Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Mark Briskey
PNG’s new health plan: “Leaving no one behind is everybody’s business”
Following nearly two years of Covid-19 prompted commentary on the vulnerabilities of the health system in Papua New Guinea, the country’s new National Health Plan (NHP 2021-2030) has received remarkably little public attention. Launched in December 2021 by Prime Minister James Marape, the theme of the new national health plan is that “leaving no one behind is everybody’s business”.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia reconcile amid shifting alliances
As it feels the heat of a new administration in Washington, Saudi Arabia has put the brakes on further deterioration of relations with its long-time ally Pakistan. Riyadh had already withdrawn $2 billion out of a $3 billion loan that it had extended to help Islamabad avoid a balance of payment crisis in 2018. In a move suggesting a thaw in Saudi-Pak relations, Riyadh did not withdraw its remaining $1 billion loan which matured last month.
Good government, bad government: The politics of public health
Among the weapons Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison has deployed in the early stages of the battle to slow the spread of the coronavirus was an appeal for the assertion of our “culture”. Attempting to shame into submission the hordes who were storming supermarkets and coming to blows in the toilet rolls aisles, Morrison pleaded: “Stop it. It’s un-Australian” What this actually meant is hard to say. What is appropriate Australian behaviour?
Of democracy and despots: Protecting political leaders from Covid-19
Since the onset of Covid-19, we have entered a twilight world few would have expected to witness outside of popular dystopian fantasies. While we are now receiving a steady stream of public updates on the virus and what we should be doing, we have seen a worrying trend of increasing numbers of leaders and significant others around the world succumbing to infection by the virus. What are our leaders doing to protect themselves to enable them to lead us to the other side of this crisis?
Drones, clones, and camera phones
Public surveillance has proven to be of great value for a host of public-order interests, from traffic management in large cities to provision of vital intelligence and evidence in criminal activities. We have been using this technology for some time.
The Supreme Leader and his bodyguards
The Singapore summit between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump has all the drama of a Hollywood production, including glimpses the world is getting of the entourage travelling with the North Korean leader. One of the most visually striking elements of this entourage has been Kim’s phalanx of bodyguards. On first thought, one is reminded of another authoritarian leader whose bodyguards also inspired curiosity.
Twin suicide bombings in Pakistan point to deep security problems
The continuing prevalence of violence in Pakistan has been reinforced recently with the mass murder of at least 62 police trainees and wounding of nearly 100 others in Quetta in the troubled province of Baluchistan. In August this year, the target was the legal fraternity at a hospital in Quetta, where many had gathered to mourn the murder of the president of the Baluchistan Bar Association. The bomb attack left 70 people dead and many more wounded. The list of violent attacks in Quetta goes on.
Australians should also worry about white extremists in our own backyard
The proliferation of terrorist attacks in the US, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa saturate the media with attention to and analysis of these outrages. From the murder of a Catholic priest in France to the massacre of 80 Hazara people in Kabul, these lead us inexorably to question the origins of such attacks and why these extremists claim Islam as a justification.
Nice Attack: How Vulnerable Are We to ‘Low-Tech Terror’?
France has again been the scene of a lethal terrorist attack. At least one attacker drove through and then opened fire on crowds of French and foreign citizens enjoying Bastille Day celebrations in Nice, killing at least 80 people and injuring scores more.
Nice attack raises scary question: How vulnerable are we to low-tech terrorism?
This piece originally appeared on The Conversation. France has again been the scene of a lethal terrorist attack. At least one attacker drove through and then opened fire on crowds of French and foreign citizens enjoying Bastille Day celebrations in Nice, killing at least 80 people and injuring scores more. Though there is as yet little solid information about the attack, it has shown what dreadful impact can be caused by the use of an innocuous and familiar part of modern life — a motor vehicle.
La menace du terrorisme low-tech
La nouvelle attaque terroriste dont a été victime la France, en pleine célébration du 14-Juillet, montre à quel point l’usage d’un outil très familier, icône de notre quotidien, peut causer une véritable tragédie. Si des explosifs et des grenades ont été retrouvés à bord du véhicule de l’attaquant, c’est bien la conduite à toute allure de son camion lancé dans la foule sur la Promenade des Anglais qui a provoqué des dizaines de morts.
Nice truck attack: how vulnerable are we to ‘low-tech terror’?
Though there is as yet little solid information on who conducted this attack and whether any particular terrorist group can claim responsibility, it has shown what dreadful impact can be caused by the use of an innocuous and familiar part of modern life – a motor vehicle. Though this attack included the use of firearms and hand grenades, it would seem the great mass of casualties was caused by the deliberate driving of the vehicle at high speed into clusters of people.
how vulnerable are we to 'low-tech terror'?
France has again been the scene of a lethal terrorist attack. At least one attacker drove through and then opened fire on crowds of French and foreign citizens enjoying Bastille Day celebrations in Nice, killing at least 80 people and injuring scores more.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Mark
Contact Mark, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack