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Hans van Leeuwen

Today

Rachel Reeves.

Are bond traders about to topple another treasurer?

The UK is being forced to borrow at rates not seen for decades – piling pressure on Sir Keir Starmer, who wants to fix public services but not raise taxes.

  • 43 mins ago

This Month

Is Musk intoxicated by power, and addicted to the adrenalin of political campaigning?

Elon Musk goes large in Europe

Musk has money, a pulpit, and the imprimatur of the White House. But does he actually have a plan for remaking Europe? If not, there are other Trumpians who do.

Greenland may become independent if its residents want, but it won’t become a US state, Denmark’s foreign minister.

Europe talks tough on Trump’s Greenland ambitions and Musk’s X posts

France’s foreign minister warns Trump could usher in a ‘survival of the fittest’ world, but the Danes are eager to hose things down.

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Donald Trump’s personal jet, carrying his son, arrives in the Greenland capital Nuuk on Monday.

Donald Trump jnr goes window-shopping for his dad in Greenland

The gambit comes at a tricky time for Copenhagen, as leaders on the mineral-rich island push harder for full independence from Denmark.

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Wreaths are laid alongside a special issue of Charlie Hebdo magazine, commemorating 10 years since Islamist gunmen attacked its offices.

France marks Charlie Hebdo anniversary amid rekindled terror threat

Attacks in Germany and the US have revived old anxieties, but in France extremism has cost more lives, and opened sharper political divides, than anywhere else.

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Elon Musk on the campaign trail for Donald Trump last year.

Starmer leads European pushback against ‘troll’ Musk

The leaders of Germany, France and the UK have all railed gainst the increasingly punchy political interventions from the X owner and Donald Trump confidant.

December 2024

Marijana Petkovic with her sheaf of court documents. She is one of several vocal opponents to Rio’s efforts in the Jadar Valley.

Inside Rio Tinto’s all out war to unlock Serbia’s lithium riches

The mining giant has been trying to develop the resource rich Jadar Valley for two decades. So why is it persisting in the face of intense opposition?

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Southern is under pressure to carry out more infrastructure works, but its owner, Macquarie, will be able to increase how much it charges customers considerably.

Macquarie’s embattled UK water asset gets go-ahead to jack up bills

Southern Water’s debt was downgraded to junk status this year, and regulators have prevented the company from paying its Australian owner any dividends.

Nick Candy, Elon Musk and Nigel Farage at Mar-a-Lago after their meeting.

Musk is ‘ready to bankroll’ UK populist Farage. Is Australia next?

The Reform UK leader is potentially in line for a massive injection of support from the X owner. Could the billionaire be looking at Down Under, too?

Craig Wright, an Australian who used to claim he was bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto, was given a suspended jail sentence.

Aussie bitcoin maverick avoids jail time. If he keeps his head down

A UK court gave Craig Wright, who has claimed he invented bitcoin, a one-year jail term for contempt. But his sentence was suspended for two years.

The Bank of England played Scrooge at its pre-Christmas meeting.

Bank of England pauses rate cuts as inflation picks up

The BoE did not join its rate-cutting peers in the US and Europe because, despite a flatlining economy, prices and wages have gathered pace.

Craig Wright at one of his previous court cases in London.

This Australian bitcoin maverick faces jail. But he’s gone AWOL

A UK court ruled Craig Wright was not cryptocurrency inventor Satoshi Nakamoto and told him to stop suing people. He now faces a contempt charge.

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Foreign Minister Penny Wong making her first visit to Ukraine, to reopen the embassy in Kyiv.

Australia to reopen embassy in Ukraine

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has visited Kyiv and put an end to the long-running controversy.

BHP’s Samarco class action shrinks as Brazilians quit

Four municipalities have exited a $36 billion compensation claim against the mining giant in the British courts in favour of alternative compensation.

Defence Minister Richard Marles visiting a naval base in Plymouth.

Trump won’t torpedo AUKUS subs deal, says Marles

Despite fears the president-elect will cool on the pact as the US struggles to produce enough submarines, the Australian defence minister says he will back the deal.

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UK foreign secretary David Lammy, Foreign Minister Penny Wong, UK defence secretary John Healey, and Defence Minister Richard Marles at AUKMIN in London.

Aussie troops could play role in Ukraine ceasefire deal

After he and Foreign Minister Penny Wong met their UK counterparts Defence Minister Richard Marles said Australia would look to Britain for leadership.

The eerily empty tunnels of a Helsinki underground bunker.

Blast bunkers, iodine tablets: How Finns are bracing for apocalypse

Finland’s bunker network feels like a throwback to a bygone era. But the Finns’ vigilance raises the question: if catastrophe came, how would we Aussies cope?

Without young people on student or working holiday visas, who would be there to serve your drinks?

‘Abomination’: Aussie schooner at centre of UK pint row

Do you prefer your beer by the pint or another measure? A House of Lords debate on a seemingly innocuous technical bill has reignited an age-old dispute.

Syrian citizens wave the revolutionary flag in Damascus.

Rebels vow reforms in race to stabilise Syria

The government is trying to get the state functioning again, while Russia frets over its bases and Israel and Turkey look to increase their leverage.

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People shoot in the air as they celebrate the fall of the Syrian government in Damascus.

New day dawns for Syria after Assad flees to Moscow

The swift and surprise toppling of President Bashar al-Assad is sending shockwaves through the Middle East and the world – especially in Moscow and Tehran.

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Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/hans-van-leeuwen-h159q1