NewsBite

Matthew Cranston

Today

Stacked containers line the Bayport Container Terminal in Houston, Texas.

Biden slams ‘incredible’ 800pc profits as port strike threatens brands

The stoppage, which also risks reigniting inflation and pushing up unemployment just a month before the US election, is heaping pressure on President Joe Biden.

Smoke rises from a building destroyed by an Israeli air strike in Beirut.

Israel vows Iran will pay ‘heavy price’, Lebanon combat intensifies

Israel and Iran traded verbal blows, while in Lebanon the first direct troop clashes claimed lives on both sides.

Yesterday

J.D. Vance and Tim Walz face off in the vice presidential debate.

Vance drops the weirdness and fends off Walz in debate

If even the slightest edge can change the voting intentions of undecideds, Republican hopeful J.D. Vance probably swung a few crucial sales in his debate.

Striking longshoremen outside the Bayport Container Terminal in Seabrook, Texas on Tuesday.

Dock workers start huge strike that could sway US election

Republicans are urging Joe Biden to intervene against the industrial action, while Donald Trump blamed inflation for fuelling the higher pay demands.

September

UK Defence Secretary John Healey, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, and Defence Minister Richard Marles meet in London.

‘Utterly untrue’: Keating berates Marles over AUKUS defence

Paul Keating launched fresh criticism of the $368 billion agreement, part of internal Labor squabbling over the pact, which has not gone unnoticed in the UK and US.

  • Updated
Advertisement
Pit-stop: a US nuclear-powered submarine docks at Rockingham, Western Australia in March this year.

New AUKUS pact to keep nuclear subs deal on track

Australia and the UK are thrashing out a formal treaty to allay concerns about getting the SSN-AUKUS submarines built on time and under budget.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Claymont.

Quad on shaky ground as US election nears

Leaders including Anthony Albanese insist the security dialogue will survive once Joe Biden leaves office, but the weekend’s outcomes suggest otherwise.

Joe Biden and Anthony Albanese leave the Quad leaders summit at Archmere Academy, the former’s alma mater.

Critical mineral exporters edge closer to US breakthrough

Anthony Albanese pushes Joe Biden to classify Australia’s critical minerals as “American made” to win favourable treatment, as allies counter China’s grip on the sector.

The US election will be won in a small number of battleground states.

The critical US swing states explained in four charts

US elections are won in a few hotly contested states that alternate between Democrats and Republicans. This year’s result is set to be tighter than ever.

Albanese visits Biden’s home to ‘tackle shared challenges’

The pair exchanged gifts and discussed rising violence in American politics during the first visit of a foreign leader to Biden’s personal residence.

  • Updated
Bernard Rowe is the managing director of Ioneer, which is listed on the ASX but developing a mine in the US state of Nevada.

Biden backs Australian critical minerals miner Ioneer in Nevada

Approving the new project will significantly increase domestic lithium supply amid a push toward greater self-reliance in the critical minerals supply chain.

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell as he announced the rate cut.

Has the Fed overreacted to the US economy?

The Fed’s decision meets the theoretical economic rules but there is an intuitive question about whether such a large cut was needed right now given the state of the economy.

Jerome Powell opted for a bigger rate cut than many had expected.

Powell’s jumbo rate cut is a big insurance policy

This super-sized rate reduction is the Federal Reserve chairman’s bid to cement his legacy as he tries to nail a soft economic landing.

Jerome Powell.

‘Slam dunk’: Fed cuts rates by half of a percentage point

The US Federal Reserve chose a larger interest rate reduction to kick off what is expected to be a steady easing of monetary policy.

  • Updated
Donald Trump has blamed president Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the latest apparent assassination attempt against him

Trump blames Harris’ incendiary ‘lies’ for shooting

The Republican has accused Democrats of inciting political violence, claiming they encouraged the second assassination attempt against him.

  • Updated
Advertisement
Cocoon chief executive Trent Telford in Washington.

Aussie cyber firm goes it alone with US expansion

Trent Telford is on a high after his firm Cocoon Data scored a Google deal and made progress cracking the US market, but he says it’s no thanks to the Australian government.

Donald Trump and the backpack, GoPro and refile found by police in the bushes of the Mar-a-Lago golf course.

Trump shooting shows angry America perilously close to national crisis

The second assassination attempt on Donald Trump comes as a tense, closely fought election campaign is being waged with high levels of disinformation and anger.

The Resolution Copper mine in Arizona.

US Supreme Court may consider appeal against Rio-BHP copper mine

Rio Tinto’s handling of the Juukan Gorge affair has been cited by Native Americans and other groups opposed to the development of a copper deposit in Arizona.

Rupert Murdoch favours his eldest son Lachlan to run the family business, but a trust gives equal voting rights to four of his children.

Murdoch’s family trust feud to stay secret, court rules

A court battle over the family control of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire will be held behind closed doors, depriving the media of details of the succession drama.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump

Now it’s the middle ground that matters in the US election

Even Donald Trump’s backers admit Kamala Harris won this week’s debate. How he bounces back from defeat will shape the race for the White House.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/matthew-cranston-j7gax