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Foreign Affairs & Security

Today

‘Hanukkah horror Down Under’: How the world covered Bondi

News outlets around the world dedicated their front pages to the Bondi Beach shooting, highlighting the targeting of Jews, and hailing the heroism of bystanders.

Yesterday

Israel joins Bondi terror probe as calls grow for ASIO review

Israel’s intelligence services will help investigate whether the attackers had links to Iran or the Islamic State.

Vision of Ahmed al Ahmed tackling an alleged gunman at the Bondi Beach shooting.

‘Saved people from monsters’: Bondi hero hailed by his parents, Trump

Shop owner Ahmed al Ahmed has served with security forces in the past and his father says he has always wanted to protect people.

Israel’s chief rabbi Rabbiner Kalman Meir Ber, centre, attends a vigil in Berlin for the victims of the terror attack at Bondi Beach.

In pictures: World reacts to Bondi shooting

People around the globe have gathered to remember the dead and injured after the Bondi shooting on Sunday.

Bondi Beach on evening of December 14 terrorist shooting

Terrorist shooting shatters Australian summer dream

A terrorist act targeting Jewish Australians brought evil to the heartland of the Australian summer: Bondi Beach.

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This Month

Patrol vessel under construction at Austal shipyards

Biting the bullet on Austal and Australia’s shipbuilding future

The shipbuilder is part of a bigger strategic story: rising regional tensions, neglected defence capabilities and the commercial viability of skilled manufacturing.

Deputy Prime Minster and Defence Minister Richard Marles speaks on the sidelines of the AUKUS Defense Ministers’ Ministerial meeting at the Pentagon on Wednesday.

AUKUS ministers discuss slimming down $368b security pact

Defence Minister Richard Marles and his UK and US counterparts have talked about narrowing the focus of ambitious plans under the second pillar of the deal.

Nauru President David Adeang and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Bendigo Bank shuts Nauru accounts after corruption claims

Greens senator David Shoebridge alleged last month that senior Nauruan politicians laundered Australian taxpayer money earmarked for offshore detention.

Defence Minister Richard Marles, Foreign Minister Penny Wong, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US War Secretary Pete Hegseth speak to reporters after their meeting.

Trump’s new security strategy demands Australia step up or step aside

There is something for Australians to work with even if the new security strategy states that “the days of America propping up the world like Atlas are over”.

Richard Marles during a news conference at the US Department of State in Washington.

Turnbull slams secrecy over Pentagon’s AUKUS demands

Richard Marles should reveal what changes to the pact the US review has requested before Australia hands over its next cheque, the former prime minister says.

Boeing’s Ghost Bat is among several military drone projects in Australia.

Dawn of drone warfare era: Government’s $1b ‘Ghost Bat’ purchase

The $1 billion investment will take the Ghost Bat out of prototype stage and see the government purchase six of the unmanned aircraft.

Chinese manufacturers are pushing more goods into markets with lower trade barriers as shipments to the United States continue to shrink.

Trump tariffs send Chinese exports surging into Australia

Chinese manufacturers are pushing more goods into markets with lower trade barriers as shipments to the United States continue to shrink.

Xi Jinping sees China at a turning point, as it threatens to overtake the US as an economic, tech and military power.

Chinese ambassador’s rosy pitch masks Xi’s top-down power play

After the 2025 that Beijing has had, the idea of it ending five-year plans and putting its fate more squarely in the hands of the free market is unthinkable.

A report warns the super performance test could unintentionally discourage funds from investing in the innovative industries that form part of AUKUS.

‘Completely supportive’: Marles receives Pentagon’s AUKUS review

News of the review triggered speculation that the Trump administration might push Australia to increase its defence spending or jettison AUKUS altogether.

Rescue workers at the site of a strike in Ternopil on November 19.

Australia announces $95m in cash and equipment for Ukraine

The package includes $50 million in cash for a weapons fund, $43 million worth of material such as munitions and radars and fresh sanctions on Russia.

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Defence sites

Prime Defence real estate would sell to developers for billions

Inner Melbourne and Sydney sites, including bases in Mosman and Paddington, could be converted into housing to raise billions for the defence budget.

Andrew Shearer, the outgoing director general of the Office of National Intelligence

Hacking, sabotage, assassinations: Spy chief issues final warning

Departing ONI chief Andrew Shearer issues a final, pointed warning about China’s strategy of influence, military power, and coercion in the region.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles and Minister for Defence Industry and Minister for Pacific Island Affairs Pat Conroy

Marles launches biggest Defence overhaul in five decades

To help prevent more multibillion-dollar cost blowouts, an independent agency to run major projects will be created by the government.

November

Brisbane’s Victoria Barracks and Spectacle Island in Sydney Harbour are among the little-used sites that the government wants to sell after an audit of defence property.

Defence poised to sell prime Brisbane and Sydney real estate

Brisbane’s Victoria Barracks and Spectacle Island on Sydney Harbour are among the sites the government wants to sell after an audit of defence property.

Abigail Bradshaw has had a long career in the public service, rising up to run a key intelligence agency.

Millions paid to business run by spy chief’s husband under scrutiny

Contracts awarded to a company where the Australian Signals Directorate director-general’s spouse was a senior manager have been under external investigation.

Famed barrister Geoffrey Robertson is warning international laws against war crime are a “fraud”.

Geoffrey Robertson slams ‘great appeaser’ Trump

The famed Australian barrister’s new book on the failure of international law coincides with the “great appeaser” Donald Trump’s presidency.

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Chinese ships highlight our vulnerability to growing aggression

We have forgotten what it feels like to face the visceral prospect of attack. Countries that cannot resist coercion will struggle to defend their interests.

Spy agency awards $200m in deals to firms run by workers and spouses

The news follows revelations that the Australian Signals Directorate head was investigated over contracts given to a company where her husband worked.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea last month.

The G2 revival: Trump and Xi to sort out the world’s problems

Australia’s foreign policy is outdated as Donald Trump resurrects the idea of the “G2” and turns his back on the rest of Asia.

The Reliance refinery at Jamnagar is a money-making machine for Mukesh Ambani.

Future Fund urged to dump $175m from Russian ‘blood oil’ refiner

Reliance Industries bought at least $51 billion of oil from Russia since 2022, prompting accusations from the Ukrainian community that it helped fund the war.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs