Australia’s $2.3 billion green energy program is funding oversized batteries and blowing out in cost
By Rohan Best A federal government green energy program is subsidising unnecessarily large home batteries and blowing out in cost. The Labor government launched its A$2.3 billion Cheaper Home Batteries Program in July, with the aim of bringing down household power bills and reducing people’s reliance on the energy grid. The program was projected to lead to
From ruins to rebuilding: Three Jamaican mothers face the future after hurricane
By Karina Tijomirov and Maxine Alleyne, IOM Three women in Jamaica whose lives were upended by the destructive force of a hurricane which battered the Caribbean island are looking to rebuild their future. Right before Hurricane Melissa swept across Jamaica in late October 2025, Rose* took her two children to a friend’s sturdy concrete home to
In the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, mining revenue is helping to fund rebel groups
By Simplice Bambe, Jean Sovon & Jean-Christophe Brunet The ongoing security crisis in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has deepened, with two rebel groups, the Congo River Alliance (AFC) and the 23 March Movement (M23), which are both opposed to the ruling regime, now working together. The AFC is a political-military organization composed of former
ASIA/CHINA – Consecration of bishop of the Apostolic Prefecture of Xinxiang
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – Today, Friday 5 December 2025, the episcopal ordination of the Reverend Francis Li Jianlin, of the clergy of Xinxiang, took place. On 11 August 2025, the Holy Father appointed him as bishop of the Apostolic Prefecture of Xinxiang, Henan Province, China, having approved his candidature in accordance with the Provisional
Radio Fresh: A Syrian history
By Jo Meg Kennedy Raed Fares and Hamoud Junaid, together with a young colleague, Ali Dandoush, had just left the offices of Radio Fresh, getting into the car together. The director was at the wheel and, shortly after, noticed a silver van behind them. He took a dirt road to get away, but everything had already
