Julie Bishop has hit back at former Australian ambassador to China Geoff Raby, who penned a damning opinion piece overnight claiming that relations with Beijing can only improve with the Foreign Minister’s sacking. In the piece, Mr Raby slams Ms Bishop for not having visited China in more than two years while angering Beijing with “strident public comments on the …

Palestinians have rallied in Gaza for the funerals of scores of people killed by Israeli troops, while on the Gaza-Israel border Israeli forces took up positions to deal with the expected final day of a Palestinian protest campaign. The violence on the border, which took place as the United States opened its new embassy in Jerusalem, was the bloodiest for …

The family that carried out three church bombings in Indonesia’s second-biggest city on Sunday were just “ordinary” people, according to their neighbours. Six people from the one family, including an eight-year-old girl, blew themselves up in coordinated suicide attacks, which left 14 dead and dozens more injured. Their father, 46-year-old Dita Oepriarto, dropped his wife, 42-year-old Puji Kuswati, and two …

US President Donald Trump has defended reimbursing US$130,000 to his lawyer for a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, arguing that it’s “common among celebrities and people of wealth”. In a series of three tweets posted on Thursday, US time, Trump said no campaign money was used when reimbursing Michael Cohen. “Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from …

WestConnex contractors have demanded another $700 million to finish the second stage of the controversial project, leaked letters show. The NSW opposition released the confidential letters on Thursday to reveal the new M5 could also be one year behind schedule. The letters, seen by The New Daily, reveal CPB Dragados Samsung Joint Venture demanded an extra $625 million in “contractor delay …

Malcolm Turnbull has savaged Labor’s pledge to end live sheep exports, declaring it a reckless and emotional decision with no scientific basis. The prime minister said the policy was a repeat of the Gillard government’s 2011 suspension on live exports which caused diplomatic tensions with Indonesia and economic damage to farmers. “We are not going to be making emotional and …

Victoria’s gambling regulator has been criticised for failing to hand down a harsher punishment to Crown after it was found to have tampered with poker machines to boost profits at its Melbourne casino. Crown was fined $300,000 by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) for disabling certain buttons on 17 of its 2628 poker machines so punters …

Russia ran an information warfare campaign to disrupt the 2016 election, but there is no evidence that President Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Moscow, Republicans on a congressional panel say in a newly-released report. The findings of majority Republicans on the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee were immediately challenged by minority Democrats following a year of rancorous disputes on …

Julie Bishop and Malcolm Turnbull praise Donald Trump for Korea talks The Turnbull Government is offering “credit” to US president Donald Trump for his hand in Friday’s historic meeting between the leaders of North and South Korea. North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in shook hands in a pact for “complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula” at …

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is angry over royal commission revelations and wants bankers and financial advisers to be forced to give plain language advice to their customers and have their conversations recorded. “Banks and financial advisers have a solemn duty to put the interests of their clients and customers first,” Turnbull said in Sydney on Saturday. Over the past two …