The failure of Australia and Western governments to hold Israel to account enabled the abuse of Gaza flotilla detainees, Jerusalem Peace Prize recipient Stuart Rees argues.

If bullies notice that no one intervenes to stop their behaviour, they may interpret such non-intervention as permission to continue bullying.

Gaza flotilla. Reluctance to protest Israel’s cruelties enabled the abuse

by Professor Stuart Rees

For years, the same process has operated in relation to the thuggery of Israel’s Netanyahu government, and in that respect, Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s abuse of detainees from the Gaza international aid flotilla was no surprise.

We have collectively created a self-propelling destructive system that no-one is in charge of.

The 100th birthday of Sir David Attenborough reminded us of how he has championed the wondrous world of living things on this lonely little planet. For a long time the message was implicit: we need to preserve these miracles, which are also our life-support system. The message should have been obvious.

Geoff Davies

I present the account of two Democratic representatives from the United States who recently visited Havana. Interesting, of course, because of the authors' backgrounds. Published in The New York Times on May 11 (available in its entirety to subscribers only) and on May 12 in Spanish, from which I offer an automatic translation using Microsoft Word and the few available comments.

Jacques-François Bonaldi

GUSNOTE: TRANSLATION FROM FRENCH BY JULES LETAMBOUR

May 12, 2026 (original English: May 11, 2026)

By Pramila Jayapal and Jonathan L. Jackson. Jayapal, of Washington's 7th Congressional District, and Jackson, of Illinois' 1st Congressional District, are Democratic members of the House of Representatives.

US President Donald Trump has said that a peace agreement with Iran has been “largely negotiated” and is now being finalized, signaling a potential breakthrough after nearly three months of war and repeated threats of renewed US strikes.

Trump announces Iran deal ‘finalization’
The US president says a peace agreement has been “largely negotiated,” with the “final aspects” still under discussion

The Sydney Peace Foundation is honoured to announce that the 2026 Sydney Peace Prize will be awarded to Jennifer Robinson, international human rights lawyer, barrister, author and advocate. Jen is acclaimed for her work in key human rights and media freedom cases, extensive pro-bono work, and advocacy for the rights of marginalised communities.  

The UK has had eight Prime Minister’s this century, with most serving after Brexit and for an average of two years. Sir Keir Starmer is deeply unpopular and the public (and some in his party) want him to resign.

This is not the first challenge to Starmer, but Labour’s slump in recent local elections – to English councils, the Scottish Parliament, and Welsh Assembly – is especially bruising.

Sir Keir Starmer (sort of) survives, but Britons are impatient

Battered but still standing, the British PM lacks a credible rival – while voters, exhausted by crisis, keep demanding change...

By Dr. James C. Peace

Czech President Petr Pavel has urged NATO to “show its teeth” in response to what he described as Russian “provocations” on the bloc’s eastern flank.

Pavel’s remarks follow a series of Ukrainian drone incursions into NATO airspace in Europe. Since mid-March, long-range UAVs have repeatedly crossed Baltic and Nordic airspace en route to targets in northwestern Russia, particularly oil facilities in Leningrad Region. The incursions prompted fighter jet deployments, and some drones crashed inside NATO states, causing damage.

Moscow has accused European NATO members of quietly allowing Kiev to use their airspace for attacks on Russian territory, but Western officials deny this, instead blaming Russia for the incursions and claiming that Russian electronic warfare systems may have redirected the drones to stray into NATO airspace.

At least 18 people have been killed and dozens more wounded – most of them students – in a Ukrainian drone raid on a school dormitory in Starobelsk in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic on Friday. As of Saturday afternoon, search-and-rescue operations are still underway, with local officials reporting additional Ukrainian drone attacks aimed at derailing the efforts.

President Vladimir Putin called the raid a “terrorist attack by the neo-Nazi regime,” adding that he ordered the military to prepare retaliation.

Following the attack, Russia requested an emergency UN Security Council session.

Until recently I had serious concerns that my old outfit, i.e., the CIA, was failing to do its job in providing accurate analysis to the President. Looks like my concerns were misplaced. While there have been a few occasions in the history of the CIA that the analysts told the then active administration what they believed the President wanted to hear, the more common problem is that the CIA analysts rain on the President’s parade and their analysis is ignored. That appears to be the case now with Iran. 

Looks Like CIA Analysts Are Doing a Pretty Good Job Regarding Iran

by Larry C. Johnson

China spent over *$106 billion* building Venezuela’s oil economy over two decades — loans, refineries, pipelines, joint ventures, and oil-backed debt deals. Then in January 2026, the United States launched a dramatic Delta Force operation, captured Nicolás Maduro, and declared a new era for Venezuela. But did Washington actually take control… or walk straight into a trap China already prepared?

Perhaps it’s no surprise that Opposition Leader Angus Taylor would seek to jump on the orange bandwagon by cosying up to One Nation, and emulating Trump, given the PHONies’ recent surge in popularity and the Libs’ ever-plunging support.

The recent two-day Beijing summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping has come and gone. There was pageantry: Military honors, flag-waving children, flowers and toasts. Both governments declared success. The relationship has been stabilized, which is not nothing, but the deeper question about the future of our global governance architecture remains unanswered.

After Beijing: An Architecture Still Adrift

The bilateral guardrails erected in Beijing last week may buy time, but they do not fix global governance institutions drifting toward a rupture that historically has preceded systemic collapse, writes Tatiana Carayannis.

PassBlue

"For France and Russia, being united means being strong; being divided means being in danger. This is a necessary condition from the standpoint of geography, experience, and intelligence."

Soviet-French Alliance named after de Gaulle

A great son of his people, raised in the spirit of patriotism and love for his homeland, de Gaulle recalled his youth: 

Australia is part of the white man’s intelligence network, Five Eyes. That means too much CIA input into anti-China perceptions in recent years. It also helped bring down the Whitlam government.

Five Eyes, the intelligence alliance between Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand was established in 1946. Today, we need to ask, who are the Five Eyes loyal to?

John Menadue