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International affairs

Yesterday

Volodymyr Zelensky, who said Vladimir Putin “deliberately chose Christmas to attack”.

Russia’s Christmas Day attacks ‘inhuman’, Ukraine says

Nearly three years into the war, the strikes wounded at least six people in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and killed one in the region of Dnipropetrovsk.

  • Updated
  • Pavel Polityuk

This Month

The guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg.

US shoots down its own F/A-18 over Red Sea

The American military’s Central Command said that the two pilots had been safely recovered after they ejected from their fighter jet.

  • Updated
  • Yan Zhuang and Matthew Mpoke Bigg
Governments around the world have raised concerns about TikTok’s alleged data harvesting.

Trump hints at change of heart on TikTok ban

The role of the popular social media app in last month’s election victory may have convinced the president-elect to give parent company ByteDance a reprieve.

  • Gram Slattery
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits troops in October.

Why North Korean troops are now a problem for Putin

Many have expressed surprise at the apparent naivety of the Asian troops, under live fire for the first time.

  • Iain Hollingshead
With the rise of Chinese dominance, we must strike the right balance between excessive deference towards Beijing and unnecessary provocation.

China to have 1000 nukes by 2030, says Pentagon

The annual China Military Power Report said the People’s Liberation Army had expanded its arsenal by 20 per cent in the 12 months to mid-2024.

  • Demetri Sevastopulo
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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.

  • Hans van Leeuwen
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.

  • Updated
  • Hans van Leeuwen
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.

  • Hans van Leeuwen
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?

  • Hans van Leeuwen
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a Time magazine Person of the Year event at the New York Stock Exchange.

Donald Trump named Time’s 2024 ‘Person of the Year’

In an interview with the magazine, the president-elect said he plans to issue pardons to January 6 defendants “in the first hour that I get into office”.

  • Nandita Bose
Chinese Premier Li Qiang is still talking the talk on stimulus, but action is less certain.

China is still all talk on stimulus – for one good reason

Beijing is again hyping its willingness to revive its spluttering economy. But action is unlikely to come until we know more about Donald Trump’s plans.

  • Updated
  • James Thomson
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.

  • Updated
  • Hans van Leeuwen and Andrew Tillett
The Chinese investigation comes as Washington has sought to slow China’s development of advanced chip technology.

China investigates Nvidia as tech war with US escalates

The State Administration for Market Regulation opened a probe into the chipmaker over suspicions that it broke anti-monopoly laws around a 2020 deal.

  • Amy Thomson
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.

  • Updated
  • Hans van Leeuwen
Bashar Assad appears to be largely on his own as he faces the end of his 24-year rule.

Alone against a renewed insurgency, Assad faces the end without allies

It seemed Syria’s president was almost out of the woods. But then a sudden rebel offensive caught everyone off guard.

  • Zeina Karam and Sarah El Deeb
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Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto take part in a welcome ceremony in Beijing.

Prabowo’s first overseas visit was a shambles

The Indonesian president was so charmed by Xi Jinping that he agreed to a Chinese draft of a joint statement that gave away his nation’s longstanding positions.

  • The Economist
An Israeli soldier looks at a destroyed part of Gaza City on the Israel-Gaza border.

Trump vows ‘hell to pay’ if Gaza hostages not released

The president-elect has threatened to hit Hamas “harder than anybody has been hit” after news emerged of an American-Israeli soldier killed on October 7.

  • Updated
  • Jill Colvin

November

China’s ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian.

China envoy’s plea to Albanese: Don’t let Trump come between us

Ambassador Xiao Qian also raised concerns over Australian moves to clamp down on foreign students during a wide-ranging press conference.

  • Andrew Tillett
Thick smoke and flames erupt from an Israeli airstrike on Tayouneh, Beirut.

Israel-Hezbollah peace deal draws closer

The Israeli cabinet will meet to decide on a US-proposed 60-day truce, which is expected to be approved.

  • Updated
  • Maayan Lubell and Laila Bassam
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Australia left in limbo after fight to host global COP talks falters

Australia is vying with Turkey to host the annual climate summit, but a discordant meeting in Baku deferred the decision until June – after the federal election.

  • Updated
  • Hans van Leeuwen

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/international-affairs-jfc