Your afternoon Briefing

Good afternoon, readers. Peter Costello says our China ties are “strained” and sex scandal hits the Nobel Academy.

Good afternoon, readers. Peter Costello says Australia’s relationship with China is “strained” and sex scandal hits the Nobel Academy.

17/08/2017: Former Federal Treasurer, Peter Costello, speaking on the 10 year anniversary of the GFC. Picture: Stuart McEvoy for the Australian.

China ties strained: Costello

Peter Costello says a lack of senior government figures at a key Asia forum shows our relationship with China is going through another rough patch.

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ABC Managing Director Michelle Guthrie with Editorial Director Alan Sutherland during senate estimates in Parliament House in Canberra. Picture Gary Ramage

‘No WikiLeaks’: ABC defends files conduct

The ABC has defended its actions around the leak of top-secret cabinet documents, saying it chose not to do a ‘WikiLeaks’.

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FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2012 file photo, , Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, speaks to Vladislav Surkov, deputy prime minister in charge of economic modernization, during a visit in Kurgan, Russia. Surkov wrote in an article for Russia in Global Affairs magazine released Monday, April 9, 2018 that Russia has abandoned its centuries-long aspirations of integrating into the West and is bracing up for a new era of "geopolitical loneliness." (Alexei Nikolsky/RIA Novosti Kremlin via AP)

Russia set to break with West

Vladimir Putin’s key adviser Vladislav Surkov has declared that the country is entering ‘100 years of solitude’.

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Australian Cricket star Glenn Maxwell at the MCG ready for his next game. Picture: Alex Coppel.

‘Treated like criminals’

The harsh treatment dished out to Australia’s ball-tampering trio left team-mates shell-shocked, Glenn Maxwell has revealed.

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Katarina Frostenson with her husband Jean-Claude Arnault.

Nobel ‘in ruins’ over sex abuse

The body that awards the Nobel prize for literature has been rocked by claims a member’s husband sexually assaulted 18 women and leaked winners’ names.

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GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 09: Australia defender Edwina Bone kisses a baby during Hockey on day five of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast Hockey Centre on April 9, 2018 on the Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

Hockeyroos to shoot for gold

The Hockeyroos are preparing for another shootout as Australia aim for a fourth straight gold medal in women’s hockey.