Contemporary politics,local and international current affairs, science, music and extracts from the Queensland Newspaper "THE WORKER" documenting the proud history of the Labour Movement.
MAHATMA GANDHI ~ Truth never damages a cause that is just.
The US State Department says it will deny visas to five Europeans involved in developing regulations for tech companies. (Supplied: Unsplash)
In short:
The US State Department says it will deny visas to five European figures involved in regulating tech companies.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the bans were in response to "acts of extraterritorial censorship".
Leaders
in France, Germany and Spain have all criticised the move, with
Emmanuel Macron labelling it "intimidation and coercion".
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The
European Union and some member states have slammed US sanctions imposed
on five European figures involved in regulating tech companies,
including former European commissioner Thierry Breton.
Leaders
in France, Germany and Spain are among those to respond after the US
State Department announced it would deny visas to the five people,
accusing them of seeking to "coerce" American social media platforms
into censoring viewpoints they oppose.
In
a statement, the European Commission said: "We have requested
clarifications from the US authorities and remain engaged. If needed, we
will respond swiftly and decisively to defend our regulatory autonomy
against unjustified measures.
"Our
digital rules ensure a safe, fair, and level playing field for all
companies, applied fairly and without discrimination," it added.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the restrictions were put in place to combat "extraterritorial censorship". (Reuters: Nathan Howard)
Mr
Breton, the former top tech regulator at the European Commission, often
clashed with tech tycoons such as Elon Musk over their obligations to
follow EU rules.
The US State
Department has described him as the "mastermind" of the European Union's
Digital Services Act (DSA), which imposes content moderation and other
standards on major social media platforms operating in Europe.
The
DSA stipulates that major platforms must explain content-moderation
decisions, provide transparency for users and ensure researchers can
carry out essential work, such as understanding how much children are
exposed to dangerous content.
But
the act has become a bitter rallying point for US conservatives, who
see it as a weapon of censorship against right-wing thought in Europe
and beyond, an accusation the EU furiously denies.
"The
Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of
extraterritorial censorship," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a
post on X.
French President Emmanuel Macron says Europe will defend its ability to impose regulations on technology companies. (Reuters: Heiko Becker)
'Intimidation and coercion'
German
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul wrote in a post on X "The DSA was
democratically adopted by the EU for the EU — it does not have
extraterritorial effect".
The visa bans, he added, "are not acceptable".
French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe would defend its "regulatory autonomy".
"France
condemns the visa restriction measures taken by the United States
against Thierry Breton and four other European figures,"
he said.
"These measures amount to intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty."
Mr
Breton left the commission in 2024 and Stephane Sejourne, his successor
in charge of the EU's internal market, said on X that "no sanction will
silence the sovereignty of the European peoples".
The
visa ban also targeted Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital
Hate, a nonprofit that fights online misinformation; and Anna-Lena von
Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of HateAid, a German organisation that
the US State Department said functions as a trusted flagger for
enforcing the DSA.
Clare Melford, who leads the UK-based Global Disinformation Index (GDI), was also on the list.
A
statement from HateAid called the US government decision an "act of
repression by an administration that increasingly disregards the rule of
law and tries to silence its critics with all its might".
A
GDI spokesperson said "the visa sanctions announced today are an
authoritarian attack on free speech and an egregious act of government
censorship".
It called the actions "immoral, unlawful, and un-American".
Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight. Merry Christmas from JWST. (Supplied: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb), M. G. Guarcello (INAF-OAPA) and the EWOCS team)
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The best kind of Christmas present is one that keeps on giving.
Launched
four years ago today, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has done
exactly that, according to NASA planetary scientist Stefanie Milam.
On
Christmas Day 2021, Milam was at home keeping an ear on mission control
at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, and an eye on her TV
screen as the $US10 billion ($15 billion) spacecraft prepared to take
off from French Guiana, thousands of kilometres away.
"You could just feel the pressure building and building and building," she says.
There was a lot at stake. Plans for the most powerful telescope ever built had been in the works for 30 years.
However,the telescope's launch date had slipped over the years and its build was complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
But early Christmas morning (late evening Australian time), the telescope launched in a blaze of fire.
Revisit the moment the James Webb Space Telescope was launched into space.
"Once
the launch happened, everything kind of got quiet. At least all the
chatter stopped because everyone was just waiting and just waiting and
just waiting," Milam recalls.
When the telescope came back into communication, everything looked perfect.
Then its cameras showed it separating from the rocket and tumbling into space as planned.
"It
was just this sigh, everybody was just like, 'Oh,' but then tears
welled up in your eyes and the emotion started," Milam says.
"You didn't know if you were crying, you didn't know if you're laughing."
The telescope's solar panels unfurled soon after.
"That was my first sense of real relief that things were going to go OK."
But
that was just the beginning of a sequence dubbed the "30 days of
terror" in which the telescope would unfold its sun shield and fly out
into space to its destination.
Then came the task of focusing its massive golden mirror— made up of 18 hexagonal panels — and a smaller mirror that sits in front and directs light into the main mirror.
Christmas in July
In March 2022, the team released a crisp test image of a star 2,000 light-years away against a surprisingly detailedbackground of ancient galaxies billions of light-years away, providing the first taste of what the JWST could do.
Eight spikes caused by the diffraction of light are a hallmark of JWST images of stars.(Supplied: NASA, STScI, JWST)
"It was: 'Oh my gosh, it's so beautiful', but also, 'Oh my gosh, this is so much better than we thought,'" Milam says.
"It was just photobombed with galaxies all over this one star image."
On July 12, 2022, nearly six months after the telescope was launched, then-US president Joe Biden released its first image — a dark sky dotted with galaxies from close to the dawn of time.
As
Australian astronomer Robin Cook from the University of Western
Australia said the time, it was the "closest thing astronomers got to
Christmas in July".
Joe Biden releases deepest image ever taken of the cosmos.
Milam is the
JWST's project manager for policy and science community, and part of the
team that selects the images the public sees.
The first image she saw was the giant bubble of gas surrounding a small star known as a planetary nebula.
"It's just so beautiful and it's so much better than anything else I've ever seen [as a planetary scientist].
"Then I saw the Carina Nebula and I just broke down.
The cosmic cliffs of the Carina Nebula. Released July 12, 2022.(Supplied: NASA)
"It was like seeing something of sheer beauty and knowing just how much we'd worked over the past six months.
"It was exciting to see everyone in the world motivated about astronomy all over again."
Seeing the cosmos in a new light
The JWST uses two cameras to take images in the near- and mid-infrared ranges, beyond what the human eye can see.
This data is transmitted to Earth and processed to create colour images.
It's also put into a publicly accessible database that anyone can search, analyse and create images from.
One of Milam's favourites —a stunning image capturing Jupiter's auroras — was processed by a data scientist as a hobby.
"She did such a fantastic job that the scientist that led that observation reached out and collaborated with her to make that first public image."
This image of auroras above both the northern and southern poles of Jupiter was created by a data scientist as a hobby.(Supplied: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; image processing by Judy Schmidt)
Photo albums on the JWST website are filled with otherworldly images of gas clouds, stars, galaxies and planets.
And
each year the team marks the science anniversary in July with a special
image, usually with an animal theme, including another of Milam's
favourites: The Penguin and The Egg.
"It looks like a penguin sitting next to an egg, but it is two merging galaxies called ARP 142."
Science behind the beauty
Behind
the beautiful images, the JWST has been kicking science goals,
performing much better than anyone anticipated, despite the occasional
ding to its golden mirror caused by micro-meteorites and ice.
The telescope has given planetary scientists, like Milam, unprecedented views of auroras on Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune.
It's
also enabled them to study rings around our outer planets, including
Uranus, and interplanetary visitors like comet 31/ATLAS, which is
currently zooming through our Solar System.
Ice giant Uranus is a dynamic world with rings, moons, storms, extreme
seasons, and more. Webb's sensitivity has even captured the close-in
Zeta ring, faint, diffuse, and elusive.(Supplied: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI)
The telescope is also providing a new view of the atmospheres of planets outside our Solar System.
"There
are huge planets that are called super puffs. They have huge
atmospheres, but they're so close to the star, there's no reason they
should have an atmosphere. It should have been annihilated," Milam says.
Unexpected discoveries and red dots
The
JWST has given us a new view of alien worlds, and will continue to
dazzle us with mind-blowing images of the cosmos during its mission
lifetime.
But it's what the
JWST is revealing about the dawn of time that has cosmologists like Karl
Glazebrook of Swinburne University really excited.
When
it was launched, it was hoped the telescope might be able to find
galaxies that formed in the first 100 million years after the Big Bang.
So
far, it has detected galaxies that formed between 200 million and 260
million years after the Big Bang (even earlier if you count unverified
reports).
But what's even more intriguing is that many of these galaxies aren't what scientists expected, according to Glazebrook, who is part of an international group studying JWST data.
Some
are much more luminous than predicted, while others are massive
galaxies that have completely evolved and then switched off.
There are also mysterious red dots hidden among the galaxies.
"They're not galaxies, they just look red," Glazebrook says.
"We now think these are a weird class of black holes."
See if you can spot three red dots in the image on the left by pushing the slider across before peeking.
The red dots above are actually the same red dot that is repeated in the image by light bending around galaxies.
Glazebrook says these findings suggest the Universe was "going gangbusters" much earlier than we thought.
It might even point to some new science about black holes or dark matter.
Milam
says solving the mystery of the red dots and exploring atmospheres on
alien planets looking for an Earth 2.0 are questions likely to be
investigatedin the next five years.
The telescope itself will continue operating for at least 20 years.
"That's
a long time for a scientist, but it's fantastic to think of the next
generation coming in and owning that science and new research with a
telescope that you once got to play a role in," Milam says.
Australia's second-hand shopping market is predicted to reach around $1.5 billion by 2032. (ABC News: Mae Argent)
In short:
Second-hand
fashion is booming in Australia, with the resale market set to hit $1.5
billion by 2032, driven by online platforms and social media.
However, clothing waste remains high, and experts warn that purchasing pre-loved items does not always curb consumption.
Fast
fashion is also appearing on resale apps and in stores, prompting
sellers to encourage more mindful, longer-lasting choices.
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Second-hand
shopping has long been promoted as part of the solution to Australia's
waste problem, with many consumers choosing pre-loved items as a more
sustainable alternative to traditional retail.
As
consumers embrace thrifting and circular fashion, Australia's
second-hand market is now predicted to reach about $1.5 billion by 2032,
according to market research platform Credence Research.
Seamless says 222,000 tons of clothing ended up in Australian landfill last year. (ABC News: Paul Robinson)
But
despite this growth, the volume of clothing thrown to waste remains
high. According to the clothing stewardship scheme Seamless Australia,
more than 220,000 tonnes of clothing were sent to landfill in 2024, a
decrease of 1 per cent from the previous year.
It
has left some shoppers and sellers questioning whether the thrifting
industry is successfully helping Australians reduce consumption.
Second-hand jewellery is popular at market stores. (ABC News: Mae Argent)
Spending less does not always mean consuming less
Research
released by the Australia Institute in 2024 found Australians buy more
clothes per person than any other country, with an average of 56 items.
Associate
professor in fashion at Queensland University of Technology, Tiziana
Ferrero-Regis, said circularity — giving clothing a longer lifetime — is
essential to helping reduce the production of textile waste.
But she said shoppers can fall into a problematic mindset when buying pre-loved clothing.
"Moral licensing, in a very short summary, is 'I buy second-hand clothing so I can buy more,'" she said.
Tiziana Ferrero-Regis says second-hand shopping does not necessarily reduce consumption. (Supplied)
Dr
Ferrero-Regis said for many shoppers, fashion resale apps do not
necessarily slow consumption behaviour and the speed of purchases.
"Consumers of second-hand clothing now behave in the same way they buy fast fashion," she said.
"Second-hand clothing has the potential to reduce consumption, but it's not a given, it's not automatic.
"The problem is that online and social media resales can become addictive in the same ways as fast fashion.
"We see the same kind of behaviour [including] compulsive buying."
Apps driving growth in resale market
The
rapid growth of online resale platforms like eBay and Depop is a key
driver of the market's expansion, according to Credence Research.
A
Depop spokesperson said sign-ups in Australia have grown "over 100 per
cent year-on-year" as more consumers look for second-hand items.
"Resale is becoming a mainstream way to shop," the spokesperson said.
Esta Padillo sells second-hand clothes on Depop. (Supplied)
Esta
Padillo, who had been selling clothing on the platform for almost a
decade, said the second-hand buying and selling experience had changed
significantly over the years.
She
said ultra-fast fashion drop-shippers had increasingly bought from
sites like Shein and Temu, then resold the items at inflated "vintage"
prices.
"Back in the day that didn't really happen, so I think that's the main change that's breaking my heart," Ms Padillo said.
"This is not what Depop is supposed to be at all."
A clothing rack at a second-hand market. (ABC News: Mae Argent)
According
to Depop policy, drop-shipped catalogue items are not allowed on the
app, and submitting misleading or untrue listings on Depop is against
their Terms of Service.
When
asked about the sale of fast-fashion items on the app, a Depop
spokesperson said the platform did not discriminate based on the type of
items sold.
"Every second-hand
purchase helps shift behaviour in ways that support a circular economy
and reduce the environmental impact of new fashion," the spokesperson
said.
"It is important to us
that we showcase an alternative to new fast fashion that's kinder to
people and the planet than buying new … we've taken steps to ban less
sustainable sourcing practices."
Some people buy clothes from sites like Shein and Temu, then resell the items at inflated "vintage" prices. (ABC News: Mae Argent)
Fast fashion brands surge on resale platforms
Fast fashion brands were increasingly turning up in physical second-hand stores, markets and op-shops.
Isobel
Dear founded a second-hand market in 2020 after noticing a lack of
pre-loved fashion events, and said digital media had played a critical
role in encouraging more people to embrace second-hand shopping.
"Social media and digital platforms have made circular fashion more accessible,"
she said.
Isobel Dear founded a second-hand market in 2020. (ABC News: Mae Argent)
"I
think that digitally just being able to spread the word through those
platforms has definitely helped us form this niche community."
Ms
Dear said she does not encourage "those ultra-fast fashion brands that
are really low quality" being sold at her market, but sellers often
donate items they have been unable to sell.
She said the store receives about five bins of donations each week, many of them fast-fashion items.
Isobel Dear says digital media plays a critical role in encouraging more people to embrace second-hand shopping. (ABC News: Mae Argent)
Ms
Dear said she was trying to support the shopping style and community
the market had created, while also encouraging shoppers to avoid
fast-fashion items and choose longer-lasting pieces.
"If
we can keep those [good quality] pieces in rotation then hopefully
those really low-quality items just eventually are not the preference,"
she said.
"We can still love
fashion for what it does for our personalities, and our style, and the
joy that we get from it … if we can just be a little more mindful with
it."
Christians in Gaza celebrated Christmas at church. (ABC News)
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The
small number of Christians remaining in Gaza have marked Christmas
early with subdued celebrations in the shadow of ongoing conflict and
occupation.
The Catholic Church
said only around 600 Christians remain in Gaza after the two-year war
between Israel and Hamas from a total of 1,700 before the Hamas attacks
of October 7, 2023.
Many spent
most of the war living in the Holy Family Church compound because their
homes were destroyed by Israeli forces. Around 400 still live there now.
"We
lived a very difficult life in the church," said 67-year-old Alaa Saba,
who was forced to leave her house in the upper-middle class Rimal
neighbourhood during the war.
Alaa Saba has been living at the church since fleeing her house. (ABC News)
"The surrounding area was extremely dangerous, Shuja'iyya [neighbourhood], with constant strikes and shelling.
"Life was not easy, and the church itself was also shelled."
The church compound was hit by Israeli fire twice, killing five people.
Israel's military said one of the strikes was accidental and another was targeting a nearby Hamas compound.
The Holy Family church was damaged during the war. (ABC News)
Despite
the ceasefire, many Gazans cannot return to their homes because Israeli
troops occupy more than half of Gaza and do not allow the residents
back.
Others' homes have been destroyed.
"It
was hard and sad. People were dying and houses were being destroyed.
Our house was destroyed in the first week of the war," said 11-year-old
Julia Anton.
"We used to go and see it and tried to fix a few things, but it is not fit for living in."
Julia Anton said her home was beyond repair. (ABC News)
While the world considers the war to be over, Gazans said this Christmas will be overshadowed by conflict.
"It
is a difficult situation. We are emerging from a crisis, from a
genocidal war, and God willing this trend [of peace] will continue,"
said worshipper Issa al-Tarazi.
"Yet there is still a threat to the future. We have not finished, the sounds of gunfire and shells are still heard daily.
"We
pray to the Lord, with the blessing of Christmas, to the president of
peace, that He grant us complete peace so that we may live in peace.
"That
our suffering, oppressed, displaced, and devastated Palestinian people
may live in peace, obtain peace, and receive the most basic human and
humanitarian rights."
Issa al-Tarazi said he is praying for peace in Gaza. (ABC News)
Bethlehem out of reach
Before
the war many of Gaza's Christians would make an annual trip to churches
in Bethlehem and Jerusalem for Christmas, but Gaza's borders are now
largely closed unless people want to leave permanently.
"It
is a big difference. We used to go to Bethlehem, to the Church of the
Nativity and Jerusalem, spending a week or two praying and feeling joy
and happiness," Alaa Saba said.
"Now, no. Our hearts are sad. We do not feel joy, whatever the occasion. We do not feel joy at all. We are very sad."
Children attended mass at the Holy Family Church. (ABC News)
The
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and leader of the Catholic Church in the
Holy Land, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, presided over the Christmas
services in Gaza in his first visit since the ceasefire went into
effect in October.
He noted
some improvements in living conditions but said many things remained
difficult and the full extent of the destruction in Gaza was more
apparent.
"Compared
to the last time I've been here, six months ago approximately, [the
situation] is much better from an everyday life point of view — there is
not the war," he said.
"But
the situation remains problematic from other aspects — houses,
hospitals, schools [destroyed], everyday life. People live in tents.
"So the situation remains very, very problematic.
"But they feel also, in a way, a desire of new beginning and this is also something positive and very hopeful."
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa presided over the Christmas services in Gaza. (ABC News)
Many of Gaza's Christians, like most of its residents, are considering leaving the enclave for good.
"People
leave so their children can study, live a better life, and go to
universities, because there is no longer life here," Alaa Saba said.
"Before the war, we were very happy here. We felt something very meaningful.
"Now the war has destroyed everything we had."
Worshippers sang at evening mass at the Holy Family Church. (ABC News)
Ms Jay said a local newspaper was the voice of smaller communities and she did not want Donald to lose that.
"It's embedded in the community," she said.
During
the COVID-19 pandemic, The Buloke Times joined the digital world and
although the hard copy was still a priority, Ms Jay said she would be
looking at opportunities to expand the outlet's online presence.
Buloke Shire Mayor Graeme Milne congratulated the new owner.
"It's
fantastic to see the paper remain in local hands here in Donald,
continuing its proud tradition of delivering quality local news," Cr
Milne said.
"Local newspapers are the heartbeat of our communities. They keep us informed, connected and give a voice to the people.
"Your commitment ensures that important stories, events and perspectives will continue to be shared for generations to come."
Robin Letts's newspaper career began in 1947 when he was 17 years old. (ABC Landline: Tim Lee)
150 years of news
Earlier this year the Buloke Times celebrated 150 years since its first publication by founder Godfrey Morgan.
David Letts uses a feed-in press to print 1000 copies of each edition of The Buloke Times. (Supplied)
"We were a little bit worried about who would buy it because we didn't want to see it change too much," Ms Jay said.
"It was important to us all that it remained what people knew and loved.
"So
I decided I might give it a go. It took me a few months to fully
decide, but I'm truly on board now, and I reckon we've got this," she
said.
The Buloke Times newspaper has been operating out of the McCulloch Street building since 1971. (Supplied)
Paper boy to printer
David Letts started as an apprentice at the paper in 1980.
As a boy, he delivered newspapers by hand, before eventually becoming a director.
"A
lot of newspapers tend to get them printed on a web press somewhere,
but we were a bit keen to still keep it in-house and have it done on a
sheet-fed machine," Mr Letts said.
"It gets printed and then delivered on the same day. Really, we just hop into a car and head up and deliver them."
Mr Letts said there was still demand for the local paper.
"I
think people … want to see their name in print and they want to keep up
with events of what's happening around the place locally and also
internationally," he said.
Although David and Robin will no longer own the paper, they will both continue to work there.
"David is stepping back a little, but Robin will always have the editor's role as long as he wants it," Ms Jay said.
"It's his chair. He made that chair what it is today, and it will always be his,"
she said.
The newspaper has had a very low staff turnover, with many staff members being there for decades.
Shane O'Shea worked at the newspaper for more than 50 years before he retired two years ago.
"The
atmosphere within the newspaper itself and also the community that
they're serving was just so enjoyable to be recording the news and the
achievements of our local residents as they happen," Mr O'Shea said.
"It's
a chronical of what's happening within it, a record of history, as it
happens. Any town without a newspaper, it just lacks that something
special."
The first edition under the new owner is scheduled to go to print on January 22.
