By Ashwin Clarke, Senior Economist at CBA Wages measured by the Wage Price Index rose by 0.8%/qtr held up by strength in state government enterprise agreements, in line with both our, consensus, and the RBA’s expectations. The annual rate remained at 3.4%. The Minutes of the November Monetary Policy Board meeting highlight the key questions
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Thierry Meyssan had already drawn his readers’ attention to the bias of the United Nations Secretariat. Here, he revisits the controversy between Germany, France, and the United Kingdom and Russia, Iran, and China regarding the coherence of international law. This is not about technical legal issues, but rather about either the superiority of the Western perspective or the hierarchy of international norms.

The Venezuelan parliament has approved a 15-year extension of joint ventures between state company PDVSA and Russian oil firm Roszarubezhneft, according to a statement on the National Assembly’s website.
The deepening energy cooperation comes despite sweeping US sanctions on both nations and amid accusations that Washington wants to depose President Nicolas Maduro under the guise of an anti-drug campaign.

Ukraine said Saturday that its officials will meet US counterparts in Switzerland to discuss Washington’s proposed peace plan. Kyiv will seek to push back against provisions that mirror some of Moscow’s toughest demands, while European leaders said the US plan "is a basis which will require additional work".

Hosting a UN climate summit should be about global cooperation on combating climate change. Australia’s bid for COP31 reveals how far COP has drifted.

Ukraine Russia Peace Proposal:THE LATEST /Lt Col Daniel Davis
The US is one big grift these days: the Trump Administration, traditional and social media, corporations, crypto, financial markets are all selling some kind of spurious promise. It’s hard to pick the most egregious example. But for me, it’s hard to go past Tesla. Having lost its dominant position in the electric car market, the company ought to be on the edge of delisting. Instead, its current market capitalisation is $US1.33 trillion ($A 2 trillion). Shareholders have just agreed on an incentive deal with Elon Musk, premised on the claim that he can take that number to $8.5 trillion.
So much for the consumer recovery. Last week’s Roy Morgan consumer confidence number lifted slightly, but since the RBA held, it has wiped out over a year of gains. The Westpac alternative consumer sentiment measure mysteriously jumped hugely last month. But get ready for the great retracement as its credit card tracker pulls the handbrake.
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Earlier this week, the American people were “reliably” informed by the left-wing press that the full grand jury that indicted disgraced former FBI Director James Comey did not see the final indictment.




