China Rail Photo YouTube Russia is committed to building railroads to China, as the two countries are boosting business ties and mutual cargo flows are growing rapidly. Two railway corridors – from Kemerovo Region and Krasnoyarsk Region – are part of the strategy for economic development of Russia’s Siberian Federal District, according to a document that was published on the government’s website on Monday. One of the proposed lines will see the construction of the North-Siberian railway, which would run through Altay Region to Urumqi – the capital of China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Feasibility studies, including an investment assessment, are due to be completed in 2025. Earlier this month, presidential aide Igor Levitin said that the North-Siberian line would connect the Eastern Polygon, which is part of the Trans-Siberian Railway transport corridor between Europe and Asia, passing through Siberia, with the Northern Sea route. The estimated cost of the planned 1,900km (1180-...

  The young climate activist was accused of posting an anti-Jewish image Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was accused of spreading anti-Semitic messages online after she voiced support for the Palestinians on X (formerly Twitter). She deleted her original post after taking flak on social media.  On Friday, Thunberg shared a photo of herself and three other women holding posters with pro-Palestinian slogans.  “Today we strike in solidarity with Palestine and Gaza,”  she wrote, calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East, as well as  “justice and freedom for Palestinians and all civilians affected.” However, some quickly spotted that one of the women had a small blue stuffed octopus perched on her knee and drew parallels with anti-Semitic cartoons depicting Jews as menacing octopuses with long and far-reaching tentacles. Such images have been used in Nazi Germany and elsewhere to promote myths and conspiracy theories surrounding the Jewish people and Judaism...

  PM Anthony Albanese Grattan on Friday: Anthony Albanese had good motives but his referendum has done much harm The National Anti-Corruption Commission the other day issued its weekly statement about its work program. The government legislated for the NACC late last year, it began operations on July 1, and it’s now going full steam. What if Anthony Albanese had taken the same approach to the Voice? The Senate would have passed the legislation. The Voice could be operating right now. Instead, the Voice is dead and reconciliation is, at least for the moment, a wasteland. In medicine they say “do no harm”. Albanese was well motivated, but a great deal of harm has been done. The prime minister and others will say, the Indigenous people wanted a Voice in the constitution, not simply a legislated Voice. How could he ignore that, when he made his pre-election promise to pursue the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full? It sounds a compelling argument. Except when you cons...

Hamas launches major attack on Israel Militants have launched rockets from Gaza into southern and central Israel on Saturday morning, the IDF said. At least five people have reportedly been killed.  “Hamas carried out a combined operation involving rocket fire and infiltrations by terrorists into Israeli territory,”  the IDF said in a statement.  At least five people are believed to have been killed by the missiles. Four fatalities were reported in the town of Kuseife, and another one in the Gderot area. Information coming from medical institutions across the country suggests that more than 100 people were wounded. Soroka Hospital in Beersheba said it had been treating 80 patients, some of whom were in a serious condition. According to Israeli media, some projectiles hit Ashkelon and Tel Aviv. Rocket sirens have also been heard in Jerusalem and Beersheba. Hamas has claimed that it fired some 5,000 rockets at Israel in just the first 20 minutes of the attack.   T...