‘If Australian datacentres are going to power the AI revolution, we deserve a fair return’ – David Pocock
Independent senator David Pocock has published an opinion piece about the growth of AI datacentres in Australia and how the gold rush should benefit Australians. He writes:
Huge investment in this space is pouring into Australia. In the past year, Microsoft has announced $25bn will go into Australian datacentres and Amazon Web Services has committed another $20bn.
The prime minister has posed for photos with the CEOs of both companies, welcoming the investment with open arms despite a growing backlash by communities against AI and datacentre construction. At a time when economic growth is sluggish, the government sees billions of dollars in investment as making for a good headline.
I think if you look at the programme itself, it’s a great podcast that she’s done a great job on a topic that I’m sure will be of real interest and real importance to many Australians who suffer from those conditions, and particularly young Australians and young Australian women.
So there’s a balance in all these things … for the ABC to be ensuring that we bring great content to air and also acknowledging that, you know, with some of the people that we work with, sometimes there will be controversy.
Obviously we’ve looked at Charlie’s comments. I think he did express that they were his own view. They weren’t represented at the ABC. It was a little bit on the hop and a little bit not. So I think we felt comfortable that we were able to accept that his comments weren’t a breach of the ABC code of conduct.
CLCC – Centro de Línguas, Cultura e Comunicação has announced its new partnership with the British Council as an IELTS Official Partner Testing Point, and will begin administering IELTS exams
Bright International School – Algarve has been recognised as the Most Innovative International School in Europe 2026 by K12 Digest, highlighting Bright’s commitment to reimagining education by placing curiosity, creativity,
Greek schools will now sell or serve much healthier options to their students. Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Nikolaos Kotopoulis / CC BY SA 4
The Greek Ministry of Health has announced a sweeping overhaul of food guidelines for school canteens across the country. In a targeted effort to combat high rates of childhood obesity, the new regulations impose strict dietary standards, including a total ban on processed meats and soft drinks.
Set to take full effect during the 2026-2027 school and academic year, the updated framework replaces guidelines that have been in place since 2013. The policy applies to all primary, secondary, and high schools in Greece, covering canteens, dining areas, and vending machines.
Alternate Minister of Health Eirini Agapidaki introduced the initiative as a core component of the National Program for the Prevention and Treatment of Childhood Obesity. The health ministry drafted the new rules based on contemporary recommendations from Greece’s National Nutrition Committee.
Under the revised regulations, school menus will undergo structural changes. Authorities have completely prohibited the sale of cold cuts and sodas. The ministry has also mandated a reduction in portion sizes for specific food items to prevent overeating.
Greece overhauls school meals entirely
The approved product list now prioritizes fresh foods and traditional Greek cuisine staples. Students will have access to fresh fruits, vegetables, fruit salads, and unsweetened dried fruits. Dairy options include plain milk, yogurt, kefir, ariani, and rice pudding, all strictly without added sugars.
Baked snacks remain available under healthier parameters. School vendors can sell the traditional Koulouri of Thessaloniki, whole-grain rusks, cereal bars, pasteli, and halva. Nuts are permitted exclusively for middle and high school students.
Sandwiches will no longer contain processed meats. They must be made with whole-wheat bread and filled with Greek cheeses, boiled chicken or turkey, egg, or tuna. Spreads are restricted to olive oil or soft margarine. Similarly, savory pies and pizzas can only contain vegetables or cheese, prepared using an olive-oil-based dough.
Beverage options will now also be tightly regulated. Canteens will stock water and natural juices. Older students can purchase plant-based milk alternatives and tea. Coffee sales are strictly restricted to teaching staff.
“The fight against childhood obesity is not a theoretical battle, but a daily act of responsibility that starts where our children spend most of their day: at school,” Agapidaki stated following the announcement.
She emphasized that the updated framework relies on rigorous scientific data. “With the new health regulation, we are radically changing the rules of the game. We are permanently removing cold cuts and soft drinks from school canteens and reducing portions, creating an environment that actively protects students,” she said.
Agapidaki urged school administrators and suppliers to begin preparations immediately to ensure full compliance. “We make no discounts on the health of the new generation,” she added, noting that the ultimate goal is to equip Greek youth with lifelong healthy eating habits.
Young students going home from school. Credit: GR Archive
Greece recorded one of the lowest rates of young people leaving education and training early in the European Union in 2025, ranking second among all 27 member states for keeping young people in education, according to new data from Eurostat.
The country posted a rate of 3.0%, trailing only Croatia, which reported the lowest share in the EU at 2.1%. Ireland placed third at 3.6%.
Greece’s standing reflects consistent progress over the past decade. In 2015, the country’s rate stood at 7.9%. Over ten years, it fell to 3.0%, a drop of nearly 5 percentage points.
Eurostat defines “early school leavers” as young people between the ages of 18 and 24 who exit education and training before completing upper secondary or higher-level studies. The data measures this group as a share of the total population in that age range.
Greece’s decade-long push keeps young people in education
The EU-wide average stood at 9.1% in 2025, just above the bloc’s own target of bringing that figure below 9.0% by 2030. The rate has declined steadily from 11.0% in 2015. Nineteen of the 27 EU member states reported a lower rate in 2025 compared to 2015, and 17 have already met the 2030 target.
In 2025, the share of early school leavers (young people aged 18-24 leaving early from education and training) in the EU was 9.1%.
Lowest shares in: Croatia (2.1%) Greece (3.0%)
Highest shares in: Romania (15.5%) Germany (13.1%)
Among countries that improved the most since 2015, Malta led with a drop of 7.7 percentage points. Portugal followed with a decrease of 7.4 percentage points, and Spain dropped by 7.2 percentage points.
Not all countries moved in the right direction. Seven EU member states reported higher rates in 2025 than in 2015. Cyprus saw the biggest rise, climbing 4.6 percentage points over the decade.
Germany increased by 3.0 percentage points, and Austria rose by 2.7 percentage points. Romania posted the highest rate in the EU in 2025 at 15.5%, followed by Germany at 13.1% and Spain at 12.8%.
Men across the EU still quit school earlier than women
A gap between men and women remained consistent across the EU. More young men left education early than women, though both groups showed improvement. The rate for men fell from 12.5% in 2015 to 10.6% in 2025. For women, the figure dropped from 9.4% to 7.5% over the same period.
Greece’s rate of retaining young people in education has improved in nearly every year over the past decade, placing it firmly among the EU’s strongest performers on this measure.
This story originally appeared in Prism on June 04, 2026.
When members of The New School’s Student Senate were faced with a report detailing how Hillel International was providing material and logistical support to Israel’s atrocities in Gaza, they voted on May 1 to cut all ties with their campus chapter of the national Jewish college network and to strip its funding. The student leaders hoped the school’s administration would go on to investigate Hillel’s presence on its New York City campus.
Instead, after an intense pressure campaign by pro-Israel groups, advocates, and elected representatives, the university’s administration is now investigating the student senators who voted to cut ties with Hillel.
“We were hoping that the university would act on the the evidence provided by the Student Senate report about Hillel’s complicity in genocide. They are investigating us instead,” said Ryder Glickman, who is chair of The New School Student Senate and helped produce the report.
The Student Senate acted upon the recommendations of the Registered Student Organizations (RSO) Compliance Committee, which presented a comprehensive report about the ways in which Hillel had assisted the Israeli military during its ongoing genocide in Gaza.
The report found that students from The New School and a host of other New York City-based schools volunteered at the Israeli military’s Hatzerim Air Force Base in January 2024, as part of the Hillel on Base program. “Our students are packaging a days worth of rations to our soldiers,” stated an Instagram story by Hillel at Baruch College, the umbrella organization of Hillel at The New School, alongside a photo from the airbase, according to the report.
The Hatzerim airbase reportedly has been used by the Israeli Air Force for hundreds of airstrikes in Gaza, with F-15s from the base dropping bombs in civilian areas.
In the days following the publication of the report and the Student Senate vote to terminate funding to The New School’s Hillel, the university’s administration acted swiftly to discredit the findings.
“To avoid any misunderstanding, the University Student Senate does not have the authority to determine official status, funding eligibility, or the recognition of RSOs. Our Hillel chapter remains, as it always has been, in good standing, eligible for funding, and supporting Jewish life at The New School,” said an schoolwide email sent to from the university signed by President Joel Towers, Provost Richard Kessler, and Vice Provost Robert Mack.
“By distorting a qualified student organization and characterizing it as something it is not,” the statement continued, “the [University Student Senate] is using its platform to target fellow students in a misguided attempt to hold those students responsible for the acts of governments.”
On May 3, two days after the vote, Ilya Bratman, the executive director of Hillel at Baruch College, wrote in an email to Towers and other members of The New School’s leadership that the Student Senate’s actions were “a direct attack on Jewish students.” Bratman bcc’d the Student Senate email address, and members shared the email with Prism.
“We hope to meet with you in the coming days so that you can hear directly from the students affected by this action, and so that we can better understand the university’s plan of action moving forward. The [University Student Senate] has shown no indication that it intends to step back from these egregious and deeply troubling actions,” Bratman wrote.
The New School administration and Hillel at Baruch College did not respond to Prism’s inquiry about whether university leadership and Hillel officials had the meeting.
Days later, on May 8, Glickman received an email, viewed by Prism, from The New School’s office of Student Equity, Accessibility & Title IX. The email said that the school was investigating him for an allegation that the Student Senate’s decision to cut ties with Hillel was in “potential violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on the basis of race, color, or national origin in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” The administration later clarified to Glickman that the university is investigating all student senators involved in the vote.
External pushback
The university launched its investigation into student senators following a string of social media activity by pro-Israel groups, advocates, media, and elected representatives attacking the report.
Glickman was called a “virulent anti-Israel activist” in an X post by Canary Mission, the secretive group notorious for doxing and targeting pro-Palestinian activists.
A string of articles by pro-Israel publications, including The New York Post and The Times of Israel, reported on The New School administration rejecting the Student Senate vote while omitting the details and evidence found by the RSO about Hillel’s ties with the Israeli military.
Two New York members of Congress took to social media to denounce the report. Rep. Dan Goldman—who recently marched in New York’s Israel Day parade featuring Israeli cabinet ministers who are wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes or have made genocidal statements about Palestinians—said the students were engaged in “hateful and vile antisemitism.” Rep. Ritchie Torres also condemned the vote, calling it “shameful” and “discrimination against Jewish individuals and institutions.” Goldman and Torres are heavily backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
“The fact that there was such open repression and universal condemnation of the report shows that the administration’s response was coordinated with Zionist organizations accusing us of antisemitism,” Glickman told Prism. “This is extremely worrying when we made a very basic case about international law.”
Students volunteering with the Israeli military
Hillel at Baruch, which organized trips to Israel, acts as an umbrella organization for chapters in multiple New York schools in addition to The New School, including Fordham University, John Jay College, and City College.
“Volunteer on an IDF (Israeli Defense Force) base in Southern Israel, wear IDF uniform, give back to the community on base, and explore Israel!” reads a description about the program on Hillel at Baruch’s website.
The 38-page report by the RSO compliance committee found that Hillel at Baruch organized several trips between May 2022 and January 2025 for students to volunteer at multiple Israeli army and air force bases. Hillel International also operates the Onward Israel program which organizes internship trips for American students to Israel and facilitates volunteering opportunities within the Israeli military.
The report further found that in July 2024, another post from Hillel at Baruch and New School Hillel’s Instagram account said, “Tonight, some of our onward students had the incredible opportunity to volunteer at the Tze’elim army base, where they helped prepare a barbecue for over 700 soldiers from the Oketz, Kfir, Golani and Handasa units in the IDF.”
Soldiers of the Golani Brigade’s 631st Reconnaissance Battalion were behind the March 24, 2025, killing of 15 Palestinian emergency responders that included Red Crescent ambulance workers in Rafah, according to an investigation by Haaretz.
In May 2024, a BBC analysis found that 11 soldiers of the Kfir brigade were responsible for posting photos and videos of Palestinian prisoners being abused.
By registering for the Hillel on Base program, participants also automatically register for the Volunteers for Israel (VFI) program, the report found.
“VFI is the ONLY organization that creates opportunities for American students to volunteer in Israel on IDF bases,” says a description of the program, which includes activities such as packing medical supplies and repairing machinery and equipment for military units.
The VFI program is run by Sar-El, an Israeli volunteer nonprofit organization under the direction of the Israeli Logistics Corps, a support branch of the Israeli military, establishing direct collaboration between Hillel and the Israeli government, according to the report.
“I am nauseated by the fact that I have classmates who have provided direct material and logistical support to genocide,” Glickman said.
A week after The New School vote, the student leadership of the Hillel chapter of Middlebury College, Vermont, voted to change its name to the Jewish Association at Middlebury, after growing demand from its members to disaffiliate from Hillel International and its activities, according to reporting by the school’s newspaper.
Editorial Team: Sahar Fatima, Lead Editor Lara Witt, Top Editor Rashmee Kumar, Copy Editor
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Croatia (2.1%)
Greece (3.0%)
Romania (15.5%)
Germany (13.1%)
