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China-Australia relations
New Zealand
Pacific nations
the Asian angle
Climate change
New Zealand Trade Minister Todd McClay (right) and Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal after they signed documents on a free-trade agreement in New Delhi on Monday. Photo: AP
New Zealand

India, New Zealand sign ‘once-in-a-generation’ free-trade deal

The deal will cut or remove tariffs on 95 per cent of New Zealand’s exports to India, with all Indian exports to New Zealand duty free.

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Yuan

‘Paradigm shift’: is China’s deal with mining giant BHP a global yuan milestone?

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Australia

Australia signs US$7 billion Japan warship deal to boost firepower against China

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Pacific nations

Pacific Islanders skip food, medicine amid global fuel shortage from Iran war

Pacific nations are the most reliant on diesel for power generation worldwide. They imported about 2.2 million tonnes of fuel in 2025.

Boats ply the waterway in Buka, Papua New Guinea. Many Pacific Island communities rely on boat transport for movement. Photo: AFP
Boats ply the waterway in Buka, Papua New Guinea. Many Pacific Island communities rely on boat transport for movement. Photo: AFP
New Zealand

New Zealand minister under fire for ‘butter chicken tsunami’ remarks

A free-trade agreement, to be signed next week, could see more than 20,000 Indian migrants entering New Zealand, officials say.

Singapore

Man vs Mythos: Asian financial bodies sound alert on AI hacking model

Anthropic held back a wider release after finding Mythos was capable of discovering security holes that had gone undetected for years.

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New Zealand

New Zealand tells Wellington residents to evacuate as rain threat worsens

Wellington had received 77mm of rain ‌in less than an hour, its heaviest rainfall on record.

Vehicles can be seen partially submerged along a flooded road in Wellington, New Zealand, in a screengrab taken from a social media video on Monday, . Photo: Reuters
Vehicles can be seen partially submerged along a flooded road in Wellington, New Zealand, in a screengrab taken from a social media video on Monday, . Photo: Reuters
Australia

Singapore tycoon wants banks to pay US$1 billion for Australian NewSat collapse

The suit claims that the lenders failed to honour loan agreements, preventing NewSat from building its satellites.

New Zealand

Air New Zealand economy passengers can join world’s first mile-high sleep club

Socks are mandatory and crumbs, strong perfumes and bed-sharing are forbidden as fliers get cosy with their fellow passengers.

Australia

Australian farmers relieved after Indonesia agrees to supply fertiliser

The deal makes up 20 per cent of fertiliser needs for the planting season in Australia, a major supplier of food to Southeast Asia.

A seeder sows wheat at a farm in Bencubbin, Australia. Photo: Reuters
Malaysia

‘New normal’: Malaysia and Australia strike energy supply pledge amid Iran war

The deal creates a mutual spillover valve, allowing the partners to swap surplus energy once domestic demand is satisfied.

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim meet at a press conference in Putrajaya on Thursday. Photo: AAP/dpa
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim meet at a press conference in Putrajaya on Thursday. Photo: AAP/dpa
Australia

Indian man charged with sexual assault of passenger on Singapore-Perth flight

If convicted of sexual intercourse without consent, the suspect faces a jail term of up to 12 years.

Australia

Huge blaze at Australian refinery threatens petrol supply amid global oil crisis

The Geelong plant is one of only two operating oil refineries in Australia and supplies 10 per cent of the country’s total demand.

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Pacific nations

Super Typhoon Sinlakua bears down on group of remote US islands in Pacific Ocean

Trump has approved emergency help for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, where Sinlakua is expected to make landfall on Tuesday.

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A satellite image provided by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows super typhoon Sinlakua in the Pacific Ocean on Monday. Photo: NOAA via AP
Pacific nations

Australia pledges US$1.7 million in aid after Cyclone Maila kills 11 in Pacific

Entire villages were destroyed in the storm, was briefly classified as a Category 5 cyclone.

A truck is engulfed by floodwaters brought on by heavy rains from tropical cyclone Maila in the Tinputz district of Northern Bougainville. Photo: AFP
A truck is engulfed by floodwaters brought on by heavy rains from tropical cyclone Maila in the Tinputz district of Northern Bougainville. Photo: AFP
Australia

‘Deeply historic’: Australia appoints first-ever female army chief

Susan Coyle will become the first woman to lead the army in 125 years as the military aims for one in four personnel to be women by 2030.

US, Israel war on Iran

‘Cautious optimism’ in Asia after US, Iran agree to ceasefire, reopen Hormuz

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim welcomed the ceasefire and called ⁠for lasting peace in the ‌Middle East.

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Australia

Decorated Australian soldier faces 5 murder charges in Afghan war crime probe

Roberts-Smith reportedly kicked an unarmed Afghan civilian off a cliff and drank out of a prosthetic leg of a man who was gunned down.

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Former member of Australia’s elite Special Air Service regiment Ben Roberts-Smith leaves the Federal Court in Sydney on May 1, 2025 .Photo: AFP
Former member of Australia’s elite Special Air Service regiment Ben Roberts-Smith leaves the Federal Court in Sydney on May 1, 2025 .Photo: AFP
Australia

Australia receives fuel export guarantees from Singapore, Japan

Australia is seeking to diversify its sources of oil products as a result of the war in Iran and closure of the Strait of Hormuz, including making purchases from the US and Mexico.

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New Zealand

New Zealand doctor invoices US embassy for rising fuel costs

Shane Dunphy asked the embassy to reimburse him for the US$1,600 spent on petrol vouchers for his staff so that they could travel to work.

Australia

Australian PM says Iran war goals met, asks what more is left to achieve

The remarks come after Trump said the conflict is ‘very close’ to completion, while signalling plans for fresh attacks in the coming days.

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Smoke rises from the site of a strike in Tehran, Iran, on Wednesday. Photo: AFP
China energy security

Australia and Japan face jet fuel supply crunch as China cuts exports

Both Australia and Japan are heavily reliant on Chinese jet fuel, but shipments have plunged in recent weeks amid the Iran war.

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Qantas is already raising airfares as Australia faces a jet fuel supply crunch amid the US-Israel war on Iran. Photo: AFP
Qantas is already raising airfares as Australia faces a jet fuel supply crunch amid the US-Israel war on Iran. Photo: AFP
New Zealand

Dog lost for a week in New Zealand bush found after strangers fund search

Molly the border collie went missing after her owner fell while hiking on the South Island and had to be rescued without her.

Australia

‘Coward’: police killer shot dead after 7-month manhunt in Australia

A survivalist conspiracy theorist who used bushcraft to evade officers is dead, ending one of Australia’s largest-ever manhunts.

Australia

Australia’s Karratha LNG plant closed after cyclone amid fuel shortages

The plant’s co-owner Chevron said it suffered outages at its Gorgon and Wheatstone gas plants, which supply more than five per cent of the world’s liquefied natural gas.

An LNG tanker from the Karratha LNG Plant, off the coast of Western Australia, Australia, in 2003. Photo: SCMP
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