Last week’s elections might see Netanyahu lose power, but Israel has the Occupied Palestinian Territory in an ever-tightening vice, and potential new PM Gadi Eisenkot won’t change that. Cathy Peters with the reality check.

To oppressed Palestinians, a change of Israel’s leader will mean very little.

Gaza and West Bank status quo. A new Israeli PM won’t make any difference

by Cathy Peters

Israel’s relentless dispossession and subjugation of Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and its ongoing genocide in Gaza, will continue under a government led by former military general and IDF Chief of Staff, Gadi Eisenkot.

In 2015, Bill Browder published Red Notice – purportedly a true story about his experience in Russia between 1996 and 2005. Upon closer scrutiny however, his story doesn’t add up and demonstrably fails to stand up in a court of law. Nonetheless, on the dubious strength of that story, Browder has been able to lobby the U.S. Congress to pass the Magnitsky Act in 2012 which needlessly damaged the relations between the U.S. and Russia.

Grand Deception

The Truth About Bill Browder, the Magnitsky Act, and Anti-Russian Sanctions

BY ALEX KRAINER

Accepting a free speech award on Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah’s behalf, Louise Adler details a coordinated campaign of intimidation, censorship and vilification aimed at silencing Palestinian voices.

Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah has been awarded the Liberty Victoria’s Empty Chair award in recognition of her advocacy in the face of an unrelenting campaign to silence her.

Louise Adler

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has put a knife to the EU’s throat, demanding more cash “for Ukraine.” So what’s got into him?

What Merz wants is to make every EU member state bankroll Germany’s Ukraine-linked defense industry, whether they like it or not. If not, he’ll block the EU’s budget.

Why has Merz sparked a hostage crisis in the EU?

The German chancellor is threatening to block the bloc’s budget unless Ukraine gets more aid – except it’s not really for Ukraine

BY Rachel Marsden

Alex Krainer joins Pascal to discuss the financial interests behind geopolitical conflict. Drawing on his hedge fund background and research for Grand Deception, Krainer challenges Bill Browder’s account of Russia and examines post-Soviet privatization, debt and oligarchic power. They explore Russia’s relations with the West, diplomacy and historical ties between Russia and nineteenth-century America. Krainer argues that British imperial influence persists through financial networks, connecting his “undead empire” thesis to sovereignty, contemporary wars and the mechanics of wealth extraction.

British comedian and podcaster Russell Brand was sentenced on Monday to ten and a half years in prison after being convicted of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others between 2004 and 2009. He denied wrongdoing, maintaining that all sexual encounters were consensual.

Brand has amassed 6.6 million subscribers on YouTube, where he has attacked what he describes as the UK’s corrupt ruling class and criticized Western governments over their handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.

Some of his supporters have claimed that the prosecution was politically motivated. Billionaire Elon Musk and US commentator Megyn Kelly publicly defended Brand following his conviction, while former Fox News host Tucker Carlson had previously voiced support for him.

Eleven Australian soldiers killed in World War I have been formally identified for the first time to ensure their service and sacrifice are recognised by future generations.

The men, long commemorated as unknown soldiers, were identified through extensive historical research, archaeological investigations, and DNA analysis. 

The newly identified Australian soldiers are:

Pauline Hanson’s High Court challenge puts Australia’s limits on political speech to the test. Striking down restrictions on racist expression might ultimately do more to expose it than suppress it.

Popular understanding (if that is the right word) has it that people have a broad right to freedom of speech in Australia. Not so. Too many people have been influenced by watching too many American movies and listening to too many US popular outpourings.

Crispin Hull

The European Council has decided to send EU military personnel directly to Ukraine, despite numerous warnings from Moscow that European soldiers would be fair game for Russian strikes.

European nations are scrambling to participate in the ongoing Russia-US-Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi, having been sidelined from several previous rounds.

On Monday, the Council extended the mandate of the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM) until November 15, 2028, with a budget of nearly €300 million ($334 million).

“The Council also decided to establish a presence in Ukraine to ensure direct and effective coordination with the Ukrainian military authorities,” according to a press release from Brussels.

The move marks a change for EUMAM, which had previously only trained Ukrainian soldiers exclusively on EU territory.

The robots are taking charge of healthcare, with assessments of NDIS and aged care patients’ needs being done by algorithms that can’t be held accountable. Claudia Weisenberger reports.

One in four Australians being assessed for aged care support right now will never meet their assessor. The assessment is done by phone. The result goes into an algorithm. The algorithm decides how much help they get. If it gets it wrong — nobody is responsible.

The robot decides. The algorithms taking charge of our health

by Claudia Weisenberger

The person at home gets less help than they need — or no help at all. Nobody is accountable for that. Nobody has to fix it.

European leaders and security experts warn that Russian drone attacks, cyber operations and sabotage are becoming more frequent and aggressive.

DW examines Russia's gray-zone warfare across Europe and the three fronts shaping Europe's response: physical security, financial pressure and cognitive defense.

US President Donald Trump has said he cannot forgive enemies he accuses of persecuting him and harming the country, even if forgiveness were the condition for entering heaven.

During a ‘60 Minutes’ interview which aired on Sunday, correspondent Ross Douthat recalled Trump’s speech at the memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead in Utah in September 2025. Trump said at the time that he hated his opponents and did not want the best for them.

Douthat asked whether, standing before God’s judgment throne, Trump could forgive opponents such as former FBI Director James Comey and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi if it would allow him to enter paradise.

An anti-Israel activist has hoisted a Palestinian banner outside Germany’s parliament building, the Reichstag, in Berlin after climbing a nearly 30-meter flagpole, removing the national flag and throwing it to the ground.

The 22-year-old man scaled the pole while two accomplices, aged 20 and 32, filmed the stunt and livestreamed it on TikTok. All three were detained, although the two accomplices were subsequently released.

The activist group Peacefully Against Genocide claimed responsibility, describing the action as an expression of solidarity with Palestinians. The group has previously staged similar demonstrations at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate.

LinkedIn, once a beacon of social media calm, is being turned into a tool of propaganda, political surveillance and professional blacklisting. Andrew Gardiner reports.

A report prepared for the UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, describes LinkedIn as a “uniquely significant arena of information warfare, precisely because of its character as a professional networking platform”. The report states:

LinkedIn: Latest sweetspot for doxing, propaganda and political surveilance

by Andrew Gardiner

“Unlike Facebook or X, LinkedIn’s content is understood by its users as professional communication carrying career implications — a dynamic that has been