• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Gas reservation policy set for lower house vote today

Australia’s domestic gas reservation is set to be debated and voted on in the lower house today.

Rather than international base companies, determining through algorithms what Australians receive, it empowers people themselves to determine what you receive on your devices, so that you should have that control.

This isn’t about government having a greater role. It’s about people having a greater role, having more control themselves, and it’s deserving of support of this parliament.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Trump ally, who is seeking to shutter the department, had said office relocation would save taxpayers $4.8m annually

The Trump administration has insisted its controversial education cuts are saving “millions of dollars” after it was reported that Linda McMahon, secretary of education, is planning to spend roughly $43,000 on new furniture for her office.

McMahon’s office told Congress that the secretary’s current furniture was worn out and “cannot be configurationally or aesthetically integrated into the agency’s new office space”, according to non-public records seen by the New York Times.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images

© Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images

© Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Cornell University faculty will meet Wednesday to conclude debate and begin voting on a proposed no-confidence resolution in the university's administration following widespread frustration over its response to a woman who reported she was gang raped at a campus fraternity house in 2024.

HBCUs are having a moment.

Many historically Black colleges and universities have seen record-breaking enrollment numbers in their recent freshman classes. But on the flip side of that surge, Black freshman enrollment is actually down by 27 percent among the top 50 most selective institutions in the United States. And there are some big explanations behind these shifts.

As the landscape of higher education has evolved from the eras of segregation to the civil rights movement to Trump-era racial politics, Black students have had to adapt on college campuses nationwide as government mandates, school policies, and the dismantling of affirmative action have impacted their education over the years. 

Hosted by Kahlil Greene, this video is part of our new series, Kahlil Explains, that unites Vox’s unique brand of explainer journalism with Greene’s expertise in how politics and culture shape society. This first episode traces the history of HBCUs and the experience of Black college students to unpack why Black student enrollment is growing at HBCUs yet declining at other elite institutions.

Read more about HBCUs and race in higher education:

• A brief timeline of HBCU history
• Marybeth Gasman and Levon T. Esters’s book HBCU: The Power of Historically Black Colleges and Universities
• Class Action’s report on the future of fair admissions
• The Center for MSIs research brief on HBCU enrollment trends
• The Associated Press’s analysis of Black enrollment at elite colleges