标签： Oceania

Weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump launched an unprecedented public attack on the first American-born pope in history, Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a high-stakes private audience with Pope Leo at the Vatican on Thursday, with the U.S. State Department moving quickly to underscore the enduring, robust relationship between Washington and the Holy See.

The closed-door talks between Rubio, a devout Cuban-American Catholic, and the head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics came amid a sharp downturn in relations that began after Pope Leo spoke out against the ongoing Middle East war backed by the U.S. and Israel. The pontiff also drew Trump’s fury when he condemned the president’s threat to destroy Iranian civilization as “truly unacceptable,” leading Trump to hit back with scathing criticism that accused the pope of being weak on crime, poor on foreign policy, and soft on Iran’s nuclear program.

Following the meeting, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott confirmed that the two leaders covered a range of shared priorities, including the volatile situation in the Middle East and mutual interests across the Western Hemisphere, a U.S. reference to the Latin American region. Pigott emphasized in a statement to reporters that the gathering “underscored the strong relationship between the United States and the Holy See and their shared commitment to promoting peace and human dignity.” A senior U.S. official also confirmed that the longstanding diplomatic role of the Catholic Church in Cuba was included in the discussions, a topic of particular relevance for Rubio, who has spearheaded the Trump administration’s push for major political change in the communist-governed island nation.

Rubio also held separate talks with Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, where the pair touched on issues of global religious freedom, per Pigott. Ahead of the meeting, Rubio had sought to downplay the public rift between Trump and the pope, which has dominated global headlines and sparked concerns that the friction could alienate Catholic voters ahead of upcoming elections. U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch had previewed the discussion as a likely “frank conversation,” while Parolin noted Wednesday that the meeting was initiated by Washington, adding simply, “we’ll listen to him.”

It has been exactly one year since Pope Leo’s historic election on May 8, 2025, a milestone the Trump administration publicly celebrated at the time. But relations between the White House and the Vatican have deteriorated rapidly in recent months, as Pope Leo — whose American citizenship gives his words unique weight in U.S. political discourse — has repeatedly broken with the administration, most notably on Trump’s hardline immigration crackdown.

In a further sign of lingering tensions, Trump renewed his criticism of the pope in an interview just this week, repeating his allegation that the pontiff tolerates Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons. “I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people,” Trump claimed. When asked about the new comments earlier this week, Pope Francis pushed back gently, reaffirming the Catholic Church’s longstanding core mission. “If anyone wishes to criticise me for proclaiming the Gospel, let them do so truthfully,” he told reporters. “The Church has spoken out against all nuclear weapons for years, so there is no doubt about that, and I simply hope to be heard for the sake of the value of God’s word.” Parolin added Wednesday that the attacks on the pope were confounding, noting simply, “The pope is being the pope.”

Despite the underlying tensions, a U.S. source close to the delegation said the warm welcome extended to Rubio exceeded expectations. The secretary of state’s motorcade entered the Vatican through the Arch of Bells, a ceremonial honor typically reserved exclusively for heads of state, and he was formally received by the Pontifical Swiss Guard. This meeting marked the second encounter between Rubio and Pope Leo; the pair first met at the Vatican just days after last year’s election, alongside U.S. Vice President JD Vance, a convert to Catholicism.

Western Australia’s state Labor government has delivered its eighth consecutive annual budget surplus, marking the third surplus under Premier Roger Cook and Treasurer Rita Saffioti, alongside a suite of new spending measures designed to address soaring household costs, expand housing supply, and upgrade public health infrastructure. Bolstered by an expected $9.3 billion in goods and services tax (GST) revenue set to flow into state coffers in the coming fiscal year, the 2024-25 budget posts a $3.5 billion surplus, with state debt projected to hit $34.5 billion by the end of June 2024 — $4 billion lower than earlier forecasts, earning the state the title of Australia’s lowest-cost jurisdiction for public debt.

State officials credit the private sector for driving Western Australia’s standout economic performance, noting that private activity accounts for 86% of the state’s domestic economic growth, which has expanded by 27% over the past five years. Cook emphasized that the budget is built on two core priorities: sustaining the state’s position as Australia’s strongest economy and delivering tangible support for households in key areas including jobs, healthcare, housing, and cost-of-living relief.

“This is a responsible budget designed to keep Western Australia strong,” Cook said in remarks following the budget announcement. “We are delivering on our commitments to keep Western Australia the strongest economy in the nation and the best place to live, work and raise a family.”

The centerpiece of the budget is a $1 billion cost-of-living support package, though the targeted structure of the aid means many households will not qualify for direct financial relief. Unlike in previous years following the COVID-19 pandemic, the state will not offer broad state-funded energy rebates for households this year, and motorists will face a 2.5% increase in driver license and vehicle registration fees, with no fee freeze in place. Instead, the largest share of relief is directed to drivers, with a one-time $100 fuel credit available to all licensed driver holders, part of a $198 million package to offset rising petrol prices.

Additional support is targeted at families with school-aged children, with $90 million allocated for student assistance payments. Eligible families will receive $150 per child enrolled in kindergarten or primary school, and $250 per high school student. A further $70 million funds expanded free public transport initiatives: students will receive free travel to and from school, all passengers will access free rides on Sundays, and senior citizens will pay no fares for off-peak and weekend travel. State officials estimate that a two-child family can receive more than $2000 in combined assistance from the full suite of cost-of-living measures.

Housing affordability and supply, one of the most pressing issues facing Western Australian households, received a $4.7 billion total investment to unlock new land and deliver thousands of new dwellings across Perth and regional areas. More than $1 billion of that funding will go toward developing core infrastructure including roads, water networks and power connections for new residential areas. A joint federal-state $2 billion commitment will build 34,000 new homes, 11,000 of which will be allocated to first home buyers in areas close to metro train stations, new greenfield residential developments and regional hubs.

Frontline workers in seven major regional centers — Bunbury, Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Port Hedland, Broome, Geraldton and Albany — will benefit from a $692 million regional housing program that will deliver 500 new dwellings over four years, alongside additional funding for local infrastructure, job creation, healthcare and essential services. The state also expanded tax concessions for first home buyers: the stamp duty exemption threshold has been raised from $500,000 to $600,000 for completed homes, and from $400,000 to $450,000 for vacant land, with partial concessions available for homes valued up to $800,000. The property cap for the $10,000 First Home Owner Grant has also been increased from $750,000 to $800,000. While fewer than 320 homes under $600,000 and just 52 vacant lots under $450,000 are currently listed for sale in Perth, the government projects the changes will support roughly 25,000 first home buyers over time. An additional $1.5 billion will boost social and affordable housing, delivering thousands of new affordable rental units and public housing dwellings, including 1,426 new social dwellings delivered through the federal Housing Australia Future Fund partnership.

Public health also received a historic $9 billion investment over the next four years, with funding allocated for new hospital construction, hundreds of additional hospital beds, and expanded capacity across the public health system. A key project is a new state-of-the-art cancer center in Perth, modeled on integrated treatment-research facilities already operating in Sydney and Melbourne that combine clinical care, cutting-edge research and clinical trials. The state’s Building Hospitals Fund will receive an extra $500 million, bringing total investment in hospital infrastructure to $2 billion by 2026-27 and $5.5 billion over the four-year funding period.

To rebalance state spending and redirect funds to frontline services, the government will cut 1,500 back-office public sector roles, a move Treasurer Saffioti framed as a necessary adjustment to shifting policy priorities. “We considered all factors and tried to get the balance right,” Saffioti said. “You can always do more, and there are people who want more, but we’ve done our best to support families.”

The budget has drawn sharp criticism from the state opposition, led by Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas, who argued the $100 fuel credit is a superficial distraction that fails to address the core crises facing Western Australian households. “The people of Western Australia are hurting, and nothing that we’ve seen in today’s budget has changed that,” Zempilas said. “To the people of Western Australia in the middle of this cost of living and housing crisis, the $100 fuel smoke screen will do nothing to help the people camped in their cars or on the side of road. It will do nothing to alleviate the stress and pressure that comes on families.”

Zempilas added that the small one-time fuel credit pales in comparison to recent increases in water, electricity and vehicle registration costs, and argued the government has failed to address the root causes of household financial stress. “This is a government that has forgotten the here and now, and for all of those people in our community, for all of those people hurting, what changes today? And the answer is very, very little,” he said. “This is not a budget that addresses the absolute fundamental concerns of West Australians who are hurting and buckling under the pressures of our housing crisis and this cost of living and household stress crisis.”

Polling stations opened across England, Scotland and Wales at 7 a.m. GMT on Thursday for what is poised to be the most high-stakes electoral test for Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government since the party’s landslide 2024 general election victory that ended 14 years of Conservative rule.

Nearly two years into Starmer’s premiership, pre-election opinion polls point to a grim outcome for the ruling party, with losses large enough to reignite long-simmering tensions over his leadership and amplify growing calls for his resignation or an official leadership challenge. Widespread public disillusionment with the traditional major parties has created a power vacuum that two populist factions — Nigel Farage’s right-wing anti-immigration Reform UK and the left-wing Green Party led by self-described eco-populist Zack Polanski — are projected to fill as their main beneficiaries.

Around 5,000 of the UK’s 16,000 local council seats in England are up for grabs in this vote, while voters in Scotland and Wales are also choosing new members for their respective devolved legislatures. Polls will close at 10 p.m. Thursday, with partial results expected overnight and the full bulk of vote counts set to be released Friday.

Starmer campaigned on a platform of transformative national change after 14 years of Conservative governance marked by austerity measures, Brexit-driven political chaos, and the 2022 economic crash under former Prime Minister Liz Truss. But critics argue his tenure has been defined by a string of unforced policy missteps and controversies, most notably a high-profile scandal tied to his former close ally Peter Mandelson, the ex-UK envoy to the U.S. who was fired over his ties to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Most damaging for Starmer’s approval ratings has been the government’s failure to deliver on its core campaign promise of jumpstarting sustained economic growth. British households continue to grapple with a prolonged cost-of-living crisis driven by soaring energy prices and stagnant wages, leaving many voters frustrated that the change they voted for has yet to materialize. As University College London associate politics professor Melanie Garson put it: “The change hasn’t been delivered, or change that has been delivered has been negative.”

Garson noted that this election marks an unprecedented turning point for UK politics, noting “for the first time, significant pressure on the main political parties across every single council.” She described the vote as “a huge barometer for how the country is feeling about this political establishment.”

Ahead of voting, Starmer framed the election as a binary choice between national unity and division, “progress versus the politics of anger.” Labour has also sought to stem losses by highlighting problematic comments from opposition candidates, unearthing racist remarks from some Reform contenders and antisemitic statements from several Green candidates.

Pre-election projections paint a dire picture for Labour across all regions. Polling suggests the party will lose control of the devolved Welsh government for the first time since the Welsh parliament was established 27 years ago, with a recent More in Common poll placing Reform neck-and-neck with pro-independence Plaid Cymru in Labour’s traditional Welsh heartlands.

In Scotland, the Scottish National Party (SNP) is projected to extend its 19-year hold on the Edinburgh devolved parliament, with YouGov data forecasting that Reform could even push Labour into third place in the region. In London, the Greens are on track to seize seats from Labour by courting disaffected left-wing voters with a pro-Gaza policy platform.

Leading pollster Robert Hayward projects that Labour could lose as many as 1,850 of the roughly 2,550 local council seats it is currently defending. Hayward predicts Reform will gain 1,550 seats from both Labour and the Conservatives, mostly in majority white working-class communities that have long been traditional strongholds for the major parties. The Conservatives, who have been out of national power since 2024, are also bracing for heavy losses of their own traditional heartland seats.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch framed the shift as a definitive end to the UK’s traditional two-party system, telling PA Media: “The two-party era has moved into a multi-party era. But the fact is none of these new parties or Labour have a plan for the country.”

Farage, for his part, expressed confidence in Reform’s prospects Thursday: “The message is clear: if you want real change, you’d better vote for it, and we go into tomorrow feeling pretty optimistic about our prospects.”

Following the expected poor results, UK media is rife with speculation that senior Labour figures could move to oust Starmer. Names frequently cited as potential challengers include former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and current Health Secretary Wes Streeting. However, neither contender commands universal support within the parliamentary Labour party, and a leadership challenge requires the backing of at least 20 percent of Labour MPs to move forward. Some backbench lawmakers are also reportedly planning to demand that Starmer announce a timeline for stepping down, despite his repeated public commitments to leading the party into the next general election scheduled for 2029.