Yesterday
- Analysis
- Energy transition
No-shows and early exits make climate talks a sideshow
The world leaders who skipped Baku last week are all in Brazil now. While COPs are always fraught and fractious, this one feels at risk of sliding into irrelevance.
- Updated
- Hans van Leeuwen
This Month
- Analysis
- Antisemitism
The meaning of Amsterdam’s ‘Jew Hunt’
Recent street violence in Amsterdam reveals profound changes in how the left and right deal with antisemitism. For European Jews, it’s a strange new world.
- Hans van Leeuwen
Oil and gas are ‘a gift of God’: COP29 leader
The Azerbaijan president’s opening speech was a striking start to the climate summit, already marred by uncertainty and absenteeism.
- Hans van Leeuwen
Why no one is turning up to this year’s climate summit
COP29 is meant to land a $US1 trillion deal to fund poor nations’ fight against climate change. But political and business leaders are a widespread no-show.
- Hans van Leeuwen
- Analysis
- US Votes 2024
Starmer, like Albo, faces a tricky task with Trump
Both left-wing leaders have to ensure political divergence does not disturb the US alliance. But Sir Keir has a particular problem: his name is Nigel Farage.
- Hans van Leeuwen
How Trump’s win could reshape the world’s biggest war zones
“I’m going to stop wars,” the president-elect said in his victory speech. In Ukraine, Russia and the Middle East, reactions ranged from wary optimism to a truculent shrug.
- Hans van Leeuwen
- Opinion
- US Votes 2024
Does Putin want Trump to win?
The Russian leader was probably joking, or bluffing, when he said he supported Kamala Harris. But the second coming of Donald Trump won’t be easy either.
- Hans van Leeuwen
October
- Opinion
- Emerging markets
BRICS summit heralds arrival of new world order
This week’s meeting of heads of state in Russia shows that US-led efforts to isolate Vladimir Putin are only partially working, highlighting America’s waning global influence.
- Geoff Raby
Britain’s PM reels after Trump attacks his Labour Party
The Republican campaign filed a complaint about UK volunteers working for Kamala Harris. It may be a tactical gambit but risks harming relations, even AUKUS.
- Updated
- Hans van Leeuwen
North Korean troops could turn Ukraine into ‘world war’, Zelensky says
The leaders of Ukraine and NATO welcomed Australia’s gift of tanks, as a ministerial summit fretted about Chinese and North Korean involvement.
- Hans van Leeuwen
- Opinion
- Opinion
America’s fickle foreign policy is destabilising the world
The swings between Democratic and Republican presidents weren’t so wild in the heyday of the US. Now it’s like the New England weather.
- Janan Ganesh
- Updated
- Middle East conflict
Biden, Netanyahu speak as Israel readies ‘lethal, precise’ attack plan
The two leaders were in discussions for the first time in almost two months as the IDF continued to press hard against Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
- Matthew Cranston and Hans van Leeuwen
Netanyahu defiant as Middle East braces
Benjamin Netanyahu is set to speak with US President Joe Biden over his retaliation plans against Iran amid fears of a widening war.
- Hans van Leeuwen
Israel takes fire on three fronts on anniversary of Hamas massacre
As the world commemorated the terrorist attack that triggered the conflict, rockets rained down on Israel from Gaza, Lebanon and Yemen.
- Updated
- Hans van Leeuwen and Matthew Cranston
Biden urges Israel not to target Iranian oil assets
‘Think about other alternatives’, the US president tells Israel from the White House, as US and UK jets and warships struck at Houthi militants in Yemen.
- Updated
- Hans van Leeuwen
Biden triggers oil price surge as Middle East tensions mount
A vague remark from the US president sent oil prices more than 5 per cent higher as Israel’s standoff with Iran threatens to spill out into the global economy.
- Matthew Cranston and Hans van Leeuwen
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.
- Hans van Leeuwen and Matthew Cranston
September
- Updated
- AUKUS
‘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
- Hans van Leeuwen and Matthew Cranston
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.
- Hans van Leeuwen and Matthew Cranston
- Analysis
- Brexit
Brits regret Brexit, but can the country turn back?
Boris Johnson ‘got Brexit done’, but most Brits now seem to wish he hadn’t. Polls show more people see it as a failure, and would even vote to rejoin the EU.
- Hans van Leeuwen