Politics

27 April 2025
Singaporeans will vote in a parliamentary election in the city-state on May 3 in a test of voter support for Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. (Photo by Suzu Takahashi)
A worker picks up a handful of rare-earth concentrate that has been left to dry in the sun before it is packed in Australia.
Commodities

Australia's Albanese proposes critical minerals strategic reserve

Government says stockpiles and off-take deals would address market volatility

24 April 2025
U.S. Vice President JD Vance is heading to India for the first time. (File photo by Reuters)
Your Week in Asia

Vance in India, South Korea's post-Yoon economy, election milestones

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

20 April 2025
The Virginia-class attack submarine USS Hyman G. Rickover at the General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, Connecticut in July 2021: Australians are wondering whether the U.S. can and will deliver promised vessels beginning in 2032.
Policy Asia

Trump spurs doubts over Australia's $234bn nuclear submarine plan

Risks of reliance on U.S. for security and AUKUS emerge amid election campaign

18 April 2025
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) opposition leader Peter Dutton. (Source photos by Reuters) 
Australia election

Australia election candidates face off over cost of living, Trump tariffs

Latest polls show opposition leader Dutton losing ground to incumbent Albanese

16 April 2025
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
International relations

Australia asks Indonesia about Russian request to base aircraft in Papua province

'We obviously do not want to see Russian influence in our region,' Albanese says

15 April 2025
Peter Dutton speaks during a federal election campaign news conference in Brisbane, on March 28. The opposition is seeking to win back Chinese-Australian voters such as those pictured in Chinatown in Burwood, a Sydney suburb. (Source photos by Reuters and Sophie Mak)
Politics

Australian opposition's pivot to China tested as May poll nears

Leader drops hawkish rhetoric in attempt to win back Chinese-Australian voters

14 April 2025
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attends a press conference after visiting Government House to dissolve Parliament and call an election in Canberra, March 28. (Photo by AAP/Mick Tsikas via Reuters)
Property

Australia PM pledges $6.3bn for 1st-home buyers as election looms

Albanese's government, if re-elected, would allow them to buy homes with 5% deposit

13 April 2025
Commuters move through a Sydney railway station on Jan. 15. Australians will head to the polls for a key election in early May.
Politics

Australian opposition drops 'Trumpian' campaign pledges as election nears

Peter Dutton says call to stop public servants working from home was a 'mistake'

7 April 2025
The Port of Darwin, in Australia's Northern Territory, is pictured in April 2017: The country's main political parties agree the port should be back in Australian hands.
International relations

China-leased Port of Darwin to return to 'Australian hands': Albanese

As election looms, rival parties align on control of key infrastructure

4 April 2025
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he will not back down on protecting Australia's cattle ranchers, legacy media companies and medical patients: "We don't want our health system to be more American."
Trade war

Australian PM hits back at Trump tariffs, rules out retaliation

Anthony Albanese says no compromise on several issues raised by the U.S.

3 April 2025
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra on March 28.
Politics

Australian PM announces May 3 as federal election date

Parties roll out energy support and tax cuts to gain an edge in tight race

28 March 2025
Two Australian Army High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems are delivered by a Royal Australian Air Force C-17A Globemaster II to Avalon airport in Victoria, Australia. (Australian Department of Defence) 
Defense

Australia fast-tracks defense spending to counter China pressure

Canberra's planned increase falls short of Trump demands for more spending

25 March 2025
BAE is currently upgrading Australia's JORN over-the-horizon radar system, technology that Canada has said it intends to buy. (Photo courtesy of BAE)
Defense

Canada to buy $4bn Australian radar for Arctic amid fraught U.S. ties

Moves comes amid growing global interest in remote northern region

19 March 2025
The office of Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said this week that Canberra "will not tolerate surveillance, harassment or intimidation against individuals or family members here in Australia."
International relations

Australian foreign minister condemns Hong Kong 'bounty letters'

Hong Kong police silent on letters offering reward for information on dissident

18 March 2025
South Korea's Hanwha has offered A$4.45 each for 41.2 million Austal shares, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters.
Business deals

Hanwha aims to buy 9.9% of Australian shipbuilder Austal

Term sheet shows offer rate with 16.2% premium to Monday closing price

17 March 2025
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks at a press conference about Tropical Cyclone Alfred at the National Situation Room in Canberra, Australia, on March 8, 2025.
Opinion

Australia's governing arrangements are not fit for purpose

Major constitutional reform is unlikely to be embraced by skeptical electorate

17 March 2025
Noshiro, a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Mogami-class frigate, made a business port call early this month at HMAS Stirling naval base near Perth, Australia. (Photo by Rurika Imahashi)
Defense

Japanese frigate Noshiro makes Australian port call amid bidding

Tokyo angling for contract to build next fleet of general-purpose vessels

13 March 2025
Australia's "Group of Eight" top universities collectively received around $161.6 million in grants from the U.S. National Institutes of Health between 2020 and 2024.
Education

Australia universities face Trump funding cuts

Researchers asked to comply with U.S. agenda, as health, defense studies threatened

13 March 2025
A concept model of the GCAP fighter jet was shown at last year's Farnborough International Airshow. Unmanned aerial vehicles could fight alongside the new warplane.
Defense

AUKUS sounds out Japan for joint research on AI drones

Collaborative combat aircraft would fly with Tokyo's next-generation fighter jets

4 March 2025
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese voiced support for Ukraine after Volodymyr Zelenskyy's disastrous meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Ukraine war

Australia, New Zealand vow Ukraine support as Trump, Zelenskyy clash

Prime ministers both quiet on two presidents' calamitous White House meeting

1 March 2025
Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in New York in September 2024. The two are set to meet in the White House on Feb. 28 to seal a critical minerals deal. 
Commodities

'Makes no sense': Industry doubts Ukraine's rare earths prospects

Even in peaceful nations, China's grip on critical minerals stifles projects

28 February 2025
Bringing Japanese bullet trains to Australia could help bolster bilateral ties, says Masafumi Shukuri, chair of the International High-Speed Rail Association. (Photo by Kazumi Saito) 
Interview

Japan ready to help Australia with bullet train tech, industry chief says

Group sees promise in Canberra's renewed push for high-speed rail

28 February 2025
New Zealand and Australia officials say that China conducted live-fire exercises in international waters between the two nations, forcing commercial airlines to divert flights.
International relations

New Zealand minister to question China's naval activity in Beijing visit

Wellington says Asian nation conducted live-fire drills in Tasman Sea

24 February 2025
Vessels are docked at a steelworks in Port Kembla, Australia, on Feb. 9, 2024.
International relations

Australia treasurer Chalmers to discuss tariffs with Bessent in Washington

Trip comes after Trump agreed to consider exempting Aussie steel, aluminium

23 February 2025
Royal Australian Navy sailors keep watch on the Chinese navy's Fuchi-class replenishment vessel Weishanhu and Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang in the Tasman Sea. (Australia's Defence Image Gallery)
Defense

Airlines diverted as Chinese navy holds drills off Australian coast

Beijing's 'live fire' drills are meant to send a message, says defense expert

21 February 2025
China's influence has grown in the Solomon Islands and other Pacific island nations. (Photo by Koji Uema)
Technology

Japan, Australia to bolster IT personnel of Pacific island nations

Initiative aims to reduce reliance on China for communications infrastructure

17 February 2025
Kathleen Oehlers of the Australian Federal Police attends a press conference in Manila, Feb 14.
14 February 2025
A J-16 fighter jet flies in the sky during the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, or Airshow China 2024, on Nov. 12, 2024, in Zhuhai, China. (Photo by VCG/AP)
South China Sea

China accuses Australia of deliberate provocation in South China Sea

Chinese jet released flares within 30 meters of RAAF aircraft

14 February 2025
A Royal Australian Air Force P-8A Poseidon aircraft departs Marine Corps Base Hawaii on July 23, 2018. (AAP Image/Supplied by Royal Australian Air Force)
South China Sea

Australia criticizes Chinese warplane activity over South China Sea

Fighter jet released flares within 30 meters of Australian plane, Canberra says

13 February 2025