PETER HITCHENS: Don't celebrate this ultra-violence. Trump's broken all the rules and plunged us into a forever war
Well, yes, it may be that it will work this time. Perhaps the Angels of Peace and Love will float down onto the arid plains and jagged mountains of ancient Persia, borne on the wings of a B2 bomber, or riding on the fins of a bunker-busting bomb.
It is about time one of these high explosive interventions in the Near East turned out well. Just because everything went wrong in Suez, Baghdad, Kabul, Damascus and Tripoli, there's no reason to be sure it won't work this time. Operation 'Midnight Hammer' may have hit the nail on the head. But there is good reason to be cautious.
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Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
PETER HITCHENS: Don't celebrate this ultra-violence. Trump's broken all the rules and plunged us into a forever war
Well, yes, it may be that it will work this time. Perhaps the Angels of Peace and Love will float down onto the arid plains and jagged mountains of ancient Persia, borne on the wings of a B2 bomber, or riding on the fins of a bunker-busting bomb. It is about time one of these high explosive interventions in the Near East turned out well. Just because everything went wrong in Suez, Baghdad, Kabul, Damascus and Tripoli, there's no reason to be sure it won't work this time. Operation 'Midnight Hammer' may have hit the nail on the head. But there is good reason to be cautious.
Reuters
14-06-2025
- Reuters
IAEA says Iran finds no radiation increase at Isfahan
June 14 (Reuters) - The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Saturday Iran's Nuclear Regulatory Authority had informed it there was no change in off-site radiation levels in Isfahan, site of one of the nuclear targets struck on Friday by Israeli forces. Earlier, the IAEA said four critical buildings at the Isfahan nuclear site had been damaged, including a uranium conversion facility and a fuel plate fabrication plant. "As in Natanz, no increase in off-site radiation expected," the agency said in a post on X.
The Guardian
10-06-2025
- The Guardian
Sam was an engineer in Baghdad but couldn't land a callback for similar roles in Australia. Many face the same issue
When Sam Matti came to Australia, he had a bachelor degree in automation engineering and five years of experience working as an engineer at an electric power plant in Baghdad. After fleeing religious persecution in Iraq, where Islamic State was targeting minority Christians, Matti arrived in Australia in 2015. Here, Matti, who speaks five languages, applied for every suitable engineering job – but couldn't even land a callback. 'I applied for every possible and available position on Seek,' says Matti, now 37. 'The usual response was, 'Sorry, we found a more experienced person with the right skills' or no response at all.' So Matti worked a variety of jobs – cleaning, catering and working in aged care – whatever he could get to help pay the bills. His experience is not unique. Many refugees who have worked as managers and professionals before arriving in Australia struggle to have their skills and qualifications recognised, and are still experiencing an 'occupational downgrade' 10 years after arrival, according to a new report by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS). About 2,400 humanitarian migrants were surveyed over a 10-year period. The report found 30% of employed women and 19% of employed men had been working in managerial or professional roles before arriving in Australia. That dropped to 17% and 10% respectively after 10 years of residency. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Half of men who had worked in fields such as business, human resources, marketing and ICT in their home country were working as technicians, tradespersons or machinery operators after a decade living in Australia. For female refugees, the occupational downgrade was even more pronounced. Among those who had been managers or professionals in their home countries, more than two-thirds (67%) were not in paid work after 10 years in Australia. The remainder were mostly working as carers, cleaners, education aides or sales assistants. The likelihood of women who were in families with children under five being employed was 84% lower than men in the same situation. Dr John van Kooy, the report's lead author, said 60% of women and about 37% of men in the study were not employed in the 10th year of the research and were not actively looking for work. 'So not in the labor force at all, which is large,' he says. 'But what's interesting about that group is that many of them indicated that they do, in fact, want a job. 'We know from our analysis that they're likely facing these sort of multiple challenges related to having their skills and qualifications recognised, building up their English language capability, or dealing with some of the effects of forced migration.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion A 2024 report by national not-for-profit service provider Settlement Services International (SSI) found there was a potential for a 'billion-dollar benefit' in the employment of refugees and other migrants thought to have 'chronically under utilised skills'. SSI's head of strategic relations, Dane Moores, says almost half of permanent migrants in Australia work below their skill level, with humanitarian entrants even more likely to have their skills under utilised. 'Many refugees arrive in Australia with years of professional experience and valuable skills, but they face a system that devalues their expertise and puts up unnecessary roadblocks to formally recognising their qualifications,' Moores says. 'The process to have overseas qualifications recognised is complex, costly and inconsistent, and many refugees find it difficult to meet the rigid documentation requirements.' After two years Matti landed an internship at a leading construction company – and now works as an operations manager at Australia Post. 'Giving an opportunity to a person can be a life-changing event,' he says. 'I was given an opportunity, and I was able to squeeze every single thing out of it to be able to achieve, you know, better results for myself and my family and society in general.'
