Australia

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/3194360

Archived version

The EU and Australia announced on Wednesday they will start talks for a defence and security pact, with the bloc expected to strike a similar deal with Canada next week, a first step that could eventually allow both NATO allies to take part in the EU's €150 billion programme to boost military production.

...

Brussels and Canberra emphasised their cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, where China's military is increasingly active and assertive, and which has become a key pillar of Washington's foreign policy.

...

The EU and Australia are also currently negotiating a Free Trade Agreement but the talks for the SPD will remain separate.

A Security and Defence Pact (SPD) - like the one the EU signed with the UK last month - is one of the likely deliverables of the EU-Canada summit to be held on Monday in Brussels between European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, European Council president Antonio Costa, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

...

A second agreement, allowing for the third country's participation in SAFE, will also be required.

SAFE was approved by member states late last month and governments now have a few months to submit to the Commission the joint procurement projects they want to take part in. The EU executive could then start releasing money to fund these projects before the end of the year.

France announced on Tuesday that Bulgaria had joined its initiative for joint acquisitions of THALES radar intended to strengthen aerial surveillance.

"Other countries have already shown a strong interest in this approach and, with the support of the initial partner countries, are expected to join the cooperation in the near future," the French ministry for the armed forces said.

Archived version

The Australian government has imposed sanctions on 60 vessels linked to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”*, as the country’s prime minister Anthony Albanese joined G7 leaders in condemning Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

It marks the first time Canberra has directly penalised ships helping Moscow skirt wide-ranging economic curbs resulting from the Ukraine invasion, which Russia calls a “special military operation”.

In a June 18 statement, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the blacklisted ships, which often disable their tracking systems and register under flags of convenience, are being used to enable the illicit trading of Russian oil and other sanctioned goods.

“Russia uses these vessels to circumvent international sanctions and sustain its illegal and immoral war against Ukraine,” she said, adding that Australia remained committed to ensuring Russia faces consequences.

The sanctions reinforce similar restrictions unveiled recently by Canada, the UK and the European Union that seek to starve Russia’s military of revenue from oil trade.

All these 60 vessels have already been designated under various Western sanctions regimes, including those of the EU, UK, Canada and the US, with most appearing on multiple lists.

...

Here's what to know about the feud between a popular sunscreen brand and an Australian consumer group [Choice].

Archived

Something interesting is happening in how Australians think about their own country’s influence in the Pacific. According to the Lowy Institute’s 2025 poll, 39 per cent of Australians now see Australia as the most influential power in the Pacific Islands, a notable increase from last year’s result of 31 per cent.

Australia has overtaken China, previously seen by Australians as the dominant player, which holds steady at 34 per cent.

These figures suggest a shifting perception domestically, perhaps reflecting Canberra’s energetic “listening” diplomacy, through which Australia has ramped up diplomatic effort and significantly increased financial assistance to the Pacific over the past three years. Canberra’s approach of marrying generous aid packages with not-so-subtle diplomatic leverage on security matters appears to have resonated at home.

[...]

While Australia is undeniably the largest aid donor in the region, and uniquely maintains a diplomatic presence in every PIF member state, Beijing’s bare-faced influence-building is plain as day.

The China-Pacific Island countries Foreign Ministers’ meeting last month foreshadowed increased Chinese presence in security and policing, development, and stronger economic ties with those Pacific countries that recognise China over Taiwan. Beijing’s blend of visa-waivers, economic incentives, infrastructure financing, and diplomatic duchessing, ensures its presence is both felt and appreciated across island capitals.

In 2024, China registered 26 Coastguard vessels with the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, signalling a more assertive regional maritime presence. It is not clear how China intends to deploy its more than two-dozen vessels, but if the dynamics in the South China Sea are any indication, it will likely result in Chinese vessels harassing other countries, while protecting its own fishing fleet – widely understood as often responsible for illegal fishing in the Pacific Ocean.

[...]

To Canberra’s chagrin, plenty of Pacific countries are evidently happy to buy what China is selling, even while some countries including PNG and Fiji are aligning more closely to Australia’s worldview.

Therein lies the rub: while perceptions do matter, it is Pacific countries’ own strategic choices that will ultimately be the deciding factor in who has influence and how the regional balance of power is shaped for decades to come.

Ms Robinson said the laptop was an 18-month old AppleMac Pro and it had started to lose charge more often in the lead up to the fire.

"It seemed to be going flat a lot, which can identify a faulty battery," Ms Robinson.

Fire Rescue Victoria commander Craig Houlahan attended the blaze.

"It was clear the fire had actually started from the bed," he said.

"It was quite obvious with the development of the fire that it was the laptop, because of the battery."

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/37020287

Archived

The documentary can be watch using the YT link in the article, here is an alternative Invidious link: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=tiDFQ1lMefc

A new documentary on Sky News Australia (and also posted on YouTube) offers a rare and important glimpse inside the Communist Party of China’s secret RSDL prison system.

The documentary, Cheng Lei: My Story, reveals what happened to Australian journalist Cheng Lei after she was disappeared by China’s state security police in 2020, as relations between the two countries were at a low point. She was later falsely accused of illegally supplying state secrets overseas and eventually released in 2023.

For the first six months Lei, who is also a mother of two young children, was held in incommunicado detention under Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL).

RSDL, often used on rights defenders and political prisoners, is a system so secretive that you will not find RSDL facilities marked on maps. Neither will you see any photos of RSDL on official web pages. When you’re in RSDL, no one knows where you are except your guards and interrogators.

RSDL is basically a system of legalized black jails.

In the documentary, Lei leads the viewer on a tour of her RSDL cell (reconstructed in Australia from Lei’s memory) interspersed by powerful scenes where actors reenact the extreme surveillance she was subjected to.

[...]

A sea of pain

RSDL is no ordinary detention. UN experts have described it as tantamount to torture and to enforced disappearance.

Prolonged solitary confinement is mental torture. RSDL typically lasts six months. And sometimes beyond.

Quietly weeping, Lei relates her experience of the mental torture she endured in RSDL.

“How did they come up with this? Just nothingness. Nothingness. And also a sea of pain. I had no idea what was happening or how long I would be here.”

In the film, Lei provides some key facts about how the CCP has designed RSDL:

The RSDL Cell

“The RSDL cell is about 4m by 4m. The windows are always covered by curtains. The bathroom has no door. The light stays on 24 hours a day.”

Surveillance

“You are guarded and watched at all times by two guards. One stands in front of me, one sits next to me. And they take turns with the standing and sitting.”

Rules

“I have to sit on the edge of the bed and have my hands on my lap. Not allowed to cross the ankles or cross the legs. Not allowed to close the eyes. No talking. No laughing, No sunshine. No sky. No exercise. No exercise. No colour. Just fear. Desperation, isolation and utter boredom. That’s it. Probably 13 hours a day.”

“They watch you shit, shower and sleep. You’re not allowed to talk. To make the slightest movement, you must ask for permission.”

Archived

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has refused to say if Chinese warships were “targeting our cities” when they carried out exercises off Australia’s vast coast earlier this year.

The Australian Defence Force revealed in February it was tracking two People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) frigates and a replenishment vessel in the Coral Sea, off Queensland.

They passed within 150 nautical miles (278km) east of Sydney as they moved south and conducted live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea without notifying Canberra or air traffic controllers.

The Albanese government has kept tight-lipped on what the Chinese flotilla’s mission was, even amid fears AUKUS could be on the rocks, Australia trailing its allies in defence spending and warnings Beijing poses an “imminent” threat to the region.

[...]