World War II
Australia’s last two WWII coast watchers die, aged 100 and 101
The courageous deeds of the legendary and secretive coast watchers represent one of the most illustrious chapters in Australia’s military history.
- by Vice Admiral Peter Jones (Retd)
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Analysis
UK politics
Celebrations will be short-lived for Starmer, he’s got to fix a broken Britain
Britain’s new prime minister faces perhaps the most monumental challenges of any incoming UK leader since Clement Attlee’s Labour Party won in a landslide in 1945.
- by Rob Harris
The great Australian war stories that didn’t actually happen
In his new book, Mark Dapin demonstrates that the truth and war are uncomfortable partners.
- by Edmund Goldrick
I thought my husband was dead. Then 30 years later, a letter arrived in the mail
Amid the chaos of the Red Army advance in Latvia in 1944, Milda and Rudis Masens were separated. After five years in displaced persons camps hoping for news of Rudis, the young mother settled in Newcastle, NSW, and eventually remarried.
- by As told to Andra Putnis
What lies beneath: 10 of the world’s most incredible underground structures
Put ordinary buildings underground and they transform into something far more interesting and otherworldly.
- by Brian Johnston
An intricately woven novel straddling war, love and friendship
Catherine McKinnon’s sprawling new novel, To Sing of War, interweaves several stories against the backdrop of World War II.
- by Flynn Benson
Unanswered questions dog Dutton’s nuclear dream
The Nuclear Energy Institute estimates that one nuclear reactor needs billions of litres of water per year for cooling, and “all of this water requires filtering somehow”. As nuclear reactors need to be operational 24/7 and can’t be switched on and off at short notice to cover peak demand times, where does Dutton suggest this water will come from for his chosen sites?
Hurley asks King about his health in emotional final overseas trip on duty
Governor-General David Hurley’s job is almost done. But his final trip overseas, his 19th in the job, was as moving as any that had come before.
- by Rob Harris
Culinary diplomacy: Inside the opulent state dinner Macron held for Biden
In the gilded reception hall of the Elysee Palace, Emmanuel Macron embraced a French tradition that has endured through monarchy, empire and five republics.
- by Roger Cohen
Explainer
United Nations
Why can’t the world’s peacekeeper stop the fighting in Gaza and Ukraine?
Two regional conflicts are threatening global peace. Could the United Nations step in – and, if so, why hasn’t it?
- by Angus Holland
Analysis
UK election
Sunak’s new blunder will haunt him to the grave
The PM courting older voters by campaigning to bring back national service in Britain, inexplicably chose to snub a major event for the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings.
- by Rob Harris