Latest news with #Arabs
Saudi Gazette
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Fresh missile barrage hits Israeli port city as high-level talks begin in Geneva
HAIFA — Nearly two dozen people were wounded in parts of Israel on Friday after Iran unleashed a fresh barrage of missiles as international efforts intensify to ease the conflict with Israel over Tehran's nuclear program. Foreign ministers from the UK, France, and Germany have met their Iranian counterpart in Geneva on Friday The talks come as US President Donald Trump says he will decide within two weeks whether to join Israel's ongoing military campaign against Iran, amid reports that Washington is actively considering intervention. At least 23 people were injured, Israel's Magen David Adom (MDA) said. A 16-year-old boy, and two men aged 54 and 40, were among those seriously injured with shrapnel. In the northern city of Karmiel, a woman died after she suffered a heart attack inside a shelter, the MDA added. Paramedics and eyewitnesses described scenes of people bleeding in the streets, after they were dispatched to several neighborhoods in northern Israel. 'We heard a very loud noise and felt a blast wave. When I exited the shelter, I saw that the windows in my house were shattered, and there was a lot of broken glass,' Ahmed Zidan said in an MDA press release. 'I saw heavy smoke and massive destruction in the building near the parking area that was hit by the rocket,' Zidan added. Iran said the latest attack targeted 'military objectives, defense industries, and command centers' in Israel, a spokesperson for the country's Revolutionary Guard said, according to state media. Haifa's mayor stressed need for peace after the Iranian missile barrage on Friday. The 'name of the game is peace,' Yona Yahav, mayor of the northern Israeli city, told CNN. He said the two-week deadline set by President Donald Trump to decide on whether the US will join Israel's military action on Iran is too long. Speaking to CNN's Nic Robertson from the city in the aftermath of a fresh Iranian missile barrage, Mayor Yona Yahav confirmed that no one had been killed in the attack. According to Israeli emergency services, a total of 21 people were injured in Haifa during the attacks, including three with severe injuries. Yahav also said 'I don't like wars,' after having personally experienced 10 of them, adding that the 'name of the game is peace.' He said his culturally mixed city has been a mostly peaceful home to both Jews and Arabs for over 100 years. When asked about the talks that are being held in Geneva between Iran and European countries, Yahav said he hoped that a peace treaty would be the ultimate end result. The mayor said that the two-week deadline President Trump had given to decide US actions on Iran was 'too much,' as he said it is difficult for residents to live while wrapped up in war. 'A fixed answer I can't get from Trump, and this bothers me,' he said. 'Because I like stability, and I think that he has to give me this stability.' — CNN
West Australian
13 hours ago
- Business
- West Australian
Ben Harvey: Foreign ownership of oil and gas assets is nothing new
The United Arab Emirates has more oil than a Sean Combs freak-off, so why is it sniffing around Australian energy company Santos? And why would the UAE offer to pay such an astonishing premium (a full 28 per cent above Santos' then market value) to acquire a business that's 10,000km from home and in a different hemisphere to boot? Anyone who doubts the world's ongoing dependence on fossil fuel should think about the logic of this takeover bid. Abu Dhabi's ruling Nahyan family didn't become billionaires 300 times over by writing cheques. They aren't fools and they don't part with their money readily. This week's $36b bid for the Kevin Gallagher-led LNG and domestic gas business isn't chump change, even for the Arabs. So, what do they know about this 'legacy' business that we don't? It's got to be a hedge against the turmoil in the Middle East, right? The wide-open sea lanes of the Indian and Pacific oceans must look like a cake walk compared with the Strait of Hormuz. The most dangerous thing an LNG tanker will run into around Australia will be an Indonesian fishing vessel that's drifted off course. There's no chance of being targeted by Houthi rebels or accidentally strafed by aircraft launching from the USS Nimitz carrier strike group. Geographical diversification seems a logical reason for the UAE play but the geo-political imperative doesn't explain the timing. Sure, Tehran and Tel Aviv have spiced things up of late, but when was the Middle East not engulfed by turmoil? It's been a war zone pretty much every day since the first kibbutz was established in 1948. Yet in all that time — through the Arab-Israeli war, Egyptian revolution, Suez crisis, the Lebanese civil war, Iran-Iraq war, the Iranian revolution, Gulf War 1, Gulf War 2 and countless other skirmishes and crises — the oil-rich provinces rarely looked outside their own backyard for investment opportunities in the fossil fuel game. Certainly not this far outside their backyard. Take risk-defraying out of the value equation and you are left with one upside: the UAE reckons the world is going to be dependent on hydrocarbons, and natural gas in particular, for a long, long time. Santos shareholders, including dominant stockowner L1 Capital, clearly aren't as confident in a CO2-soaked future because they were falling over themselves to accept the bid. The only thing standing in the way of shareholders and a fat profit is the Foreign Investment Review Board, which has to tick off on the sale to foreign entities of Australian assets that are economically or politically sensitive. The deal will give the FIRB pause for thought because Santos owns some important stuff. The company runs the Darwin LNG plant, supplies one sixth of WA's domestic gas and owns and fills the pipelines that feeds the east coast energy system. It is also Australia's most aggressive oil and gas play. At a time when fossil fuel executives are desperately trying to pass themselves off as windfarm manufacturers, Gallagher stands out as a 'drill, baby, drill' kind of guy. Billy Bob Thornton could well have had an eye on Gallagher when he got into character in the TV series Landman. Drill, make as much money as possible, spud and move on to the next prospective patch of the outback or sea floor. Rinse and repeat. He is Greta Thunberg's worst nightmare and he cares not one jot about that. Gallagher's solution to the current supply crunch is simple: more exploration permits. His insistence that Australia can drill its way out of trouble is relevant to the UAE takeover because Gallagher has spent the past few years bagging the Federal Government's 'soviet' energy policy. With $50m on the table (at the $8.89 offer price that's the value of the Santos stock he has in his family trust, employee equity scheme and short-term incentives) Gallagher's likely trying to bleach those remarks from the internet, lest Jim Chalmers chances upon them whilst considering the impending FIRB recommendation. Shareholders will also be hoping the Treasurer doesn't make this decision personal. Chalmers will almost certainly feign concern about foreign ownership, especially by a State-run entity. XRG, which is the name of the bidder, is a subsidiary of a national oil company owned by the Government of Abu Dhabi, which trades under the imaginative name Abu Dhabi National Oil Company The word 'feign' is used advisedly because the reality is foreign ownership of Australian oil and gas assets is nothing new. Only 43 per cent of Santos is owned by local shareholders; the Americans have the rest. It may be headquartered in Adelaide, but Santos' financial heart is in the US. Australia's most important energy asset — the North West Shelf — might be operated by Woodside but it is owned by London-headquartered BP and Shell, Californian supermajor Chevron, Beijing's China National Offshore Oil Corporation and Japan Australia LNG. Woodside itself is only 55 per cent Australian owned, with almost half its stockholders residing in the US and the UK. The Dampier-to-Bunbury pipeline, which brings gas from the NW Shelf to southern WA, is owned by a Hong Kong national — billionaire Li Ka-Shing. The Ichthys project in water off Broome is run by Japan's INPEX and the Gladstone LNG plant is a joint venture between Santos, Malaysia's Petronas and South Korea's KOGAS. What difference will another flag make?
Zawya
a day ago
- Science
- Zawya
AI and the crafting of parallel history
Used wisely, AI rekindles the Promethean spark, not to burn, but to illuminate the dark corridors of our shared past and guide us towards paths once unseen. With the rise of intelligent algorithms capable of generating language and imagery in ways that mirror the human mind, a new realm of historical imagination has emerged, what can be called the "galaxy of historical possibilities". This domain of counterfactual history asks: what if events had unfolded differently? What if Julius Caesar had not been assassinated, or the Arabs had triumphed at pivotal battles? Such questions, once confined to speculative philosophy, have gained new legitimacy through artificial intelligence (AI) and its simulation capabilities. AI, powered by deep learning and neural networks, can now be trained on massive datasets of historical, economic and demographic information. It can simulate countless alternate realities, tracking how a single altered event might cascade through time like a domino effect. These simulations do not recreate history as it was, but they revive possible histories grounded in plausible models and precise probabilities. While traditional historians rely on artefacts, documents and testimonies, AI adds a fourth dimension: the "simulated probability", a causality-based narrative framework that allows a tweak in one event to reveal systemic historical shifts. Used wisely, AI rekindles the Promethean spark, not to burn, but to illuminate the dark corridors of our shared past and guide us towards paths once unseen. Sceptics may argue this overstates AI's power. Indeed, AI does not possess conscious knowledge of the past; it merely generates outcomes from patterns. However, its value lies in offering a hypothetical mirror, an imaginative yet logical contrast to actual history, revealing how contingent the course of human events truly is. This approach reshapes how societies perceive history in three ways. First, it breaks the illusion of historical determinism, revealing that major outcomes are not inevitable but the result of human choices. This awakens political agency, showing individuals that the present is not a dead end but an open frontier. Second, it empowers historically marginalised peoples. For nations colonised or erased from dominant narratives, counterfactual simulations provide moral consolation and restore symbolic justice. It's not about rewriting history but imagining the dignity that was denied. Third, in political science, these simulated models become testing grounds for policy, revealing dangers or opportunities before real-world decisions are made. Such developments provoke a profound question: what is history? Is it a sequence of necessary outcomes dictated by natural and economic systems? Or is it a dance of probabilities around human decisions? AI cannot fully answer this, but it radically expands our perception. It allows us to envision history as a topological field of overlapping timelines, not a straight line. This view aligns with both philosophical critiques of linear progress and quantum physics' interpretation of reality as a wave function collapsing into one observable event. In this frame, parallel histories become a scientifically plausible concept. However, access to 'alternative histories' is not always neutral. Governments or corporations may misuse such simulations to construct persuasive, pseudo-scientific propaganda. By manipulating data inputs or assumptions, they can present a desired narrative as the "most likely" future, shaping public opinion through visually and linguistically compelling stories. This creates a risk that AI becomes not a tool for knowledge, but a factory of illusions. Ethical protocols must be established, requiring transparency in data, clarity about assumptions and openness to peer review, to prevent such misuse. Ultimately, humanity has given AI the unprecedented ability to dissect and recompose time. Not to escape the past, but to reinterpret it. Counterfactual simulations are more than narrative play, they are intellectual tools that reposition humans at the centre of historical agency. If, as philosopher Edmund Husserl said, philosophy is 'the science of absolute beginnings', then AI may be the technological key to rethinking history not as a record of what was, but as a spectrum of what could have been and what may yet still be. By transforming imaginative simulation into a mental laboratory, AI enhances our capacity to ask deeper questions, exercise creative freedom and prepare future generations to envision less tragic, more just futures. Used wisely, AI rekindles the Promethean spark, not to burn, but to illuminate the dark corridors of our shared past and guide us towards paths once unseen. 2022 © All right reserved for Oman Establishment for Press, Publication and Advertising (OEPPA) Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Time to get serious about proper sanctions on Israel
You hear there's food. A truck might be coming. Maybe. So you walk – miles sometimes. You bring your ID, your kids, anything you can carry. You wait in the sun, in the dust, surrounded by hundreds just like you, hoping this isn't one of the days the Israeli army decides to shoot. On Tuesday, they did, leaving 59 people dead and more than 200 wounded ('At least 59 Palestinians killed waiting for aid', June 19). They came for flour and left in body bags. This isn't the first time. Three hundred and ninety-seven people have been killed trying to reach aid trucks in the past month. And it won't be the last — unless world leaders, Anthony Albanese included, decide otherwise. That means cutting diplomatic ties. Imposing real sanctions. Halting arms sales. Anything less is complicity. Fernanda Trecenti, Fitzroy (Vic) Thomas Friedman made a lot of good points in his article, but your correspondent Alexander Hilson (Letters, June 19) somewhat misrepresented what Friedman was saying about Palestinian self-determination. He didn't say that they would need the approval of the United States, only that any future government of theirs would need to fulfil the requirements of statehood. He went on to describe what this might entail. The real point is that thus far, all attempts at resolving the conflict have failed because the Palestinian leadership does not come close to meeting these requirements and is not fit to govern any future Palestinian state. Ridding them of Hamas has to be the first step before any recognition of Palestine. Steve Davidson, Turramurra Israel attacks Iran and suddenly Israel striking starving Palestinians queueing for food doesn't make it onto the front page. Israel's genocide in Gaza should not be buried at the back of the newspaper. Genevieve Milton, Dulwich Democracy no ruler Correspondent Michael Berger says that, for the first time in 20 years, Iran was in breach of its non-proliferation obligations (Letters, June 18). Evidently, this is enough reason for Israel to assassinate whoever it wants and bomb Iran. Of course, Israel itself is not in breach of non-proliferation obligations – it does not have any because it refuses to be part of the process. It does what it wants on the nuclear field with no supervision. When we compare the two states, Iran and Israel, Israel is much less compliant on nuclear non-proliferation. But Israel is democratic, isn't it? One of the good guys. Ask the Arabs of the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights when they had a vote for the government of Israel. Israel is democratic in the same way as South Africa was democratic during apartheid – only some citizens get to vote. We are sometimes told that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. It is probably true that it is the closest to a democracy, as the free and fair election of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt was almost immediately overturned by the USA, supported by the local military. The Muslim Brotherhood is now declared a terrorist organisation. As far as many Arabs are concerned, the idea of democracy is meaningless as they will never be permitted to win by the USA and its local agents. Democracy cannot be used as a measure of legitimacy in the Middle East. Reg Lawler, Dagun (Qld) Alan Russell presents, I fear, an overly optimistic view of the restraints on Donald Trump over the Israel-Iran conflict (Letters, June 19). It is true that only Congress has the power to declare war, as it did in December 1941 against Japan. However, America carried on a decade-long war in Vietnam with no declaration of war. President Johnson was able to conduct the conflict there on the basis of a congressional resolution, 'The Tonkin Resolution'. Don't forget Trump's action against Syria in April 2017, when he ordered Tomahawk missile strikes on the Assad regime. No congressional declaration of war there either. Ken Webb, Epping With a foreboding sense of deja vu, I am reminded of President George W. Bush rushing into Iraq looking for 'weapons of mass destruction' (' Trump camp split over Iran ', June 19). Between the start of the war in 2003 and its end in 2011, the US had 4500 dead and 32,000 injured. They never did find the weapons. Gavin Williamson, Narrabeen Albo dodged a bullet I fail to see why our prime minister is so desperate to gain a brief audience with the world's most unreliable and egotistical leader – a laughing stock among other world leaders – even to trying to catch up with him on the sidelines of the Nato summit (' Albanese races to lock in new date with Trump ', June 19). Five minutes after the encounter, Donald Trump would have forgotten Albanese's name, let alone the contents of the conversation (Remember Joe Biden's reference to 'that fellow from Down Under'?) That brief but intense meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky in St Peter's Basilica in Rome failed to bring an end to the war in Ukraine. Indeed, Putin plays Trump like a trout. The tragic reality is that the US is no longer our great and powerful friend and is an entirely different nation from the one I once loved and lived in. Paul Keating is right to say that America's AUKUS review could save Australia from itself, so let's get on with it. Bernard Moylan, Bronte Shaun Carney, Australians don't understand why Australian leaders continue to chase after their American counterparts like lost puppies (' PM can keep playing that dead bat ', June 19). Scott Morrison's sycophantic behaviour to Trump was sickening and as an aside can be blamed, in no small part, on the Coalition's downfall. If Australia stops its wanton fealty to the US, at some point the US will eventually come running for favours. At that time, Australia should have developed alternate alliances and therefore either have bigger bargaining chips, or ultimately ask the US to speak to the hand. Ted Bush, North Epping Shaun Carney's column strikes a chord, as does Nick Bonyhady's concurrent article (' Paul Keating accuses Marles of 'careless betrayal ' over China', June 19). Gambling as a national trait is normally confined to enjoyable recreational activities, like the next race, footy match, etc. Gambling on igniting a potential world war is the 'ultimate crapshoot', one we'll happily leave to our American mates. Being pragmatic as well as maintaining our sovereignty are both part of our national DNA. Equally, kowtowing to or being bullied by any other nation doesn't sit well. Being dragged into wars, most recently by our previous US 'cousins', has concentrated our collective memory. Sitting this one out and ensuring we don't burn the bridges, economically and diplomatically, that Labor has worked hard to rebuild, is a wise move. Cleveland Rose, Dee Why Any politician or commentator perturbed by the snubbing of Anthony Albanese by Donald Trump should instead be thankful he was. Trump is highly unpredictable and with all the noise around the Israel, Gaza and the Iran conflicts, it was hardly surprising. Although we have always imagined ourselves as a special friend of the US, that has all changed with the America First mentality of the Trump administration. What Albanese doesn't need is the public humiliation of a Trump sit-down, highly likely when seeking tariff relief. Thus, I contend that the non-meeting was a good result at this juncture, with the PM able to maintain his dignity and self-respect. Max Redmayne, Drummoyne Trump claims to be the greatest dealmaker and has many times declared himself 'very smart'. Yet the world watches as a real master manipulator outwits and outplays him like a pro and wedges the US into a dreadful corner. They're damned if they help Benjamin Netanyahu with a war he can't finish on his own, and damned if they don't. Trump, concerned only with the optics as he struts self-importantly out of a G7 meeting that would not have been focused enough on him, is clueless about the disaster that he has been sucked into by people infinitely smarter than him. He is everyone's fool. Graeme Smith, Daceyville In less than six months the Trump regime is beginning to turn on itself. The defence secretary is out of his depth. The trade war has been lost. America's allies want a new partnership without the US. Putin and Xi are smiling. Even our own prime minister is distancing himself from the Orange One. Now the commentators who enabled Trump's rise are enraged. When the burgers and sleepless nights finally kill him, what are the chances JD Vance will be any better? It's been just six months – there are still 42 to go. David Neilson, Araluen (NT) Conroy is too late Defence Minister Pat Conroy claims Mick Ryan doesn't understand Australia's 'defence initiatives' (Letters, June 19). Mick is not on his Pat Malone there. With Albo chasing Trump across the globe, begging for a meeting to grovel at his feet, what on earth are these defence initiatives? Just the one. Continuing to go all in with America. With the now reckless US no longer honouring agreements or sharing our values and goals, we are at best undefended and at worst strapped to a suicide bomb. Without a hint of irony, Conroy's response is weeks late. Those subs will be terminally late. AUKUS is nothing more than a $368 billion donation to the US military industrial complex. Those Israeli missiles don't pay for themselves. Paul Davies, Crows Nest Is $100m enough? Now that Optus will submit to a $100 million fine for unconscionable conduct, I have been reflecting on how our consumer protections have evolved (' Optus to pay $100 million fine over sales to vulnerable customers ', June 19). The laws are nowhere near perfect but are so much better now then in the 1970s, when freedom of contract reigned supreme and corporations ran riot over their consumer victims. Yes, it is hard to believe, but in those dark times, corporations were able to hide behind the notion that the parties had agreed to a contract, regardless of whether the consumer understood the terms. The only question now: is a $100 million fine enough? Michael Blissenden, Dural Pay to see results At a family get-together last weekend, I casually asked my granddaughter how she fared in recent uni exams (' Wake-up call as Australian universities slip in world rankings ', June 19). She said she didn't know. I assumed the results hadn't been released, but I was gobsmacked when I asked when she would know. Students have to pay a fee to receive their results. Once again, silly me assumed the fee was for some type of formal certificate, but no, they won't release your raw results until you pay the fee. This is a recognised top-level university. I get user-pays, lack of funding etc, but this is an absolute disgrace. Jason Clare, Federal Minister for Education, are you reading this? Albo, this is your country, slipping in the rankings. Brian Jones, Leura Wasted years It is not an apocryphal 'obsession with renewables' which will prove 'the greatest economic folly in the history of our nation' (Letters, June 19), but the decades Australia has wasted pandering to the wilful ignorance of right-wing ideologues, fossil fuel-funded fabulists and Murdoch minions ignoring the immutable laws of physics that rising CO2 emissions drive increasingly extreme weather events – then pretending that the observable reality isn't happening. New data from NASA has confirmed that these events will get more intense and costly until humanity accepts that the transition to renewables isn't optional (we either do it voluntarily or have it forced upon us by nature), so your correspondent Ian Morison's address is apt, as you can't see the trees from the Forrest unless you're prepared to ACT on observable reality outside it. Chris Roylance, Paddington (Qld) Profit from misery It is no surprise that the politicisation of refugees and the willingness of successive governments to outsource our responsibilities to countries willing to take our money has resulted in this level of corruption (' AFP probes firm's insured luxury ', June 19). While the alleged corrupt activities of Canstruct individuals is appalling, it is just one of many allegations of misappropriation of taxpayer dollars by various companies since the Rudd government announcement that no refugees coming to Australia by boat would ever settle in Australia. The only answer to this ongoing issue is to reinstitute onshore processing. It is more humane, more economical, and would go some way to restoring our international reputation on human rights. Judith Reynolds, Leura An entire article on the 'corruption-prone, dysfunctional and wasteful management of offshore processing' and not one mention of the name of the responsible government minister at the time of the contracts, and a suggestion that it was a political problem for the Albanese government, despite them being in opposition during that period. Very strange. Graeme Finn, Campsie In the interests of clarity, it was Peter Dutton, not the current government, who presided over the billions of dollars in government contracts to companies like LNP donor Canstruct and Paladin, ignoring warnings about them for years. Dutton was home affairs minister from 2017 to 2021. It was his department under former secretary Mike Pezzullo (whom Albanese sacked) that initiated the contentious Nauru offshore processing contracts. Alison Stewart, Riverview How perverse that the CEO of the company responsible for running the detention centre in Nauru, full of the most desperate individuals, was able to buy himself a $600,000 car. That our tax monies were used and are still being used to run this cruel and questionable policy that allowed the company concerned to make super profits is abhorrent. Alan Morris, Eastlakes Goldie-clocks The specialists driving expensive cars mentioned by your correspondent obviously didn't get the memo (Letters, June 19). A specialist with whom I once worked on the days he had a clinic would remove his Rolex watch before the first patient arrived and substitute it for a $20 Kmart variety. Elizabeth Maher, Gordon Dead last I have lost access to the crosswords without a premium subscription. Because I can't keep my mind active, I'm likely to be in the obituaries, if they are ever published again (Letters, June 19). Jenny Greenwood, Hunters Hill
Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
PARTLY FACETIOUS: The trend in this country is not to invest in Pakistan but outside
'Trump dished the French President.' 'Dished? Like what? As in barbecue, curry?' 'Or pizza – Nawaz Sharif does like pizza doesn't he?' 'I am not sure it's the pizza that he likes, I reckon he likes the location - Harrods in London.' 'Location should be more important to Trump – he is a real estate tycoon though recently he has been involved in all sorts of business – cryptocurrency has reaped billions for his family, billions mind you not millions like…like…' 'Foreign direct investment inflows?' 'Shut up.' 'Hear me out – the billions Trump family has raked in due to his easing oversight of the cryptocurrency industry yet there are serious ethical and legal questions…' 'I would advise you to shut up and don't try to put up because there is nothing that you can put up.' 'Well my argument…' 'Shut the hell up. Moving forward the Trump family is also selling some items like gold mobile phones which incidentally are a steal at less than 500 dollars…' 'Why can't our prime and chief ministers engage in business ventures, you know invest their own money in the private sector, provide jobs to people and…and wait…generate growth…' 'Two things first of all take away chief ministers from this plan because other than the Punjab chief minister who belongs to the ruling family the others are second to third tier leaders.' 'OK but…' 'Wait and second the trend in this country is not to invest in Pakistan but outside – and that too mostly in real estate.' 'But…' 'And look at the glass as fully full, because the FDI that is coming into the country is not facing any ethical and legal issues…' 'That is because thankfully all are on the same page and that's the way the cookie must crumble. Poor Trump is facing pressure from everyone – the Israelis, the Arabs who have pledged billions of dollars of investment in the US, his own MAGA base and last but not least his own cabinet…' 'I propose Trump changes the constitution to get a third term, and we have lawyers with the experience and…' 'Oh shut up.' Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
