Shipping in transit on their way through the Panama Canal. Photo: stock Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino has rejected calls by US President-elect Donald Trump to hand over the Panama Canal to US control. In a post on social media, Trump described fees charged to use the key shipping lane as a “complete ‘rip-off’ ”…
Picture: stock GLOBAL leaders have called for unity, and a transitional government, in Syria after president Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia. Al-Assad fled just before rebel forces captured the capital, Damascus, after 13 years of civil war. Moscow has reportedly confirmed it had given al-Assad and his family asylum, according to overseas media reports. It…
A Polish Air Force Sokol helicopter lands in a field in southern Poland during 2023 military exercises. Photo: NATO THE US is giving Poland an extra $4 billion in military loans to modernise its military as the European country eyes greater ties with the Indon-Pacific region. The deal raises the total of American loans and…
A night view of the South Korean capital, Seoul. Picture: stock South Korea was plunged into political chaos after President Yoon Suk Yeol tried and fail to declare martial law overnight. The president shocked the country by imposing martial law which led to soldiers and protests in the streets before a late night vote in…
Lebanese and Syrians at the Jdeidat Yabous crossing. They were fleeing into Syria to escape the fighting in Lebanon. Photo: WFP/Hussam Al Saleh THE US remains poised to reinforce its troops in Syria as it continues to monitor heavy fighting around Aleppo. A US Pentagon spokesman says the US is not involved in the fighting…
Picture: stock In the face of US tariffs and potential counter-tariffs, Australia needs resilience and lots of it, says UNSW Professor Richard Holden. “We want to make our economy as robust and resilient as we can. That’s about all we can really do,” he says. While there might be much uncertainty for businesses, Prof. Holden…
Picture: ANDREW KACIMAIWAI A new Chinese-built ‘megaport’ at Chancay, Peru, could create new trade routes between South America and China that could bypass North America entirely. The move comes amid rising expectations that US President-elect Donald Trump will deliver tariffs as high as 60 per cent on Chinese goods. The $3.5bn port is a co-operative…
Picture: stock US President-elect Donald Trump already appears to be on a collision course with the new Republican-led Senate on his staff and cabinet appointments. He did not get involved in the Senate’s Republican leadership election from which Senator John Thune was victorious despite Trump allies supporting Florida Senator Rick Scott. But Trump did demand…
Lloyd Austin with Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong during her visit to Annapolis, Maryland, in August. Photo: Samuel Phelps/DFAT OUTGOING US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin is to visit Australia this week as part of a regional tour to shore up regional alliances. Pentagon spokesman Major-General Pat Ryder says Austin will visit Australia, the Philippines,…
Picture: stock The Republican Party has reportedly reclaimed control of the US Senate after picking up seats in Ohio and West Virginia, and fending off challenges to their candidates in Texas and Nebraska. The Guardian website reports that the Republicans (GOP) will control Congress’s upper chamber for the first time in four years as counting…