Just as the US capital was about to be convulsed by the departure of yet another senior figure in the Trump administration, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop took a phone call. It was from a figure described as “someone in the US Government close to the White House”. The informant wanted Australia to know what Secretary of State Rex Tillerson …

China has approved the removal of term limits for its leader, in a move that effectively allows Xi Jinping to remain as president for life. The constitutional changes were passed by China’s annual sitting of the National People’s Congress on Sunday. The vote was widely regarded as a rubber-stamping exercise. Two delegates voted against the change and three abstained, out …

US President Donald Trump says his planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could fizzle — or it could result in “the greatest deal for the world” to ease nuclear tensions in the region. Mr Trump told a campaign rally for a Republican congressional candidate in western Pennsylvania that he believed North Korea wanted to make peace, saying “I …

For years the cards seemed stacked against Australian women footballers. Men stopped them from playing, insults were hurled as they trained, their boots were vandalised, and they couldn’t afford gear that fit. In the lead up to the 2000 Olympics, keen to lift their profile, they even agreed to pose for a nude calendar. The obstacles might have defeated others, …

A gunman and three female hostages have been found dead after a stand-off at a veterans home in California. The gunman was a former United States serviceman who had undergone treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder at the facility, and was asked to leave the Pathway Home program two weeks ago. On Friday morning (local time) Albert Wong, 36, calmly walked …

NSW Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton was warned by her own department that an easing of land-clearing codes could trigger a 45 per cent jump in the rate of native vegetation destruction on farms. Advice by the Office of Environment & Heritage (OEH) dated August 25, 2017 – just as the minister was signing off on an overhaul of the state’s …

“We’re not going to give you a lecture [on gun control] from the other side of the world,” says Joe Hockey, Australian ambassador to the U.S. Australia has strict gun laws, enacted after a 1996 mass shooting that killed 35 people. Hockey says it’s a “tough issue” and pointed to the U.S.’ constitutional right to bear arms. The United States …