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Ukrainian soldiers load ammunition into a self-propelled howitzer on the frontline in Donetsk.

North Korean troops disappear from Ukraine’s war front

North Korea sent its best troops to aid Russia in its war against Ukraine. But after months of suffering severe losses, they have been taken off the front line.

  • 35 mins ago
  • Michael Schwirtz and Julian E. Barnes
China

China building ‘doomsday’ command 10 times bigger than the Pentagon

The complex would be the world’s largest military command centre and include bombproof bunkers for leaders, say US intelligence officials.

  • Demetri Sevastopulo, Joe Leahy and Ryan McMorrow

Why Musk’s radical Washington plans are deja vu

Millions of workers have been offered exits and engineers asked to show their skills – just like when Elon Musk bought Twitter. The similarities have been uncanny.

  • Kate Conger and Ryan Mac

The Gaza ceasefire hasn’t got to the hard part yet. Will Trump persevere?

The prime example of a phased, conditions-based performance agreement was the Oslo Accords. And those failed.

  • Aaron David Miller and Lauren Morganbesser

‘Abnormal’ flight path as tragic Washington midair crash probed

An experienced former Australian army helicopter pilot living in Washington expressed surprise at the Blackhawk’s flight path above the highly restricted airport.

  • Matthew Cranston

‘Oh my God’: Final moments before fatal midair crash

As American Airlines flight 5342 descended calmly over the Potomac River, a US army helicopter approached. The outcome was devastating.

  • Updated
  • Memphis Barker

Opinion & Analysis

We shouldn’t be so glib with our Nazi parallels

The Holocaust continues to haunt our politics. But slurring our opponents as Hitlers is not the way to defeat them.

Andrew Marr

contributor

Andrew Marr

Trump under pressure to tackle China’s DeepSeek

The president said US industries need to be “laser-focused” on winning the AI race. But he also faces calls for a tighter export ban on American chips to China.

Matthew Cranston

United States correspondent

Matthew Cranston

Trump’s Dr Strangelove playbook is working (for now)

The president revels in his unpredictability, but over time he risks sowing distrust in America’s good faith.

Edward Luce

Columnist

Edward Luce

As Trump and Putin circle each other, an agenda beyond Ukraine emerges

The Russian leader has made it very clear he is ready to deal, keen to end three years of diplomatic isolation.

David E. Sanger and Anton Troianovski

Contributor

From the Financial Times

China

China building ‘doomsday’ command 10 times bigger than the Pentagon

The complex would be the world’s largest military command centre and include bombproof bunkers for leaders, say US intelligence officials.

  • Demetri Sevastopulo, Joe Leahy and Ryan McMorrow

Who’s afraid of Melania Trump?

While Donald Trump surrounds himself with yes men and supplicants, his wife makes no secret of the fact that she often disagrees with him.

  • Updated
  • Jo Ellison

Trump’s Dr Strangelove playbook is working (for now)

The president revels in his unpredictability, but over time he risks sowing distrust in America’s good faith.

  • Edward Luce
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More From Today

President Donald Trump suggested that efforts to boost diversity could have been a cause in the crash.

Trump blames DEI for fatal Washington plane crash

When asked how he reached his conclusion, the president said “because I have common sense, okay? And unfortunately, a lot of people don’t”.

  • Matthew Cranston
A guard tower stands among barbed wire at the Auschwitz I former concentration camp site in Oswiecim, Poland.

We shouldn’t be so glib with our Nazi parallels

The Holocaust continues to haunt our politics. But slurring our opponents as Hitlers is not the way to defeat them.

  • Andrew Marr
David Rowe

What Greenland’s prime minister thinks about Trump

Some politicians in the icy capital of Nuuk have welcomed the US President’s grab for the country. PM Mute Egede is not among them.

  • Mark Leibovich
The economy grew 2.8 per cent in 2024 after expanding 2.9 per cent and 2.5 per cent in the prior two years, respectively.

US economy ends 2024 with 2.3pc GDP growth on consumer resilience

Consumer spending, which comprises the largest share of economic activity, surged in the December quarter, led by a pickup in motor vehicle sales.

  • Molly Smith
An emergency services boat at the scene of the plane crash in Arlington, Virginia.

‘No survivors’: Despair after horrific midair crash

Bodies were reportedly being pulled from the water after an American Airlines plane outside Washington collided with an army helicopter.

  • Ayesha de Kretser and Trevor Hunnicutt
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Hamas fighters at the scene of a hostage handover.

Israel delays prisoner swap after chaotic hostage handover

Hamas freed three Israelis and five Thai hostages but Israel decried “shocking” scenes at the site of the handover as fighters swarmed the hostages.

  • Nidal al-Mughrabi, Emily Rose and Maayan Lubell

Yesterday

Why Greg Norman is Australia’s bridge to Trump

The golfing great hinted that he was called upon once again to help bring together Canberra and the new president.

  • Matthew Cranston
Donald Trump in the White House this week.

Elite law firm signs on to help Trump clear his name

The US president does not want to remain a convicted felon and New York’s top lawyers are lining up to help him.

  • Jonah E. Bromwich
The official White House portrait of first lady Melania Trump.

Who’s afraid of Melania Trump?

While Donald Trump surrounds himself with yes men and supplicants, his wife makes no secret of the fact that she often disagrees with him.

  • Jo Ellison
President Donald Trump holds the document after signing the Laken Riley Act during an event in the East Room of the White

Trump to use Guantanamo Bay prison to house migrants

The president said a major new facility at the naval base could hold 30,000 deportees in his latest tough move cracking down on immigration.

  • Nick Miroff and Dan Lamothe
Heathrow Airport’s $28bn proposal for a third runway and fifth terminal has long been controversial.

The mega-airport everyone loves to hate is set to get a lot bigger

Heathrow is already four times the size of Sydney’s CBD, but the British government is ready to let a controversial expansion plan go through.

  • Hans van Leeuwen

Dispatch from Davos: Trump hasn’t killed DEI (yet)

This week on The Fin podcast, Hans van Leeuwen on whether diversity programs are under threat and why Australians have stopped going to Davos.

OpenAI data may have been obtained without authorisation by DeepSeek-linked researchers.

Microsoft investigates whether OpenAI data was taken for DeepSeek

Microsoft staff apparently saw researchers believed to be linked to DeepSeek obtaining huge amounts of data from OpenAI.

  • Dina Bass and Shirin Ghaffary

This Month

Donald Trump

Trump offers to pay out 2 million WFH employees

Federal staffers would be paid for eight months to September if they decide to resign rather than return to the office full-time.

  • Chris Cameron, Madeleine Ngo and Erica L. Green
  • Analysis
  • AI
Donald Trump.

Trump under pressure to tackle China’s DeepSeek

The president said US industries need to be “laser-focused” on winning the AI race. But he also faces calls for a tighter export ban on American chips to China.

  • Matthew Cranston
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Protesters demonstrate against Donald Trump’s freeze of federal grants and loans worth $US3 trillion.

Judge blocks Trump’s spending freeze in day of chaos

The judge halted the president’s plan to freeze hundreds of billions of dollars in payments to federal programs just minutes before it was set to take effect.

  • Tony Romm, Jeff Stein and Jacob Bogage
China prepares for the new year holiday.

‘Vindicated’: China celebrates DeepSeek shock in US

Inside China, social media exploded on the news that a home-grown start-up had made an AI tool that was more efficient than any in the United States.

  • Li Yuan
Karoline Leavitt is the youngest ever White House press secretary.

Who is Trump’s 27-year-old press secretary?

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has made her debut and opened up the briefing room to podcasters and social media influencers.

  • Chris Megerian and Darlene Superville
A Ukrainian self-propelled howitzer Dita of Azov brigade fires towards Russian positions at frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine.

What our region can learn from Europe’s failure with Putin

While directing his critique at Europe, Keir Giles usefully illuminates the wider malaise afflicting other nations in coming to terms with the new world.

  • Peter Tesch
Peter Sellers in the 1964 political satire “Dr Strangelove”.

Trump’s Dr Strangelove playbook is working (for now)

The president revels in his unpredictability, but over time he risks sowing distrust in America’s good faith.

  • Edward Luce

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/news/investigations