4 h. ago South Australian premier urged Adelaide Writers’ Week board to drop Palestinian writer, letter reveals

Malinauskas urged the festival board to drop Palestinian author Randa Abdel-Fattah, warning of public backlash

Politics

56 h. ago Call this social cohesion? The war of words that laid waste to the 2026 Adelaide writers’ festival

How a boardroom flare-up sparked an international boycott – and a looming defamation battleIt began as a quiet programming dispute in the genteel city of churches.But by Wednesday morning, a frantic, six-day war of words had culminated in the end of the 2026 Adelaide writers’ week and total institutional collapse. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago An Australian writers’ festival cut a Palestinian author in the wake of a terror attack. Then it fell apart

Randa Abdel-Fattah, who is Palestinian Australian, has faced criticism for controversial comments on Israel, including alleging Zionists had ‘no claim or right to cultural safety’When the board of a South Australian festival cut a prominent Palestinian Australian author from its lineup, citing her “past statements” in the context of the deadly Bondi terror attack, it no doubt braced itself for controversy.What it may not have foreseen, however, is an implosion. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Adelaide Writers Week canceled as 180 speakers withdraw after the exclusion of a Palestinian writer

Organizers of Australia’s largest free literary festival have canceled the weeklong event after most writers withdrew over the removal of an Australian Palestinian writer

Politics

5 d. ago Major Australian arts festival cancelled after mass boycott over Palestinian author’s removal

More than 180 invited participants pulled out of Adelaide Writers’ Week, including former New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern

Culture

5 d. ago Adelaide writers’ week 2026 cancelled as board apologises to Randa Abdel

Almost all remaining festival board members have resigned following backlash to decision to disinvite the Palestinian Australian authorFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAdelaide writers’ week 2026 has been cancelled after more than 180 authors and speakers dropped out in protest of the decision to disinvite the Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah.In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, the Adelaide festival board announced the event, which was scheduled to begin at the end of February, would no longer go ahead. The statement also said the remaining members of the board would resign – with the exception of the Adelaide city council representative whose term expires in February. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago If we silence voices we don’t agree with, we’re doing the work of extremists for them | Peter Greste

I do not need to share Randa Abdel-Fattah’s views to believe that removing her is wrong. This is why I’ve withdrawn from Adelaide writers’ weekIf there has been a bright red thread running through my career, it’s the importance of freedom of speech. It underpinned my life as a journalist and correspondent, became central to the campaign to get me out of prison in Egypt and, perhaps paradoxically, it is why I have reluctantly withdrawn from this year’s Adelaide writers’ week.On Thursday the Adelaide festival board announced it had removed the writer and academic Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah from the program, not because of anything she was proposing to say at the festival but because of things she said previously, reassessed in the aftermath of the Bondi attack.Peter Greste is a professor of journalism at Macquarie University and the executive director for the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Adelaide festival did not dump Jewish columnist from 2024 program despite request from Randa Abdel

Palestinian academic rejects accusations of hypocrisy, saying board resisted attempts to remove Thomas Friedman, while cancelling her invitation this yearFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Adelaide festival board did not dump a Jewish columnist from its 2024 lineup at Adelaide writers’ week, despite being lobbied by a group of 10 academics – including Randa Abdel-Fattah – to do so.On Saturday South Australia’s premier, Peter Malinauskas, claimed that the board had dumped the New York Times pro-Israel columnist Thomas Friedman in 2024, and reiterated his support for the festival board’s decision on Thursday to remove Abdel-Fattah, a Palestinian Australian academic, from this year’s program. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Dozens of writers boycott Adelaide festival after it dumps pro

Miles Franklin winner Michelle de Kretser among more than 24 people who have pulled out of annual writers’ festival to protest Abdel-Fattah’s axingFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastDozens of authors, journalists, media personalities and a sponsor are boycotting the Adelaide festival after it dumped Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah from its annual writers’ week lineup, citing concerns over “cultural sensitivity” in the wake of the Bondi terror attack.More speakers were expected to withdraw from the festival, with speculation that other high-profile figures were coordinating their exit announcements. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Almost 50 writers boycott Adelaide festival after it dumps pro

Helen Garner and Miles Franklin winner Michelle de Kretser among 45 people who have pulled out of annual writers’ festival to protest Abdel-Fattah’s axingFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Adelaide festival has pulled down part of its website as dozens of speakers said they were boycotting writers’ week, after Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah was dumped from the lineup with the board citing “cultural sensitivity” concerns in the wake of the Bondi terror attack.The page promoting the schedule of authors, journalists, academics and commentators was “unpublished” on Friday following widespread condemnation of the board’s decision to remove Abdel-Fattah. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Liverpool urged to sign Premier League star Jurgen Klopp once called his 'favourite player'

Liverpool have been told to sign a Premier League star who previously earned praise from Jurgen Klopp

Sport

2 w. ago South London man granted rare Australian visa after hacking government site to prove he's skilled enough

South London man granted rare Australian visa after hacking government site to prove he's skilled enough  My London

Events

2 w. ago Last letters from Denmark: Danes write to Devon artist as postal service ends

Closure of country’s 400-year-old service made headlines and prompted Gillian Taylor to appeal for final missivesSome describe the joy of receiving dispatches from far afield, others speak of the discipline of sitting down to carefully order their thoughts in a letter.One writer tells of finding a poignant cache of letters after a parent’s death, while another has shared a map of where the postboxes used to be in her town. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago British 'ethical hacker' cracks government site to prove he's 'skilled enough for visa'

Jacob Riggs, of Bexley, south east London, claims he secured an Australian visa after uncovering a critical flaw in a live government system

Events

2 w. ago Wall Street Journal editorial board calls out MAGA’s latest 2020 stolen election ‘nonsense’

‘Mr. Trump will never admit his 2020 claims were partisan nonsense. But Republicans who care about the future could do their man a favor by refusing to keep indulging them,’ the editorial board wrote this week.

Politics

3 w. ago Police allege suspected gunman in Bondi Beach shooting trained with father, Australian media reports

A suspected gunman accused of killing 15 people at Sydney’s Bondi Beach reportedly conducted firearms training with his father

Events

4 w. ago Australian state plans tougher laws against displaying extremist flags after Bondi shooting

The Australian state of New South Wales is proposing a ban on public displays of Islamic State group flags and extremist symbols

Events