标签： Asia

MELBOURNE, Australia — The leader of Australia’s highest-profile public inquiry into antisemitism has publicly denounced a dangerous wave of online bigotry targeting Jewish community members who have stepped forward to share their experiences, condemning the harassment as an unacceptable attempt to intimidate witnesses. The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, a landmark probe granted the nation’s top investigative authority, was established in direct response to one of the worst antisemitic attacks in recent Australian history: a December mass shooting at a Sydney Hanukkah gathering that left 15 people dead. The attack was carried out by two gunmen authorities say were radicalized and inspired by the Islamic State group.

Since the commission launched its public hearings on May 4, multiple Jewish witnesses who have testified about their personal encounters with antisemitism have been targeted with coordinated online harassment and intimidation, according to the inquiry’s chair, former High Court justice Virginia Bell. In a formal statement released Tuesday, Bell confirmed that the commission has received multiple reports documenting a sharp spike in hate-filled messages directed at witnesses immediately after they gave evidence.

“I cannot fathom what those spreading this undiluted hatred and bigotry toward members of the Jewish community hope to achieve through these attacks,” Bell said. “This kind of vicious targeting has no place in a public inquiry designed to center the voices of those impacted by antisemitism.”

The commission is systematically documenting all offensive social media content linked to the harassment, Bell confirmed, adding that one particularly severe case has already been referred to Australian law enforcement for further investigation. The inquiry’s core mandate, she noted, is to comprehensively understand and assess the day-to-day experiences of antisemitism among Australian Jewish communities — acts of intimidation against witnesses directly undermine this foundational goal.

Over the commission’s first two weeks of public hearings, investigators have focused on mapping the nature and pervasiveness of antisemitism across Australian public institutions and broader society. The inquiry has already faced on-the-ground displays of hate: during the first week of hearings, police confirmed that a 68-year-old man was charged after appearing outside the Sydney commission venue wearing a shirt bearing a prohibited Nazi symbol. The design superimposed a Star of David over a swastika, paired with the slogan: “Antisemitism. Proud to be accused. Speak up!”

At the time of the incident, the commission released a statement saying it was appalled by the display of explicit antisemitism so close to its proceedings. Officials moved quickly to reassure witnesses that strict safety protocols were already in place around all inquiry venues, reaffirming the commission’s unwavering commitment to its work. “This royal commission is determined to investigate antisemitism in Australia without fear or intimidation,” the commission said in the earlier statement. That resolve has only been reinforced in the wake of the online targeting of witnesses, Bell emphasized Tuesday.

On Tuesday, North Korea carried out another test of multiple close-range ballistic missiles fired into adjacent waters, South Korea’s national military confirmed, marking the latest addition to Pyongyang’s accelerating string of weapons demonstrations throughout 2025. According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the launch originated from Jongju, a city located on North Korea’s northwestern coast.

In response to the provocation, South Korea’s defense establishment has heightened its surveillance alert level and is maintaining real-time intelligence sharing with key security partners the United States and Japan to monitor further developments. This launch is North Korea’s first weapons test since April 19, when Pyongyang fired a volley of short-range missiles that state media confirmed were equipped with cluster bomb warheads.

The recent test aligns with a years-long trend of military expansion under North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Since the collapse of his high-profile nuclear diplomacy with former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2019, Kim has prioritized rapid expansion of the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile arsenals. While Trump has repeatedly extended public overtures to restart negotiations with Kim, Pyongyang has rejected all offers to date, demanding that Washington abandon its requirement for North Korean nuclear disarmament as a precondition for any new diplomatic talks.

In recent months, Kim has also adopted a dramatically hardened stance toward South Korea. He has labeled Seoul Pyongyang’s permanent, most hostile enemy and has taken formal steps to sever all official cross-border political and economic ties. Earlier this year, North Korean officials announced plans to deploy new artillery systems aimed directly at Seoul and commissioned the country’s first operational guided-missile destroyer, further raising military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Hours before the Tuesday missile launch, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung used a weekly Cabinet meeting to outline his administration’s new priorities for military modernization. Lee, a liberal politician who has long advocated for improved engagement with Pyongyang, called for accelerated investment to strengthen South Korea’s military capabilities, with a specific focus on expanding artificial intelligence integration and drone warfare capacity. He also reaffirmed South Korea’s ongoing interest in acquiring a nuclear-powered submarine, a proposal that has already been a key topic in diplomatic discussions with Washington.

Though Lee did not directly address the immediate threat of North Korean missile tests during the meeting, he underlined that a strong, self-reliant South Korean defense posture is critical to both national security and the strength of the U.S.-South Korea alliance. “We must show unwavering resolve to take responsibility for and protect our own security ourselves,” Lee stated, framing military modernization as a core national priority for his administration.

Diplomatic leaders from the four Quad nations — Australia, India, Japan, and the United States — convened in New Delhi on Tuesday for high-stakes talks focused on deepening collective coordination in the Indo-Pacific and aligning positions on shared anxieties over China’s expanding regional footprint. The meeting, hosted by Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, brought together U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong for closed-door discussions.

According to a statement from India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the agenda covered recent geopolitical developments across the Indo-Pacific, with targeted talks on unlocking new avenues for cross-nation collaboration. Beyond regional strategy, the ministers also addressed the ongoing conflict in Iran and the disruption to critical energy cargo passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a global chokepoint that carries nearly a fifth of the world’s oil supplies.

Established as a core strategic bloc, the Quad is built around cooperation on three key pillars: maritime security, resilient global supply chains, and coordinated regional planning, all formed against the backdrop of China’s growing military and economic clout in the Indo-Pacific. The alliance has repeatedly raised concerns over China’s military posturing in the South China Sea and its assertive pursuit of contested maritime territorial claims. For its part, Beijing has pushed back against the Quad’s framing, stating that all its military activities in the region are defensive and designed to protect its legally recognized sovereign rights. Chinese officials have repeatedly characterized the Quad as a coordinated effort by Western and Indo-Pacific democracies to curb the country’s economic growth and global influence.

Tuesday’s gathering comes just days after U.S. President Donald Trump’s official visit to China, a trip that was closely monitored by Indian diplomatic circles for any hints of a shift in Washington’s policy approach toward Beijing. Rubio, who touched down in India for pre-summit engagements on Saturday, laid out the U.S. vision for the bloc’s future, saying Washington aims to move the Quad beyond its current status as a discussion forum and deliver tangible action on priority issues, from safeguarding maritime domains to securing stable supplies of critical minerals. He also confirmed that diplomatic teams are working to organize a landmark leaders’ summit for the four heads of state before the end of the year, though no official date has been finalized.

The planned leaders’ summit was originally scheduled to take place in India last year, but the gathering was postponed after frictions emerged in U.S.-India bilateral ties, including public disagreements over trans-Pacific trade tariffs.

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s federal government confirmed Tuesday that a group of seven women and 12 children with ties to the Islamic State terror group have arranged independent travel out of Syrian detention camps to return to Australia, with legal consequences awaiting any member found to have violated Australian counterterrorism laws.

The cohort is scheduled to land in Sydney and Melbourne later Tuesday, marking the second organized repatriation of Australian citizens from northeastern Syria in less than three weeks. A previous group of 13 Australians in similar circumstances arrived in the country on May 7, also without government support. Three of the four women in that earlier group have since been arrested and jailed on charges including slavery and terrorism-related offenses, and remain in custody as their legal cases proceed.

In an official statement released Tuesday, Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke made clear that the Australian government refused to provide any logistical, financial or diplomatic assistance to facilitate the group’s return. “These are people who made the horrific, deliberate choice to join a dangerous terrorist organization, and they chose to put their own children in an unspeakable, dangerous situation,” Burke said. “Any person among this group who has committed crimes can expect to face the full force of Australian law.”

Burke emphasized that Australian law enforcement and national intelligence agencies have been developing and updating contingency plans to manage the return of IS-linked citizens since 2014, with established monitoring and risk mitigation protocols already in place. “The government’s top priority, as always, is protecting the safety of the Australian community,” he added.

Following the departure of this latest group, at least two Australian citizens remain held at Roj Camp, the facility in northeastern Syria near the Iraqi border that has detained people linked to the Islamic State since the terror group’s territorial defeat in 2019. One of the remaining women was blocked from joining this repatriation group by a temporary exclusion order, a legal tool introduced in 2019 that allows Australian authorities to bar high-risk citizens from returning to the country for up to two years. She was originally blocked from travel back to Australia in February, and remains in the camp.

To date, Australian authorities have overseen two government-coordinated repatriations of women and children from Syrian IS detention camps, while a number of other Australian citizens have returned to the country through independent, unpublicized arrangements. In the May 7 repatriation, two women were taken into custody immediately after landing in Melbourne on allegations their family purchased an enslaved Yazidi woman, while a third woman was arrested at Sydney Airport on charges of being a member of a terrorist organization and traveling to and remaining in a territory controlled by a declared terror group.