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Your Democracy
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 16:24
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Science in the Arctic — and Greenland — is on the frontline of pressing challenges facing humanity, like climate change and genetics. Some researchers worry international collaboration is at risk. Decades of successful scientific collaboration could be at risk if political relations between Europe and the US continue to fray over trade and defense issues. |
Your Democracy
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 15:45
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US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has declared that the military is fully prepared to “deliver whatever” President Donald Trump orders regarding Iran, as a major naval armada moves toward the region. Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Hegseth warned Tehran against pursuing nuclear weapons, which Iran has consistently denied seeking. “We will be prepared to deliver whatever this president expects of the War Department,” he stated. |
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Your Democracy
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 15:17
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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has stated that the principle of self-determination does not apply to the people of Crimea and Donbass, drawing sharp condemnation from Moscow. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier this week accused the UN Secretariat of “playing into the hands” of Kiev and failing to act with impartiality, citing what he called glaringly different stances on self-determination for Crimea and Greenland. |
Renew Economy
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 14:00
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The post Australia’s high speed rail ambitions could be funded through an aviation fuel excise appeared first on Renew Economy. |
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MacroBusiness
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 13:30
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Nobody wants US dollars. But they want Bitcoin even less. This is a pretty stark break from the narrative we’ve been sold about BTC being “digital gold” or some kind of alternative “reserve currency” that can’t be debased. Indeed, markets are consumed by a global fiat debasement trade at the moment, yet BTC keeps falling. The post Is this the end for Bitcoin? appeared first on MacroBusiness. |
MacroBusiness
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 13:00
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Wednesday’s CPI inflation release for December was a shocker that, alongside the decline in the nation’s unemployment rate to 4.1%, suggests that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will hike the official cash rate at next month’s monetary policy meeting. The policy-relevant trimmed mean inflation rose by a stronger-than-expected 0.9% over the December quarter to The post Australia is the inflation outlier appeared first on MacroBusiness. |
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Renew Economy
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 12:57
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The post Will Australia reach its renewable targets on time? It will need a lot more wind and solar appeared first on Renew Economy. |
Your Democracy
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 12:43
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London: A photograph of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin standing side by side in Alaska has been framed and put on display in the White House. The posed portrait of the US and Russian presidents, taken at the Alaska summit in August, has been hung on a wall in the Palm Room, which links the West Wing to the presidential residence. |
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MacroBusiness
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 12:30
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When I moved to Hellbourne from Sydney (oh, the regret) in 2009, after successfully selling The Diplomat in Japan on the eve of the GFC, I met the rulers of the incipient Grattan Institute to see if they might be worth my time. It was a jarring experience. My freewheeling intellect and entrepreneurial style clashed with their The post Sign up for Grattan’s ‘capturing public policy’ program appeared first on MacroBusiness. |
MacroBusiness
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 12:00
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The media frequently criticises coal generation subsidies while overlooking the significantly larger subsidies for renewable energy. Some of Australia’s leading fund managers and economists are warning that two major federal financing programs for renewable energy—the Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) and the National Reconstruction Fund (NRF)—risk becoming “slush funds” unless the government provides far greater transparency |
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MacroBusiness
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 11:30
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The ferrous jaws must close! A 2% pop yesterday, driven by news of the easing of the “three red lines” for some Chinese property developers, faded overnight. This is quite right, but it shows that sentiment is in no mood for reflexive recoveries. The news flow wasn’t bullish on the ground, either. Inventories of imported The post Iron ore fails to launch appeared first on MacroBusiness. |
Renew Economy
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 11:13
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The post Ignore your algorithm: Solar prices are going up in 2026, but it’s not a crisis appeared first on Renew Economy. |
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Renew Economy
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 11:05
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The post Origin taps into revenues from the first stages of the two biggest battery projects in Australia appeared first on Renew Economy. |
Renew Economy
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 11:04
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The post Powering data centres and smelters: A government monopoly may be the future of the NEM appeared first on Renew Economy. |
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MacroBusiness
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 11:00
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Seriously, who would want to be a tenant in Australia? Advertised rents have soared by 43% over the past five calendar years, adding nearly $10,700 to the annual cost of renting for the median household: As a result, tenant households are paying a record share of income to rent the median home: Meanwhile, competition is The post Renters are second-class citizens appeared first on MacroBusiness. |
xkcd.com
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 11:00
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MacroBusiness
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 10:30
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The February RBA meeting is a closer call than markets are pricing it for, according to Deutsche Bank. The bank notes that headline CPI increased 1.0% monthly/3.8% year over year in December, about 0.2 points higher than expected. Although year-ended slightly above consensus at 3.4% (3.35% yoy to two decimal places), key core metrics were The post Why the RBA won’t hike rates appeared first on MacroBusiness. |
MacroBusiness
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 10:00
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KPMG’s January 2026 outlook paints a picture of broad‑based, shortage‑driven price growth, with affordable suburbs and unit markets outperforming, and Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth emerging as standout markets. Despite affordability challenges, Australia’s housing market is expected to remain tight, competitive, and upward‑trending through 2026. Last year recorded stronger‑than‑expected growth, with national house prices rising by |
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MacroBusiness
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 09:30
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DXY is not recapturing former support levels. This is TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) as his “massive armada” closes in on Iran. AUD literally exploded last night: up, down and sideways. North Asia is still supportive. Can oil catch gold? Military preparations look more like surgical strikes than an all-out war, despite the rhetoric, so The post Australian dollar explodes appeared first on MacroBusiness. |
MacroBusiness
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 09:00
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Overnight saw Wall Street take a hit on tech stock earnings with Apple the next cab off the rank this evening. Microsoft slumped while Meta surged as Tesla stumbled, while European stocks remain hesistant as the war drums are beating in the Middle East. Oil prices continue to surge on the upcoming Iranian/US war while The post Macro Morning appeared first on MacroBusiness. |
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Your Democracy
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 08:13
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She though I’d be a good catch. I though we were a poor match. She took me to a concert. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau sings. Boring Lieders by Franz Schubert. In German with piano no strings. And none of Wagner’s Rings. His voice was of a baritone. Made me think of a big drone.
I was falling asleep. She was in ecstasy deep. She was nice, a good sort. My mind was saying abort. |
MacroBusiness
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 08:00
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For most of the history of modern economies, one of the most vital indicators for economic health was the volume and value of goods moving through a nation. To quantify this, the Cass Freight Index began producing data on this subject for the U.S. economy way back in 1955. Perhaps the most useful element of The post Warning lights flash for U.S goods economy appeared first on MacroBusiness. |
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Renew Economy
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 07:00
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The post Technology is key to predict energy price volatility says GridBeyond’s white paper appeared first on Renew Economy. |
MacroBusiness
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 00:01
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Australia’s energy demand will soar over the coming decades due to a combination of rapid population growth, the mass build-out of data centres, and the likely need for a fleet of energy-hungry water desalination plants. The latest projections from the Centre for Population, released this month, show that the nation’s population will balloon by 13.4 The post Australia needs stable baseload power appeared first on MacroBusiness. |
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George Monbiot
Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 19:15
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Even the intelligence services are gagged by the government when they try to tell the truth about our planetary crisis. By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 27th January 2026 I know it’s almost impossible to turn your eyes away from the Trump show, but that’s the point. His antics, ever-grosser and more preposterous, are designed to keep him in our minds, to crowd out other issues. His insatiable craving for attention is a global-threat multiplier. You can’t help wondering whether there’s anything he wouldn’t do to dominate the headlines. |
Renew Economy
Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 18:17
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The post Near 100 pct renewable electricity for Australia’s main grid is achievable and affordable: Year 4 update appeared first on Renew Economy. |
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MacroBusiness
Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 17:00
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Asian share markets are generally higher as all risk markets look on with hesitation around the seemingly inevitable Iran/US war as both oil and gold prices blowout. This is keeping the Australian dollar on a tear as it barrels in on the 71 handle while other undollars took a breather overnight after a wide dumping The post Macro Afternoon appeared first on MacroBusiness. |
Renew Economy
Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 16:22
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Renew Economy
Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 15:36
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The post Queensland utility dumps plans to buy new wind project, signs PPA with small, 10-year-old wind farm instead appeared first on Renew Economy. |
MacroBusiness
Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 14:50
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To the rescue! A Bloomberg Intelligence gauge of Chinese developer stocks jumped as much as 8.1% Thursday, the most since July. Among the top gainers was Sunac China Holdings Ltd., which surged 28% at one point in Hong Kong. Country Garden Holdings Co. also added nearly 22%. This followed a report by Beijing News late Wednesday The post China relaxes “three red lines” for property appeared first on MacroBusiness. |
High speed rail is synonymous with the kind of high capital cost infrastructure which seems to paralyse governments in Australia. Here's a solution.
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