bodies involved in security at events and establishing a division dedicated to aerial surveillance. Six unidentified staff have been disciplined, according to the agency. The punishments ranged from 10 to 42 days of suspension without pay, and all six were put into restricted or nonoperational positions. Days before the assassination attempt’s anniversary, Trump said “mistakes were made” but he was satisfied with the investigation. On Sunday, Trump told reporters, “God was protecting me,” adding that he did not like to think “too much” about the assassination attempt. “It’s a little bit of a dangerous profession being president, but I really don’t like to think about it too much,” he said. Trump marked the event on Sunday by joining family, friends and close advisers to witness Chelsea’s dominating FIFA Club World Cup final victory over Paris Saint-Germain at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Adblock test (Why?)
Canadian universities too should be in Francesca Albanese’s report
“Universities worldwide, under the guise of research neutrality, continue to profit from an [Israeli] economy now operating in genocidal mode. Indeed, they are structurally dependent on settler-colonial collaborations and funding.” This is what United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese wrote in her latest report “From economy of occupation to economy of genocide”, which documents the financial tentacles of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and beyond. Its release prompted the United States’ governing regime to issue sanctions against Albanese in a move the Italian legal scholar rightly described as “obscene” and “mafia intimidation tactics”. The report reveals how universities not only invest their endowments in corporations linked to Israel’s war machine, but also engage in directly or support research initiatives that contribute to it. It is not only a damning indictment of the complicity of academia in genocide, but also a warning to university administrations and academics that they hold legal responsibility. In Israel, Albanese observes, traditional humanities disciplines such as law, archaeology, and Middle Eastern studies essentially launder the history of the Nakba, reframing it through colonial narratives that erase Palestinian histories and legitimise an apartheid state that has transitioned into what she describes as a “genocidal machine”. Likewise, STEM disciplines engage in open collaborations with military industrial corporations, such as Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries, IBM, and Lockheed Martin, to facilitate their research and development. Advertisement In the United States, Albanese writes, research is funded by the Israeli Defence Ministry and conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with various military applications, including drone swarm control. In the United Kingdom, she highlights, the University of Edinburgh has 2.5 percent of its endowment invested in companies that participate in the Israeli military industrial complex. It also has partnerships with Ben-Gurion University and with companies supporting Israeli military operations. While Canadian institutions do not appear in Albanese’s report, they very easily could and, indeed, we argue, should. Canada’s flagship school, the University of Toronto (UofT), where one of us teaches and another is an alumnus, is a particularly salient example. Over the past 12 years, the UofT’s entanglements with Israeli institutions have snowballed, stretching across fields from the humanities to cybersecurity. They also involve Zionist donors (both individuals and groups), many of whom have ties with complicit corporations and Israeli institutions, and have actively interfered with university hiring practices to an extent that has drawn censure from the Canadian Association of University Teachers. This phenomenon must be understood in the context of the defunding of public higher education, which forces universities to seek private sources of funding and opens up universities to donor interference. After calls for cutting such ties intensified amid the genocide, the UofT doubled down on them over the past year, advertising artificial intelligence-related partnerships with Technion University in Haifa, joint calls for proposals with various Israeli universities, and student exchange programmes in Israel. The UofT also continues to fundraise for its “Archaeology of Israel Trust”, which was set up to make a “significant contribution to the archaeology of Israel” – a discipline that has historically focused on legitimising the Israeli dispossession of the Palestinian people. It also inaugurated a new lab for the study of global anti-Semitism, which is funded by the University of Toronto-Hebrew University of Jerusalem Research & Innovation Alliance. In addition to institutional partnerships, UofT’s Asset Management Corporation (UTAM), which manages the university’s endowment, has direct connections with many companies that are, as per Albanese’s report, complicit in the genocide in Palestine, including Airbnb, Alphabet Inc, Booking Holdings, Caterpillar, Elbit Systems, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, and Palantir Technologies. Advertisement A 2024 report found that 55 of these companies operate “in the military-affiliated defence, arms, and aerospace sectors” and at least 12 of UTAM’s 44 contracted investment managers have made investments totalling at least $3.95 billion Canadian dollars ($2.88bn) in 11 companies listed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) as supporters of the construction and expansion of illegal settlements in the Palestinian territories. Furthermore, 17 of UTAM’s 44 contracted investment managers are responsible for managing around $15.79 billion Canadian dollars ($11.53bn) in assets invested in 34 companies identified by The American Friends Service Committee as benefiting from the ongoing genocide in Gaza. UofT is not unique among Canadian universities in this regard. According to a report on university divestment, Western University, too, promotes ongoing partnerships with Ben-Gurion University and invests more than $16m Canadian dollars ($11.6m) in military contractors and nearly $50 million Canadian dollars ($36.5) in companies directly complicit in the occupation of Palestine and the genocide of Palestinians. The list of complicit companies again includes Lockheed Martin, as well others listed by Albanese like Chevron, Booking Holdings, Airbnb, and Microsoft. McGill University, another top Canadian university, has also invested in Lockheed Martin, as well as notable military industrial companies like Airbus, BAE Systems, Safran, and Thales, which have also been accused of providing weapons and components to Israel. In the context of the ongoing genocide, students, staff, and faculty at such complicit universities – including at each of our respective institutions – have been demanding that their universities boycott and divest from Israel and companies profiting from its warfare. They are not only explicitly in the right according to international law, but are actually articulating the basic legal responsibility and requirement borne by all corporate entities. And yet, for raising this demand, they have been subjected to all manner of discipline and punishment. What Albanese’s report lays bare is that university administrators – like other corporate executives – are subject to and, frankly, should fear censure under international law. She writes, “Corporations must respect human rights even if a State where they operate does not, and they may be held accountable even if they have complied with the domestic laws where they operate. In other words, compliance with domestic laws does not preclude/is not a defence to responsibility or liability.” This means that those administrating universities in Canada and around the world who have refused to divest and disentangle
Syria says wildfires in northwest Latakia province contained after 10 days
The fires were contained with help from Turkish, Jordanian, Lebanese, Qatari and Iraqi firefighting teams. Wildfires in northwestern Syria, which have burned vast tracts of forest and farmland and forced evacuations, have been brought under control after 10 days. In a statement posted on Facebook on Sunday, the civil defence agency said, “with the spread of the fires halted and the fire hotspots brought under control on all fronts”, teams on the ground are working to cool down the affected areas while monitoring any signs of reignition. The blazes in the coastal province of Latakia broke out on July 3 amid an intense heatwave across the region, which also affected the Dortyol district and neighbouring Turkiye. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said it destroyed about 100 square kilometres (40 square miles) of forest and farmland. As the fires raged, Syrian emergency workers not only had to use outdated equipment but also contend with high temperatures, strong winds, rugged mountainous terrain and the danger of explosive war remnants. This all comes in a country worn down by years of conflict and economic crisis, nearly seven months after the ousting of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad and the installation of a transitional government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the now-disbanded armed group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. In a post on X, Raed al-Saleh, Syria’s minister for emergencies and disaster management, said civil defence and firefighting teams “managed to halt the spread of the fire on all fronts” with help from Turkish, Jordanian, Lebanese, Qatari and Iraqi teams. Advertisement Turkiye earlier sent two firefighting aircraft to help battle the blazes. Eleven fire trucks and water support vehicles were also dispatched, according to al-Saleh. “Firefighting teams are intensively working to extinguish remaining hotspots and cool the areas already put out. The situation is moving toward containment followed by comprehensive cooling operations,” said al-Saleh. “There are still threats due to wind activity, but we are working to prevent any renewed fire expansion.” Authorities have not reported any casualties, but several towns in Latakia province were evacuated as a precaution. With human-induced climate change increasing the likelihood and intensity of droughts and wildfires worldwide, Syria has also been battered by heatwaves and low rainfall. In June, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization said Syria has “not seen such bad climate conditions in 60 years”. Adblock test (Why?)