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Victoria Signs Historic Aboriginal Treaty
The Australian state of Victoria on Thursday signed the country’s first modern treaty with Aboriginal people, a move described by advocates as a significant step toward reconciliation and greater Indigenous participation in policymaking. The agreement, which comes into effect on December 12, includes a formal apology to Australia’s First Nations communities and establishes a permanent representative body to advise the Victorian government.
Victoria’s move marks the first such agreement in Australia, a development the United Nations human rights chief called “historic.” “Today marks a new chapter in the story of our state,” Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said at the signing ceremony in Melbourne.
Unlike countries such as the United States, Canada and New Zealand, Australia has never signed a treaty with its Indigenous peoples. Its roughly one million First Nations citizens continue to fall below national averages on most socio-economic indicators. A 2023 referendum to embed an Indigenous advisory body in the constitution was rejected by 60% of voters and all six states, dealing a setback to national reconciliation efforts.
Harry Hobbs, a law professor at the University of New South Wales, said Victoria’s treaty represented a major step toward recognising First Nations’ rights to self-determination. “It’s a moment that will influence treaty discussions across the country,” he said.
Talks on a Victorian treaty began in 2016, with enabling legislation passed by the state parliament last month. The agreement mandates a formal apology from the government for historical injustices and establishes the First Peoples’ Assembly to advise on laws and policies affecting Indigenous communities. The body, however, will not have veto powers.
The treaty also includes a “truth-telling” commission and an accountability body to ensure commitments made to Indigenous people are upheld. “This makes us all a better state, a better country, better people,” said Rueben Berg, co-chair of the First Peoples’ Assembly.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Next Trade Shock: US Move To Tax Digital Services
For decades, India’s services exports have been its golden
goose — powering jobs, foreign exchange, and global
influence.
But this is now under threat.
Lawmakers in the United States have proposed a law that will
tax companies outsourcing their services. This comes on top of
the hike in fees of H1B visas.
Together, they pose a threat to India’s most lucrative and
fastest growing export: services.
To unpack this threat, StratNewsGlobal.Tech spoke to
Professor Pritam Banerjee, Head, Centre for WTO Studies,
IIFT. The professor has just co-published a research paper on
how Washington’s new playbook could reshape the global
digital economy and what India must do to stay ahead.
India, Oman Poised to Seal Major Trade Pact
India and Oman are close to concluding a landmark Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), with officials from both sides working to finalise dates for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s planned visit to Muscat for the signing ceremony.
The pact is expected to be sealed before the end of the year, marking a significant boost to India’s expanding economic and strategic footprint in West Asia.
According to officials familiar with the negotiations, the last outstanding issue has been resolved, clearing the way for the agreement’s conclusion. India had pushed for protection against frequent changes under Oman’s “Omanisation” programme — a labour localisation policy that mandates companies to employ a fixed proportion of Omani nationals. New Delhi has now secured a provision that freezes current Omanisation thresholds for Indian firms, offering predictability for businesses and easier mobility for professionals once the CEPA is operational.
The trade pact is among India’s most ambitious in recent years, providing duty-free access to nearly 98% of tariff lines in the Omani market — broader than the scope offered under the India–UAE CEPA of 2022. The deal covers goods, services, investments, and digital commerce, and is expected to benefit key Indian export sectors such as petroleum products, engineering goods, textiles, minerals, and chemicals. Oman’s current import duties range from 0% to 100%, with higher slabs applying to alcohol, tobacco, and select food items.
In FY 2024–25, India exported goods worth $4.07 billion to Oman and imported $6.55 billion, largely petroleum, fertilisers, and plastics. The agreement is expected to help narrow this gap and support India’s energy and food security by creating more stable supply chains.
Beyond trade, the India–Oman relationship has deepened into a key pillar of New Delhi’s West Asia strategy. Oman remains India’s closest defence partner in the Gulf, the only country in the region with which India conducts regular tri-service military exercises. New Delhi recently hosted the third Army-to-Army Staff Talks (AAST), where both sides advanced plans under the forthcoming Defence Cooperation Plan 2026, focusing on capability development, training, and military education. This follows the success of last year’s “Al Najah” joint exercise in Oman.
Maritime cooperation is another major pillar of the partnership. With Oman’s strategic location near the Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint that channels nearly one-fifth of global oil trade — its ports play a crucial role in India’s western maritime operations. The Indian Navy benefits from access to Omani facilities for refuelling and logistics, complementing joint efforts in counter-piracy missions and coastal security.
Oman’s role in regional groupings such as the GCC, the Arab League, and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) further enhances its value as a long-term strategic partner for India.
Diplomatic sources say preparations are under way for Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Muscat, where he is expected to hold meetings with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq alongside the CEPA signing. The agreement, coupled with deepening defence ties, underscores the rising strategic trust between the two nations and reaffirms their shared commitment to stability and prosperity in the Indo-West Asian region.
Boeing To Pay $35.8 Million To 737 MAX Crash Victim’s Family
A jury in federal court in Chicago ordered Boeing on Wednesday to pay more than $28 million to the family of a United Nations environmental worker who was killed in the 2019 crash of a 737 MAX jet in Ethiopia.
The verdict awarded to the family of Shikha Garg is the first in the dozens of lawsuits filed in the wake of that crash and another in Indonesia in 2018, which combined killed 346 people.
Under a deal between the parties struck on Wednesday morning, Garg’s family will receive $35.85 million – the full verdict amount plus 26% interest – and Boeing will not appeal, according to attorneys for the family.
In a statement, a Boeing spokeswoman said the company is deeply sorry to all who lost loved ones on the two flights.
“While we have resolved the vast majority of these claims through settlements, families are also entitled to pursue their claims through damages trials in court, and we respect their right to do so,” she said.
Shanin Specter and Elizabeth Crawford, who represented the family, said in a statement that the verdict “provides public accountability for Boeing’s wrongful conduct.”
Garg was 32 when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Nairobi, Kenya, crashed just a few minutes after takeoff, her lawyers said.
The lawsuit alleged the 737 MAX plane was defectively designed and that Boeing failed to warn passengers and the public about its dangers.
The Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed five months after Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea in Indonesia. An automated flight control system contributed to both crashes.
The U.S. planemaker has settled more than 90% of the dozens of civil lawsuits related to the two accidents, paying out billions of dollars in compensation through lawsuits, a deferred prosecution agreement, and other payments, the company previously told Reuters.
On November 5, Boeing settled three lawsuits brought by the families of other victims who died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash, according to their attorney. The terms of those settlements were not released.
(with inputs from Reuters)
Yunus Announces Twin Vote As Dhaka Tensions Surge
Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus announced on Thursday afternoon that the national parliamentary election and the July Charter referendum will be held on the same day.
The simultaneous elections in Bangladesh will decide both the next government and the country’s future constitutional framework. The proposed charter contains 30 major reforms, including provisions for a bicameral parliament, term limits for the prime minister, stronger judicial independence, enhanced local governance, and increased women’s representation.
Voters will be asked in the referendum whether they support implementing these 30 agreed-upon reforms. The remaining 18 proposals—where political parties have yet to reach consensus—may be presented as three separate questions.
According to recommendations from the National Consensus Commission, the government will first issue the “July National Charter Implementation Ordinance” before holding the referendum on all 48 reform proposals, the Dhaka Tribune reported. If the “Yes” vote prevails, the next parliament will act as a Constitution Reform Council tasked with completing the reforms within 270 days; if it fails, the proposed changes will automatically be incorporated into the Constitution.
As the referendum will be held alongside the election, the vote is scheduled for early February next year. Despite acceptance from the BNP and NCP, the political climate remains volatile as tensions escalate in Dhaka.
The International Crimes Tribunal is set to announce its verdict against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and two others on Monday, November 17, in a case concerning crimes against humanity. Following the announcement date, leaders of the banned Awami League called for a total lockdown in Dhaka, disrupting daily life in the capital.
Growing uncertainty around Hasina’s trial now threatens to overshadow Yunus’s reform process. Reports of crude bomb blasts and arson attacks have surfaced from several parts of Dhaka, while more than 40 Awami League and Chhatra League leaders and activists were detained across the country on Wednesday and Thursday.
Security forces — including the police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) — remain on high alert. Meanwhile, the BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, and allied parties have positioned themselves across the city to counter any Awami League mobilisation, the Dhaka Tribune reported.
In one incident, residents of Mirpur’s Kafrul area apprehended a Chhatra League activist allegedly throwing petrol bombs from an autorickshaw and handed him over to the police, according to Prothom Alo.
Blue Origin To Renew Mars Satellite Launch Bid
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, carrying two satellites designed to measure space weather on Mars, is back on track for another launch attempt this week, the company said on Wednesday, after a string of delays forced by cloudy skies and a geomagnetic storm.
The latest 90-minute launch window at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida was set for Thursday, starting a few minutes before 3 p.m. (2000 GMT), according to an update posted by Jeff Bezos’ space venture on its website.
The new launch time coincided with forecasts from the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center showing a diminished risk to spacecraft and satellites from elevated solar activity on Thursday.
New Glenn, a two-stage, heavy-lift rocket standing 32 stories tall, was previously slated for blastoff on Sunday on a mission to deliver two Mars-bound satellites to space for NASA.
The flight would mark a major milestone for Blue Origin as its first major science mission for a paying customer, and the company’s first launch of any kind since its inaugural New Glenn flight in January.
But the flight ended up being scrubbed on Sunday because of heavy cloud cover. The mission was then rescheduled for Wednesday, but Blue Origin called off the launch again after a severe geomagnetic storm watch was posted.
The storm was unleashed by a surge in high-energy charged particles spewed into space earlier this week from large eruptions on the sun’s surface called “coronal mass ejections.”
The resulting stream of charged-particle radiation, or plasma, was measured on Earth on Wednesday at G-4, or “severe” levels, one step down from the highest stage of G-5 or “extreme,” but it was expected to fade on Thursday.
Geomagnetic storms are known to disrupt radio and satellite communications. They can also increase atmospheric density, creating intense friction or drag on satellites and other spacecraft in low-Earth orbit, as occurred in February 2022 when 40 Starlink satellites newly launched by SpaceX were disabled.
Elevated levels of charged particles from the sun can also more easily escape Earth’s protective magnetic field and collide more vigorously with molecules in the atmosphere, heightening the extent of colorful aurora displays visible in the night skies, mostly in polar regions.
The vibrant green and pink displays of Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, were reported across unusually large swaths of the United States on Tuesday night as far south as Texas, Florida and Alabama, with another round of higher-latitude appearances forecast for Wednesday.
Ironically, the twin satellites of EscaPADE, short for Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers, are intended to study similar phenomena on Mars at the end of a 22-month voyage to the Red Planet.
The two spacecraft are designed to orbit Mars in tandem to analyze how streams of charged solar particles interact with Mars’ magnetic field and how that interaction has caused the planet to lose much of its atmosphere.
(with inputs from Reuters)
‘It’s Time For India to Get Real About The U.S. And China’
Dr Amit Gupta, Senior Adviser to the Forum of Federations, believes India must adopt a more realistic view of its relationship with the United States and China. In an interview on The Gist, he said New Delhi continues to behave like “a jilted lover” seeking Washington’s attention while ignoring the limits of the partnership.
Drawing a sharp analogy, Gupta said, “We all know guys who were dumped by their girlfriend. They start dating other women but keep one eye on the old girlfriend, hoping she’ll ask them back.” India, he argued, does the same with the U.S. — interpreting every gesture, like a birthday wish from President Trump, as a sign of renewed affection.
He warned that despite all the fanfare over a ten-year defence agreement, Washington has offered no guarantees it won’t impose sanctions in the future or block technology transfers. “Ask anyone in Washington for that assurance and they’ll tell you — we don’t do that,” he said, noting that India still lacks access to critical technologies such as the electromagnetic catapult for aircraft carriers.
On Trump’s erratic diplomacy, Gupta described his comments about mediating between India and Pakistan as “a stream of consciousness” and said the real friction in trade talks is not agriculture but U.S. pressure on India to declare it won’t buy Russian oil. “Trump wants a headline — ‘I brought about a ceasefire’ — but he’s unpredictable,” Gupta said.
He dismissed talk of U.S. companies seeking to mine in Pakistan as “overhyped chatter,” adding that China, despite deep involvement, hasn’t been able to fully exploit those regions either. “Good luck to Trump and Western companies,” he remarked.
Gupta argued that Beijing views Pakistan’s ties with Washington pragmatically, accepting that Islamabad can engage both powers. “China will do everything to ensure Pakistan’s survival,” he said, “but not its prosperity.”
On China’s rise, Gupta noted that the country’s investments in manufacturing, robotics, and infrastructure have made it a global powerhouse, far ahead of India. “They have more highways than the U.S., more high-speed rail than the rest of the world combined, and massive power generation capacity to fuel AI,” he said.
As for India’s path, Gupta advised patience and pragmatism: “Do what Deng Xiaoping told the Chinese — bide your time, build your capabilities.” Instead of seeking symbolic validation from Washington, he suggested India focus on tangible collaborations in technology, pharmaceuticals, and education, where “the sky’s the limit.”
Trump Signs Bill Ending Longest U.S. Government Shutdown
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a bill to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, hours after the House of Representatives approved measures to restore food assistance, pay federal employees and restart the nation’s air-traffic control system.
The House, controlled by Republicans, passed the package by a vote of 222–209. Trump’s backing helped keep his party unified despite strong opposition from Democrats, who remain angered that a prolonged standoff initiated by their Senate colleagues failed to secure an extension of federal health insurance subsidies.
The bill, which cleared the Senate earlier in the week, will allow hundreds of thousands of federal workers idled by the 43-day shutdown to begin returning to their jobs as early as Thursday. It remains unclear how quickly full government operations will resume.
The agreement funds the government through January 30, keeping federal spending on a trajectory that adds about $1.8 trillion annually to the national debt, which stands at roughly $38 trillion.
The end of the shutdown is expected to aid recovery in air travel ahead of Thanksgiving and restore food assistance for millions during the holiday shopping season. It will also revive the release of key U.S. economic data, giving investors and policymakers clearer readings on employment, inflation and growth.
The White House, however, said that employment and Consumer Price Index reports for October may never be published, leaving some gaps in the economic record.
Economists estimate that the shutdown reduced gross domestic product by more than a tenth of a percentage point for each of its six weeks. Most of that lost output is expected to be recovered in the coming months.
The vote came eight days after Democrats won several high-profile elections that they believed strengthened their case for extending health insurance subsidies, which expire at the end of the year. While the deal allows for a December Senate vote on the issue, House Speaker Mike Johnson has offered no commitment on bringing the matter to a vote in the House.
(With inputs from Reuters)
UK Backs North Wales Reactor Amid U.S. Tensions
Britain on Thursday announced that its first small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear power plant will be built in North Wales, pushing ahead with its plans to expand nuclear energy infrastructure despite criticism from the United States.
Push for Nuclear Innovation
The government said in June it would spend 2.5 billion pounds ($3.36 billion) on SMRs, which are cheaper and quicker to build than large-scale nuclear power plants, aiming to increase energy security and helping to meet climate targets.
Britain’s decision to choose Wylfa on Anglesey, an island in North Wales, as the location for the first SMR was criticised by the U.S. ambassador in an unusually strongly-worded statement on the eve of the announcement.
The United States had been pushing for a large-scale project in Wylfa, which is the site of an old nuclear power station that closed down in 2015.
Nuclear Expansion
The UK government said its nuclear expansion could also include building a new large-scale plant, adding that it had tasked state-owned GB Energy-Nuclear with finding a suitable large-scale site by autumn 2026.
The government selected a Rolls-Royce RR.L design for the SMRs in June.
The new mini-reactors there will deliver power for the equivalent of 3 million homes, and will support up to 3,000 jobs in the local community during construction, with a plan to connect them to the grid in the 2030s.
There are two large-scale nuclear power plants currently under construction in Britain, one at Hinkley Point C in western England, and one at Sizewell C in eastern England.
(With inputs from Reuters)
South Korea: Truck Crashes Into Market, Kills Two
A truck crashed into a market in South Korea’s Bucheon on Thursday, killing two people.
The incident took place at a market in Bucheon, a place about 20 km west of South Korea’s capital, Seoul, at about 10.55 am local time
A Reuters report suggests that the truck appeared to reverse for 28 metres before accelerating towards the outdoor market, the official said.
The Chosun Daily has reported that two women from the 20 injured immediately went into cardiac arrest and later died.
At least eight others have sustained serious injuries. All the victims were taken to a nearby hospital.
Jin Mo, a 43-year-old merchant at the market, told The Chosun Daily, said, “I was eating inside the store when I heard screams outside, followed by a loud noise as a car passed by and stopped with a bang.”
Another merchant stated, “The sound during the accident was so loud that it felt like the building was collapsing.”
Driver Booked
Park Geum-cheon, an official at Bucheon’s fire station, told the Manila Times that witnesses told investigators that the vehicle initially reversed about 28 meters (92 feet) before driving forward 150 meters (492 feet), hitting pedestrians on the way. Fire authorities dispatched 20 pieces of equipment and 60 personnel to the scene, reported Xinhua news.
The driver, a man in his 60s, has blamed a sudden surge of acceleration and brake failure for the incident.
The Chosun Daily reported a police official confirming at a briefing that, on testing, it was clear that the driver was not intoxicated. He was rescued after being trapped in the door and was not in a critical condition.
The man has been booked under charges of negligent homicide and injury under the Traffic Accident Special Act.
Earlier this month, a Japanese tourist was killed in Seoul while another was injured after being hit by a driver who was under the influence of alcohol, said police.
(with inputs from Reuters)