Australia

China has declared it will continue supporting the Pacific nation which is resisting signing off on a security agreement with Canberra.

Australia’s push to lock in security deals with neighbouring Pacific nations has hit further trouble after Vanuatu signalled it’s ready to increase policing cooperation with Beijing. 

AARON PATRICK: Celebrating its 80th birthday this week, the global body created to prevent wars and other man-made catastrophes is weak and compromised, according to critics.

CHRIS REASON: The business of war reporting has always been a dangerous one. But never as dangerous as it is now.

I’ve spent my whole career in law enforcement knowing that Triple-0 is the thing that gets help for people, and on this occasion, it just didn’t.’

AARON PATRICK: Chief executive Stephen Rue boasted of investing in the phone network to make it safe, secure and reliable. Its failure raises questions about whether he and the board should resign.

LATIKA M BOURKE: The Albanese Government has been forced to defend the Australia-Israel intelligence-sharing relationship after recognising a Palestinian statehood, further angering Benjamin Netanyahu.

James Marape’s proud assertion of PNG’s long held non-aligned foreign policy should have been a clear signal that securing a military alliance with the Pacific neighbour won’t be easy. 

AARON PATRICK: The government is expected to replace the ASIC chair with a lawyer who will continue his high-profile approach of suing companies, investment managers and superannuation funds.

A former MP who sexually assaulted and abused a staffer and an 18-year-old will plead his case for leniency as his sentence is considered.

Many pundits will be watching to see if the Prime Minister finally secures his long-delayed meeting with Donald Trump on the UN sidelines in New York.

Diesel utes and four-wheel drives could become very expensive. But Labor’s climate target could also make it cheaper to get solar batteries to avoid the power bill shock as networks are rewired.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has committed to slashing emissions by 2035 in fresh targets aimed at avoiding the worst ravages of climate change.

New technology, electrification and carbon management solutions in Australia’s resource sector will be central to the Government’s plans to cut emissions by between 62-70 per cent by 2035.

China has warned Papua New Guinea and other Pacific Island nations not to sign up to security deals which ‘target any third party’.