Tony Burke ‘taking advice’ from security agencies about Australian women and children in Syria seeking to return

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Temporary Exclusion Orders allow the home affairs minister to stop a person entering for up to two years, but there is a high bar for the powers

Home affairs minister Tony Burke is “taking advice” from security agencies on whether Australian women and children in a Syrian detention camp should be temporarily banned from returning, but it is unclear how many in the cohort such an order would apply to.

On Monday night, 34 Australian women and children – the wives, widows and children of dead or jailed Islamic State fighters – left from the al-Roj camp, in north-eastern Syria, after being released by Kurdish authorities for their expected repatriation to Australia.

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Chinese tourists shun Japan over lunar new year holiday as rift deepens

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Japanese prime minister’s refusal to back down over Taiwan comments brings more criticism and travel warnings from China

Chinese tourists are continuing to shun Japan in large numbers, with the country falling out of the top 10 destinations for those celebrating the lunar new year with a trip abroad.

Japan has had a dramatic drop in the number of Chinese visitors since the end of last year as a diplomatic row between Tokyo and Beijing over the security of Taiwan continues.

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Taunts, harassment and assaults: landmark report finds racism at Australian universities is ‘systemic’

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Survey by Australian Human Rights Commission found universities failed to meet duty of care, while complaints processes were ‘Kafkaesque’

Racism is “systemic” at Australia’s universities, according to a landmark report found students have mocked their Palestinian peers with shouts of “terrorism”, some students have been followed by campus security and First Nations students have been compared to “petrol sniffers” in lecture halls.

The report also found Jewish students were fearful to attend classes, with one harassed for wearing their kippa walking to class and another who described people screaming “send them to the camps” at a group of Jews on campus.

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Monopoly Round-Up: Why the “AI God” Narrative is Actually a Corporate Power Grab – BIG substack.

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  1. Monopoly Round-Up: Why the "AI God" Narrative is Actually a Corporate Power Grab  BIG substack.
  2. The Doomsday Scenario for AI and Jobs  Derek Thompson | Substack
  3. Those who most need to understand AI don't get it  The Jakarta Post
  4. The right isn’t ready for the impact of AI  The Spectator
  5. Opinion | A.I. May Put Progressives to the Test  The New York Times
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Bacteria Frozen For 5,000 Years Could Fight Superbugs, But There’s a Catch – ScienceAlert

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  1. Bacteria Frozen For 5,000 Years Could Fight Superbugs, But There's a Catch  ScienceAlert
  2. Bacteria frozen in ancient underground ice cave found to be resistant against 10 modern antibiotics  Frontiers
  3. 5,000-year-old bacteria thawed in Romanian ice cave  Popular Science
  4. Researchers find antibiotic-resistant bacteria from 5,000 years ago  Euronews.com
  5. Ancient bacteria from 5,000-year-old ice reveals clues to fighting superbugs  The Conversation
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China’s high-speed rail network accelerates world’s largest human migration – Financial Times

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  1. China’s high-speed rail network accelerates world’s largest human migration  Financial Times
  2. China’s Lunar New Year travel rush begins with record 9.5 billion trips expected  AP News
  3. China hopes for a bumper lunar new year as world’s biggest migration begins  The Guardian
  4. The Retail Hotspots for Chinese New Year Tourists  The Business of Fashion
  5. China's Lunar New Year travel rush is world's biggest annual migration  Reuters
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The Multipolar Delusion – Foreign Affairs

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  1. The Multipolar Delusion  Foreign Affairs
  2. What is the 'rules-based order' and can it survive?  DW.com
  3. 🚨⚖️ Leaders of Canada and Germany Announce that International Law and Rules are Effectively Over. This is the most important email I've sent to you in a very long time.  thenorthstar.com
  4. FO Talks: Decoding Mark Carney’s Davos Speech Amid Rising Global Strategic Competition  Fair Observer
  5. The new world disorder, from rules to might  The Hindu
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Australia refuses to repatriate ISIS-linked citizens in Syria as escape attempt fails – CNN

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  1. Australia refuses to repatriate ISIS-linked citizens in Syria as escape attempt fails  CNN
  2. Tony Burke ‘taking advice’ from security agencies about Australian women and children in Syria seeking to return  The Guardian
  3. Australians with alleged IS ties are turned back after departing Syrian camp for repatriation  AP News
  4. Australian IS families in Syria camp turned back after leaving for home  BBC
  5. Australian PM Albanese says no help for ISIL relatives held in Syria camp  Al Jazeera
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Iran Update, February 16, 2026 – Institute for the Study of War

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  1. Iran Update, February 16, 2026  Institute for the Study of War
  2. Iran Update, February 17, 2026  Institute for the Study of War
  3. Iran - Situation Assessment (February 2026): The Race to Rebuild the Nuclear and Missile Array, Casual Terror and the CRINK  Alma Research and Education Center
  4. Iran operating secret ‘black box’ sites holding thousands in detention: reports  Fox News
  5. Iran News in Brief – February 17, 2026  National Council of Resistance of Iran - NCRI
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