Australasia

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Australia’s surging property prices will be a key election issue amid a broader cost-of-living crisis. Photo: AFP

Australia slaps 2-year ban on foreigners buying existing homes as prices soar

The restriction would likely free up around 1,800 properties per year for local buyers.

16 Feb 2025 - 11:06AM

Pacific nations

Cook Islands says comprehensive strategic partnership deal signed with China

15 Feb 2025 - 1:35PM

Pacific nations

US man sentenced to life for murdering wife at Fiji resort during honeymoon

14 Feb 2025 - 1:53PM

Chinese fighter jet accused of dropping flares near Australian patrol plane

Canberra criticised the ‘unsafe’ manoeuvre that posed a risk to the aircraft and personnel.

13 Feb 2025 - 3:51PMvideocam

Australia accused a Chinese J-16 fighter jet of dropping flares near its military plane patrolling the South China Sea. Photo: AP

Pacific nations

Miss Pacific Islands hit by fraud row after Samoa beauty queen wins title

Pageant judges stopped from leaving the host nation, Solomon Islands, as police investigate fraudulent activities at the event.

13 Feb 2025 - 12:00PM

US-China trade war

In the US-China battle for critical minerals, where will Australia stand?

Canberra is stuck in the middle of Beijing and Washington’s tussle over resources, which has intensified in recent days.

12 Feb 2025 - 8:17PMvideocam

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Pacific nations

China, the Cook Islands – and New Zealand’s struggle for Pacific influence

By signing a deal with Beijing, the Cook Islands is asserting its independence – in a stark challenge to New Zealand’s Pacific strategy.

12 Feb 2025 - 2:15PM

The Cook Islands, with its population of around 15,000, is a self-governing nation in free association with New Zealand. Photo: Shutterstock

Australian man who tried to dissolve teenage wife’s body in acid bath jailed

Meraj Zafar was previously issued a restraining order for threatening Arnima Hayat’s father over his intention to marry the victim.

11 Feb 2025 - 8:15PM

Malaysian man caught trying to smuggling ‘pink cocaine’ into Australia

The 35-year-old Malaysian national is accused of being part of a plot to import a shipment of illegal drugs sent from Italy.

11 Feb 2025 - 10:30AMvideocam

Australia plans ‘long-term managed retreat’ from Cocos Islands

Many of the islands’ residents are descendants of Malay workers brought there to work in coconut plantations in the 1830s.

10 Feb 2025 - 3:39PM

A beach on Cocos Islands is seen strewn with flotsam, jetsam and plastic debris. Photo: University of Tasmania/AFP

Australia makes its case against US tariffs on steel, aluminium

‘Thousands of good-paying American jobs’ have been created by Australia’s steel and aluminium exports, its trade minister said on Monday.

10 Feb 2025 - 1:03PMvideocam

Freshly cut slabs of steel are seen at the BlueScope steelworks in Port Kembla, Australia, last year. Photo: Reuters

Ageing Australians face a homeless retirement as rents soar

Most Australian retirees who privately rent have been pushed into poverty and don’t have enough savings to keep paying, a new report shows.

10 Feb 2025 - 9:03AM

New Zealand makes ‘golden visa’ simpler, drops English test to woo immigrants

The changes are expected to create more local jobs and give the country’s sluggish residential property market a shot in the arm.

9 Feb 2025 - 12:23PM

Pacific nations

Can China fill a US-sized void in the Pacific after Trump’s foreign aid freeze?

China could boost involvement through economic and climate adaptation projects to help Pacific nations meet development needs, analysts say.

9 Feb 2025 - 8:00AM

An aerial view of Bikar Atoll in the Marshall Islands, the central Pacific. Photo: National Geographic Pristine Seas / AFP

Over 100 venomous snakes found in Australian man’s backyard

Pregnant red-bellied black snakes tend to pile on top of each other; two of the adults gave birth to 29 babies as they were being rounded up.

8 Feb 2025 - 1:38AM

Red-bellied black snakes are contained in a bucket after 102 of the reptiles were captured in Sydney yard on January 31. Photo: Cory Kerewaro via AP

Cook Islands’ new passport move, China deal leave New Zealand ‘blindsided’

Foreign Minister Winston Peters expresses concern over Pacific nation’s independent plans, including a proposed pact with Beijing.

7 Feb 2025 - 11:43AM

Australia roiled by antisemitic attacks amid claims of foreign influence

The government has approved measures in the House of Representatives for new hate crime offences protecting race, religion and gender.

6 Feb 2025 - 6:40PMvideocam

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Southeast Asia’s poorest nation ‘holding off’ Chinese interest in huge gas field

East Timor would prefer to work with Australia and Japan over Chinese firms that have expressed interest in the field, its president said.

5 Feb 2025 - 10:05PM

An aerial view of East Timor’s capital, Dili. Photo: Shutterstock

Australia bans Chinese AI DeepSeek from government devices

DeepSeek was being immediately removed from all government systems on national security grounds, Australia’s home affairs minister said.

5 Feb 2025 - 9:26AMvideocam

Australia follows US, Britain in sanctioning extremist network ‘Terrorgram’

‘Terrorgram’, which primarily operates on the Telegram social media site, has been accused of promoting violent white supremacy.

3 Feb 2025 - 3:48PM

Sydney cars, houses sprayed with antisemitic graffiti

The spate of attacks has put pressure on the government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who faces re-election later this year.

2 Feb 2025 - 8:55PM

New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson. Photo: Reuters

Australian police probe if explosives stashed for antisemitic ‘terrorism’

Caravan discovered in outer suburban Sydney contained industrial explosives and notes listing ‘Jewish entities’.

30 Jan 2025 - 3:42PM

People and vehicles near where a caravan containing explosives was found on the side of a road in the Sydney suburb of Dural. Photo: Bianca De Marchi/AAP Image via AP

Is China losing its taste for Australian wine? Industry frets over demand

‘Chinese wine consumption is much lower than it was before the import tariffs were imposed’, said a researcher for Wine Australia.

29 Jan 2025 - 1:05PM

Tourists can now ‘work from home’ from New Zealand under new visa rules

From Monday, New Zealand’s visitor visa allows people to work remotely while travelling in the country.

27 Jan 2025 - 2:31PM

Australia Day protesters support Aboriginal groups, deface statues

Tens of thousands of people across the country joined protests in support of Aboriginal groups, who say the date is not one to celebrate.

26 Jan 2025 - 6:22PM

An Aboriginal Australian protestor marches during the annual ‘Invasion Day’ protest through the streets in Sydney on Sunday. Photo: AFP

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