There was a spurious relief in the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February: no more need for pretending, or false diplomacy, even no need for talk about rights and wrongs.
It is back to the raw power days, Russian tanks in Budapest in 1956, then again in Prague in 1968. Attempts at political reform and opening to the West came to that.
The third independence referendum set for New Caledonia on 12 December was set to be like the last two referendums in some of its main features — but this time had worrying differences. … Read More »
Lee Duffield
The Australian Defence Minister, Melissa Price, on 9 November told the Submarine Association conference in Adelaide that the country’s nuclear-powered submarines would be built in South Australia.
It was one more ingredient thrown into a brewing of questions and contention since the sudden announcement of the nuclear plan, and immediate cancellation of the French contract for conventional submarines on 16 September. … Read More »
Lee Duffield closely watching the elections in the United States, had no illusions about how Donald Trump would react to getting beaten. But watching rioters break into the Capitol Building in Washington, not too surprised, he decided to place some blame and penned this message to the man behind it all. … Read More »
Options for Donald Trump after losing the US Presidency include moving to form a continuing extremist political movement, based on personality, even dynastic with his politically-driven children in leading roles. … Read More »
The change in America came inconveniently for Australians, but handily for journalists preparing peak-hour morning newscasts.
By 5 am Sydney and Melbourne time on Sunday the traditional chief outlet for verified results, Associated Press (AP), after giving the Democratic Party candidates, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the state of Pennsylvania, posted their electoral college vote to 290 – clear of the 270 needed to win. … Read More »
Two expectations marked the lead-up to the independence referendum in New Caledonia on Sunday (4.10.20): that it was likely to be another ‘no’, and bad feeling was set to follow.
In the event the ‘no’ vote against independence won with 53.26%, down on the result in 2018, when it was 56.7%. … Read More »