Israeli air strikes kill 38 Palestinians in Gaza
The strikes came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was preparing to fly to Washington for talks at the White House aimed at pushing forward ceasefire efforts.
Separately, an Israeli official said the Israeli security Cabinet on Saturday night approved sending aid into the northern part of Gaza, where civilians are suffering from acute food shortages.
The official, who declined to offer more details, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the decision.
In Yemen, a spokesperson for the Houthi rebel group announced on Sunday in a prerecorded message that the group had launched ballistic missiles targeting Ben Gurion airport overnight.
The Israeli military said these had been intercepted.
President Donald Trump has floated a plan for an initial 60-day ceasefire that would include a partial release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for an increase in humanitarian supplies allowed into Gaza.
The proposed truce calls for talks on ending the 21-month war altogether.
Twenty people were killed and 25 wounded after Israeli strikes hit two houses in Gaza City, according to Mohammed Abu Selmia, the director of Shifa Hospital.
Two families were among the dead, according to the hospital.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the individual strikes, but said it struck 130 targets across the Gaza Strip in 24 hours.
It said the strikes targeted Hamas command and control structures, storage facilities, weapons and launchers, and that they killed a number of militants in northern Gaza.
The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1200 people and taking 251 others hostage.
Israel responded with an offensive that has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
The ministry, which is under Gaza's Hamas government, does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
The United Nations and other international organisations consider the ministry's figures the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
The strikes occurred as efforts to reach a ceasefire deal appeared to gain momentum.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said his government would send a negotiating team to talks in Qatar on Sunday, adding that Hamas was seeking "unacceptable" changes to the proposal.
The planned talks in Qatar come ahead of Netanyahu's planned visit to Washington on Monday to meet US President Donald Trump to discuss the deal.
It is unclear whether a deal will be reached ahead of Netanyahu's meeting at the White House.
Hamas has sought guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
Previous negotiations have stalled over Hamas' demands for guarantees that further negotiations would lead to the war's end, while Netanyahu has insisted Israel would resume fighting to ensure the militant group's destruction.
Israeli air strikes have killed at least 38 Palestinians in Gaza, hospital officials say, as Israel's military says it has struck more than 100 targets in the embattled enclave in the past day.
The strikes came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was preparing to fly to Washington for talks at the White House aimed at pushing forward ceasefire efforts.
Separately, an Israeli official said the Israeli security Cabinet on Saturday night approved sending aid into the northern part of Gaza, where civilians are suffering from acute food shortages.
The official, who declined to offer more details, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the decision.
In Yemen, a spokesperson for the Houthi rebel group announced on Sunday in a prerecorded message that the group had launched ballistic missiles targeting Ben Gurion airport overnight.
The Israeli military said these had been intercepted.
President Donald Trump has floated a plan for an initial 60-day ceasefire that would include a partial release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for an increase in humanitarian supplies allowed into Gaza.
The proposed truce calls for talks on ending the 21-month war altogether.
Twenty people were killed and 25 wounded after Israeli strikes hit two houses in Gaza City, according to Mohammed Abu Selmia, the director of Shifa Hospital.
Two families were among the dead, according to the hospital.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the individual strikes, but said it struck 130 targets across the Gaza Strip in 24 hours.
It said the strikes targeted Hamas command and control structures, storage facilities, weapons and launchers, and that they killed a number of militants in northern Gaza.
The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1200 people and taking 251 others hostage.
Israel responded with an offensive that has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
The ministry, which is under Gaza's Hamas government, does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
The United Nations and other international organisations consider the ministry's figures the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
The strikes occurred as efforts to reach a ceasefire deal appeared to gain momentum.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said his government would send a negotiating team to talks in Qatar on Sunday, adding that Hamas was seeking "unacceptable" changes to the proposal.
The planned talks in Qatar come ahead of Netanyahu's planned visit to Washington on Monday to meet US President Donald Trump to discuss the deal.
It is unclear whether a deal will be reached ahead of Netanyahu's meeting at the White House.
Hamas has sought guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
Previous negotiations have stalled over Hamas' demands for guarantees that further negotiations would lead to the war's end, while Netanyahu has insisted Israel would resume fighting to ensure the militant group's destruction.
Israeli air strikes have killed at least 38 Palestinians in Gaza, hospital officials say, as Israel's military says it has struck more than 100 targets in the embattled enclave in the past day.
The strikes came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was preparing to fly to Washington for talks at the White House aimed at pushing forward ceasefire efforts.
Separately, an Israeli official said the Israeli security Cabinet on Saturday night approved sending aid into the northern part of Gaza, where civilians are suffering from acute food shortages.
The official, who declined to offer more details, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the decision.
In Yemen, a spokesperson for the Houthi rebel group announced on Sunday in a prerecorded message that the group had launched ballistic missiles targeting Ben Gurion airport overnight.
The Israeli military said these had been intercepted.
President Donald Trump has floated a plan for an initial 60-day ceasefire that would include a partial release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for an increase in humanitarian supplies allowed into Gaza.
The proposed truce calls for talks on ending the 21-month war altogether.
Twenty people were killed and 25 wounded after Israeli strikes hit two houses in Gaza City, according to Mohammed Abu Selmia, the director of Shifa Hospital.
Two families were among the dead, according to the hospital.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the individual strikes, but said it struck 130 targets across the Gaza Strip in 24 hours.
It said the strikes targeted Hamas command and control structures, storage facilities, weapons and launchers, and that they killed a number of militants in northern Gaza.
The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1200 people and taking 251 others hostage.
Israel responded with an offensive that has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
The ministry, which is under Gaza's Hamas government, does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
The United Nations and other international organisations consider the ministry's figures the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
The strikes occurred as efforts to reach a ceasefire deal appeared to gain momentum.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said his government would send a negotiating team to talks in Qatar on Sunday, adding that Hamas was seeking "unacceptable" changes to the proposal.
The planned talks in Qatar come ahead of Netanyahu's planned visit to Washington on Monday to meet US President Donald Trump to discuss the deal.
It is unclear whether a deal will be reached ahead of Netanyahu's meeting at the White House.
Hamas has sought guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
Previous negotiations have stalled over Hamas' demands for guarantees that further negotiations would lead to the war's end, while Netanyahu has insisted Israel would resume fighting to ensure the militant group's destruction.
Israeli air strikes have killed at least 38 Palestinians in Gaza, hospital officials say, as Israel's military says it has struck more than 100 targets in the embattled enclave in the past day.
The strikes came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was preparing to fly to Washington for talks at the White House aimed at pushing forward ceasefire efforts.
Separately, an Israeli official said the Israeli security Cabinet on Saturday night approved sending aid into the northern part of Gaza, where civilians are suffering from acute food shortages.
The official, who declined to offer more details, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the decision.
In Yemen, a spokesperson for the Houthi rebel group announced on Sunday in a prerecorded message that the group had launched ballistic missiles targeting Ben Gurion airport overnight.
The Israeli military said these had been intercepted.
President Donald Trump has floated a plan for an initial 60-day ceasefire that would include a partial release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for an increase in humanitarian supplies allowed into Gaza.
The proposed truce calls for talks on ending the 21-month war altogether.
Twenty people were killed and 25 wounded after Israeli strikes hit two houses in Gaza City, according to Mohammed Abu Selmia, the director of Shifa Hospital.
Two families were among the dead, according to the hospital.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the individual strikes, but said it struck 130 targets across the Gaza Strip in 24 hours.
It said the strikes targeted Hamas command and control structures, storage facilities, weapons and launchers, and that they killed a number of militants in northern Gaza.
The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1200 people and taking 251 others hostage.
Israel responded with an offensive that has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
The ministry, which is under Gaza's Hamas government, does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
The United Nations and other international organisations consider the ministry's figures the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
The strikes occurred as efforts to reach a ceasefire deal appeared to gain momentum.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said his government would send a negotiating team to talks in Qatar on Sunday, adding that Hamas was seeking "unacceptable" changes to the proposal.
The planned talks in Qatar come ahead of Netanyahu's planned visit to Washington on Monday to meet US President Donald Trump to discuss the deal.
It is unclear whether a deal will be reached ahead of Netanyahu's meeting at the White House.
Hamas has sought guarantees that the initial truce would lead to a total end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
Previous negotiations have stalled over Hamas' demands for guarantees that further negotiations would lead to the war's end, while Netanyahu has insisted Israel would resume fighting to ensure the militant group's destruction.
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Australia has been invaded. And the invader is sure to come back with greater force
Australia was invaded last week. The invader did a lot of damage, similar to previous invasions over the past couple of decades. The invader took people's homes, damaged the power grid, wrecked roads and bridges, and destroyed crops. All the things that invaders do. And the invader will come again and again in greater force, destroying lives and property. The invader, of course, is the more violent weather caused by climate change. The same invader that killed at least 78 in Texas in the last week. This is the biggest national-security threat facing most countries. This is the national-security threat that the nations of the earth should be spending 3.5 or even 5 per cent of GDP to address. It provides the answer Australia should give to the preposterous US demand that we spend more on "defence" - a demand that really means wasting more money buying American weapons and adding to the $500 million already handed over to the Americans to bolster their shipyards to build submarines we will never get. And what rent is the US paying on Pine Gap, the North-West Cape and the Darwin base, if anything? When are we going to question whether it is worth remaining such a close ally of the US? What is the point of NATO increasing "defence" spending if NATO cannot use its undoubted force and ability to push the Russians out of Ukraine and arrest Putin to be tried for war crimes for which there is copious evidence? The passing last week of the One Big Beautiful Bill reinforces the fact that the US no longer shares with us common values. The bill slashes food, medical, and educational help from people who desperately need it to give money to the already wealthy who do not - in a way that runs counter to the Australian fair go. Just as the slashing of USAID is contrary to Australia values because it has killed innocent children. Maybe we could ignore that. But, more profoundly, in the medium to long term, the bill will likely damage the US and its position in the world so much economically that many American allies will question whether any alliance with them is worth continuing. It is a tragic irony that President Donald Trump whose political success has relied on the slogan "Make America Great Again" has with this bill and earlier actions attacked the two most important contributors to America's historic greatness: the rule of law and technological superiority. The rule of law provides the basis for economic strength. 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This is slashing the arteries of American industrial and technological superiority. Worse, the Bill removes tax incentives for electric vehicles and renewable electrification generally and provides more tax incentives for fossil vehicles and fossil industries generally. In short, it hands to China on an electrolysis plate, all of the wealth and technological advantage of the energy revolution. China already manufactures 80 per cent of the world's solar panels, 75 per cent of its batteries and 70 per cent of its EVs. The US is not even trying to catch up. Developing nations are not going to waste their money and time transitioning through coal and gas as demand for electrical power rises. They will go straight to the Chinese renewable industry because the US has vacated the field. READ MORE CRISPIN HULL: It also hands to China the massive industry of making devices more electrically efficient: think LED light globes, induction stoves and the like. Trump's mad, ideological obsession against renewable energy has driven him to a position where his other obsession - the rise of China - is lost. Hawks may well support an alliance with an immoral but strong nation, but surely they are misguided to so closely attach itself to a nation that sabotages its own economic and industrial strength? Trump has also squandered America's intelligence advantage, by surrounding himself with sycophants. Intelligence that tells a leader what he wants to hear is no intelligence at all. Who can forget the imagery of the sycophants who verbally told Putin that they agreed to his Ukraine invasion while their body language said it was mad. US intelligence officials concocted evidence to say the illegal bombing of Iran neutralised the threat, when all it did was make Iran more determined. And speaking of China and the rule of law, if the Chinese Communist Party wants to resume the civil war that ended in 1949, Australia should not get involved, even if the US does. We have wasted too much blood and treasure following the US into mad, bad and illegal wars: Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. None of them achieved anything but death and destruction and more violence. Taiwan is not a member of the UN. It does not even profess itself to be an independent nation. Yes, 20 million plus people are enjoying democratic rights which is terrific. But we should no more go to war with China to defend those rights than go to any of a score of African countries to do the same thing. Where is the end game in all this sabre rattling? It is like the lead-up to World War I. It will all be over by Christmas, they said, with more than four years of futile carnage before them. And when will American jurists, legislators, and American people generally realise they are being led by an ignorant fool of an emperor who has no clothes? Australia was invaded last week. The invader did a lot of damage, similar to previous invasions over the past couple of decades. The invader took people's homes, damaged the power grid, wrecked roads and bridges, and destroyed crops. All the things that invaders do. And the invader will come again and again in greater force, destroying lives and property. The invader, of course, is the more violent weather caused by climate change. The same invader that killed at least 78 in Texas in the last week. This is the biggest national-security threat facing most countries. This is the national-security threat that the nations of the earth should be spending 3.5 or even 5 per cent of GDP to address. It provides the answer Australia should give to the preposterous US demand that we spend more on "defence" - a demand that really means wasting more money buying American weapons and adding to the $500 million already handed over to the Americans to bolster their shipyards to build submarines we will never get. And what rent is the US paying on Pine Gap, the North-West Cape and the Darwin base, if anything? When are we going to question whether it is worth remaining such a close ally of the US? What is the point of NATO increasing "defence" spending if NATO cannot use its undoubted force and ability to push the Russians out of Ukraine and arrest Putin to be tried for war crimes for which there is copious evidence? The passing last week of the One Big Beautiful Bill reinforces the fact that the US no longer shares with us common values. The bill slashes food, medical, and educational help from people who desperately need it to give money to the already wealthy who do not - in a way that runs counter to the Australian fair go. Just as the slashing of USAID is contrary to Australia values because it has killed innocent children. Maybe we could ignore that. But, more profoundly, in the medium to long term, the bill will likely damage the US and its position in the world so much economically that many American allies will question whether any alliance with them is worth continuing. It is a tragic irony that President Donald Trump whose political success has relied on the slogan "Make America Great Again" has with this bill and earlier actions attacked the two most important contributors to America's historic greatness: the rule of law and technological superiority. The rule of law provides the basis for economic strength. First, personal freedom (from arbitrary arrest and attack from government) nourishes individual economic activity. Secondly, the certainty that contracts will be impartially enforced; civil wrongs will be impartially addressed; and property rights respected underpins business confidence. Without the rule of law, the risks cause investors to shy away. Trump has undermined the world trading system and eroded the rule of law - bedrock Australian values - in America. Worse, the Supreme Court and the Congress have supinely allowed the erosion to go unchecked. Indeed, they have added to it. This is now not just a rogue President, but a nation that is losing any claim to holding the moral high ground. The second, more corrosive, effect on American greatness comes with the Big Beautiful Bill's attack on American technological progress. First, the bill makes it harder for Americans to get a college education by slashing student-loan funding and direct funding to universities. This is slashing the arteries of American industrial and technological superiority. Worse, the Bill removes tax incentives for electric vehicles and renewable electrification generally and provides more tax incentives for fossil vehicles and fossil industries generally. In short, it hands to China on an electrolysis plate, all of the wealth and technological advantage of the energy revolution. China already manufactures 80 per cent of the world's solar panels, 75 per cent of its batteries and 70 per cent of its EVs. The US is not even trying to catch up. Developing nations are not going to waste their money and time transitioning through coal and gas as demand for electrical power rises. They will go straight to the Chinese renewable industry because the US has vacated the field. READ MORE CRISPIN HULL: It also hands to China the massive industry of making devices more electrically efficient: think LED light globes, induction stoves and the like. Trump's mad, ideological obsession against renewable energy has driven him to a position where his other obsession - the rise of China - is lost. Hawks may well support an alliance with an immoral but strong nation, but surely they are misguided to so closely attach itself to a nation that sabotages its own economic and industrial strength? Trump has also squandered America's intelligence advantage, by surrounding himself with sycophants. Intelligence that tells a leader what he wants to hear is no intelligence at all. Who can forget the imagery of the sycophants who verbally told Putin that they agreed to his Ukraine invasion while their body language said it was mad. US intelligence officials concocted evidence to say the illegal bombing of Iran neutralised the threat, when all it did was make Iran more determined. And speaking of China and the rule of law, if the Chinese Communist Party wants to resume the civil war that ended in 1949, Australia should not get involved, even if the US does. We have wasted too much blood and treasure following the US into mad, bad and illegal wars: Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. None of them achieved anything but death and destruction and more violence. Taiwan is not a member of the UN. It does not even profess itself to be an independent nation. Yes, 20 million plus people are enjoying democratic rights which is terrific. But we should no more go to war with China to defend those rights than go to any of a score of African countries to do the same thing. Where is the end game in all this sabre rattling? It is like the lead-up to World War I. It will all be over by Christmas, they said, with more than four years of futile carnage before them. And when will American jurists, legislators, and American people generally realise they are being led by an ignorant fool of an emperor who has no clothes? Australia was invaded last week. The invader did a lot of damage, similar to previous invasions over the past couple of decades. The invader took people's homes, damaged the power grid, wrecked roads and bridges, and destroyed crops. All the things that invaders do. And the invader will come again and again in greater force, destroying lives and property. The invader, of course, is the more violent weather caused by climate change. The same invader that killed at least 78 in Texas in the last week. This is the biggest national-security threat facing most countries. This is the national-security threat that the nations of the earth should be spending 3.5 or even 5 per cent of GDP to address. It provides the answer Australia should give to the preposterous US demand that we spend more on "defence" - a demand that really means wasting more money buying American weapons and adding to the $500 million already handed over to the Americans to bolster their shipyards to build submarines we will never get. And what rent is the US paying on Pine Gap, the North-West Cape and the Darwin base, if anything? When are we going to question whether it is worth remaining such a close ally of the US? What is the point of NATO increasing "defence" spending if NATO cannot use its undoubted force and ability to push the Russians out of Ukraine and arrest Putin to be tried for war crimes for which there is copious evidence? The passing last week of the One Big Beautiful Bill reinforces the fact that the US no longer shares with us common values. The bill slashes food, medical, and educational help from people who desperately need it to give money to the already wealthy who do not - in a way that runs counter to the Australian fair go. Just as the slashing of USAID is contrary to Australia values because it has killed innocent children. Maybe we could ignore that. But, more profoundly, in the medium to long term, the bill will likely damage the US and its position in the world so much economically that many American allies will question whether any alliance with them is worth continuing. It is a tragic irony that President Donald Trump whose political success has relied on the slogan "Make America Great Again" has with this bill and earlier actions attacked the two most important contributors to America's historic greatness: the rule of law and technological superiority. The rule of law provides the basis for economic strength. First, personal freedom (from arbitrary arrest and attack from government) nourishes individual economic activity. Secondly, the certainty that contracts will be impartially enforced; civil wrongs will be impartially addressed; and property rights respected underpins business confidence. Without the rule of law, the risks cause investors to shy away. Trump has undermined the world trading system and eroded the rule of law - bedrock Australian values - in America. Worse, the Supreme Court and the Congress have supinely allowed the erosion to go unchecked. Indeed, they have added to it. This is now not just a rogue President, but a nation that is losing any claim to holding the moral high ground. The second, more corrosive, effect on American greatness comes with the Big Beautiful Bill's attack on American technological progress. First, the bill makes it harder for Americans to get a college education by slashing student-loan funding and direct funding to universities. This is slashing the arteries of American industrial and technological superiority. Worse, the Bill removes tax incentives for electric vehicles and renewable electrification generally and provides more tax incentives for fossil vehicles and fossil industries generally. In short, it hands to China on an electrolysis plate, all of the wealth and technological advantage of the energy revolution. China already manufactures 80 per cent of the world's solar panels, 75 per cent of its batteries and 70 per cent of its EVs. The US is not even trying to catch up. Developing nations are not going to waste their money and time transitioning through coal and gas as demand for electrical power rises. They will go straight to the Chinese renewable industry because the US has vacated the field. READ MORE CRISPIN HULL: It also hands to China the massive industry of making devices more electrically efficient: think LED light globes, induction stoves and the like. Trump's mad, ideological obsession against renewable energy has driven him to a position where his other obsession - the rise of China - is lost. Hawks may well support an alliance with an immoral but strong nation, but surely they are misguided to so closely attach itself to a nation that sabotages its own economic and industrial strength? Trump has also squandered America's intelligence advantage, by surrounding himself with sycophants. Intelligence that tells a leader what he wants to hear is no intelligence at all. Who can forget the imagery of the sycophants who verbally told Putin that they agreed to his Ukraine invasion while their body language said it was mad. US intelligence officials concocted evidence to say the illegal bombing of Iran neutralised the threat, when all it did was make Iran more determined. And speaking of China and the rule of law, if the Chinese Communist Party wants to resume the civil war that ended in 1949, Australia should not get involved, even if the US does. We have wasted too much blood and treasure following the US into mad, bad and illegal wars: Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. None of them achieved anything but death and destruction and more violence. Taiwan is not a member of the UN. It does not even profess itself to be an independent nation. Yes, 20 million plus people are enjoying democratic rights which is terrific. But we should no more go to war with China to defend those rights than go to any of a score of African countries to do the same thing. Where is the end game in all this sabre rattling? It is like the lead-up to World War I. It will all be over by Christmas, they said, with more than four years of futile carnage before them. And when will American jurists, legislators, and American people generally realise they are being led by an ignorant fool of an emperor who has no clothes? Australia was invaded last week. The invader did a lot of damage, similar to previous invasions over the past couple of decades. The invader took people's homes, damaged the power grid, wrecked roads and bridges, and destroyed crops. All the things that invaders do. And the invader will come again and again in greater force, destroying lives and property. The invader, of course, is the more violent weather caused by climate change. The same invader that killed at least 78 in Texas in the last week. This is the biggest national-security threat facing most countries. This is the national-security threat that the nations of the earth should be spending 3.5 or even 5 per cent of GDP to address. It provides the answer Australia should give to the preposterous US demand that we spend more on "defence" - a demand that really means wasting more money buying American weapons and adding to the $500 million already handed over to the Americans to bolster their shipyards to build submarines we will never get. And what rent is the US paying on Pine Gap, the North-West Cape and the Darwin base, if anything? When are we going to question whether it is worth remaining such a close ally of the US? What is the point of NATO increasing "defence" spending if NATO cannot use its undoubted force and ability to push the Russians out of Ukraine and arrest Putin to be tried for war crimes for which there is copious evidence? The passing last week of the One Big Beautiful Bill reinforces the fact that the US no longer shares with us common values. The bill slashes food, medical, and educational help from people who desperately need it to give money to the already wealthy who do not - in a way that runs counter to the Australian fair go. Just as the slashing of USAID is contrary to Australia values because it has killed innocent children. Maybe we could ignore that. But, more profoundly, in the medium to long term, the bill will likely damage the US and its position in the world so much economically that many American allies will question whether any alliance with them is worth continuing. It is a tragic irony that President Donald Trump whose political success has relied on the slogan "Make America Great Again" has with this bill and earlier actions attacked the two most important contributors to America's historic greatness: the rule of law and technological superiority. The rule of law provides the basis for economic strength. First, personal freedom (from arbitrary arrest and attack from government) nourishes individual economic activity. Secondly, the certainty that contracts will be impartially enforced; civil wrongs will be impartially addressed; and property rights respected underpins business confidence. Without the rule of law, the risks cause investors to shy away. Trump has undermined the world trading system and eroded the rule of law - bedrock Australian values - in America. Worse, the Supreme Court and the Congress have supinely allowed the erosion to go unchecked. Indeed, they have added to it. This is now not just a rogue President, but a nation that is losing any claim to holding the moral high ground. The second, more corrosive, effect on American greatness comes with the Big Beautiful Bill's attack on American technological progress. First, the bill makes it harder for Americans to get a college education by slashing student-loan funding and direct funding to universities. This is slashing the arteries of American industrial and technological superiority. Worse, the Bill removes tax incentives for electric vehicles and renewable electrification generally and provides more tax incentives for fossil vehicles and fossil industries generally. In short, it hands to China on an electrolysis plate, all of the wealth and technological advantage of the energy revolution. China already manufactures 80 per cent of the world's solar panels, 75 per cent of its batteries and 70 per cent of its EVs. The US is not even trying to catch up. Developing nations are not going to waste their money and time transitioning through coal and gas as demand for electrical power rises. They will go straight to the Chinese renewable industry because the US has vacated the field. READ MORE CRISPIN HULL: It also hands to China the massive industry of making devices more electrically efficient: think LED light globes, induction stoves and the like. Trump's mad, ideological obsession against renewable energy has driven him to a position where his other obsession - the rise of China - is lost. Hawks may well support an alliance with an immoral but strong nation, but surely they are misguided to so closely attach itself to a nation that sabotages its own economic and industrial strength? Trump has also squandered America's intelligence advantage, by surrounding himself with sycophants. Intelligence that tells a leader what he wants to hear is no intelligence at all. Who can forget the imagery of the sycophants who verbally told Putin that they agreed to his Ukraine invasion while their body language said it was mad. US intelligence officials concocted evidence to say the illegal bombing of Iran neutralised the threat, when all it did was make Iran more determined. And speaking of China and the rule of law, if the Chinese Communist Party wants to resume the civil war that ended in 1949, Australia should not get involved, even if the US does. We have wasted too much blood and treasure following the US into mad, bad and illegal wars: Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. None of them achieved anything but death and destruction and more violence. Taiwan is not a member of the UN. It does not even profess itself to be an independent nation. Yes, 20 million plus people are enjoying democratic rights which is terrific. But we should no more go to war with China to defend those rights than go to any of a score of African countries to do the same thing. Where is the end game in all this sabre rattling? It is like the lead-up to World War I. It will all be over by Christmas, they said, with more than four years of futile carnage before them. And when will American jurists, legislators, and American people generally realise they are being led by an ignorant fool of an emperor who has no clothes?
