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Ciara Morris, second from left, with Peking University classmates on the Great Wall of China in 2019.

I’m no spy, so why does ASIO think my stint in China is a black mark?

This is no joke. If Australia wants to build its Asia capability, it must support citizens with Asian expertise – not label them as un-Australian.

  • Ciara Morris

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Born to be a little wild, but no rebel without a cause: Inside the world of Japan’s first female PM

She plays drums for fun, barely sleeps – and just led her party to a record election win. What challenges does Sanae Takaichi face in Japan’s top job?

  • Angus Holland
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, foreground, arrives for the ASEAN-Australia summit as part of the ASEAN summit, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (Chalinee Thirasupa/Pool Photo via AP)

World leader hosting ASEAN saves his final, careful words for Albanese

Of all the statements and speeches from Anwar Ibrahim over the past three days, it may have been his very last that meant the most to the Australian prime minister.

  • Zach Hope
US President Donald Trump and  Japan’s new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi

‘Anything you want’: Trump’s love-in with Japan’s new leader

A few savvy moves before her meeting with the US president today ensured Sanae Takaichi pulled off the type of diplomatic coup other world leaders could only dream of.

  • Lisa Visentin
US President Donald Trump speaks to the media aboard Air Force One on Monday.

Trump would ‘love’ a third term as president. Here’s how his backers reckon it could happen

The US president has declined to definitively say he would not seek a third term, keeping alive speculation about how he might seek to extend his time in office.

  • Trevor Hunnicutt and Jarrett Renshaw
Anthony Albanese at the East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Monday

Albanese raises jet flare incident with Chinese premier ‘very directly’

The prime minister has also downplayed concerns about the future of the Quad security dialogue aimed at countering China’s influence in the Pacific.

  • Zach Hope and Lisa Visentin
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Peace, trade and self-congratulation: A brief tour of Trump’s brush with ASEAN

You knew Air Force One had disgorged the dancing US president by the clapping and excited hoots from Kuala Lumpur’s vast press centre.

  • Zach Hope
Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta, from left, applauds as Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Timor Leste Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao and ASEAN’S Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn shake hands during the signing ceremony of the Declaration on the Admission of East Timor into ASEAN at the 47th ASEAN summit, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025. (AP

‘When the hangover ends, hard work continues’: Timor-Leste welcomed in from geopolitical wilds

As Donald Trump descended towards Malaysia, tiny Timor-Leste was making its own history.

  • Zach Hope
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and President Donald Trump last met in the Oval Office in early October.

Pope laments dire US-Canada relations as Trump terminates trade talks over TV ad

Relations between the United States and Canada are sinking to new lows as US President Donald Trump abandons trade talks and accuses his northern neighbour of interfering in American democracy with a “fake” television commercial.

  • Michael Koziol
Trump in Egypt on October 13.

The deadly war raging on Australia’s doorstep that Trump won’t touch

Credit where it’s due, the US president has been making things happen in the Middle East. But there is another brutal conflict no one will touch, even as the UN pleads for help.

  • Zach Hope