China has responded to Australia’s decision for government officials to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics, with an incendiary blast for the US’s “no.1 lackey”. China’s state-affiliated media organisation reacted quickly to Australia’s announcement on Wednesday morning, publishing a reply to an Australian media article about the snub. “#Comment: No. 1 US lackey”, the official Global Times account said, accompanied by an illustration …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken fired a warning shot at China, saying any move to invade Taiwan would bring “terrible consequences.” Blinken spoke at the Reuters Next conference Friday when he shared his thoughts on China and the possible threat to Taiwan as tensions have continued to ramp up over the past few months. He reiterated the U.S. commitment to defend Taiwan’s right to self-govern, …

Defence Minister Peter Dutton has been awarded $35,000 in a defamation action against refugee advocate Shane Bazzi over a tweet that accused him of being “a rape apologist”. The now-deleted tweet was accompanied by a link to a story published in The Guardian in 2019, containing comments Mr Dutton made about women on Nauru when he was Home Affairs Minister. Mr Bazzi had denied defaming Mr Dutton, …

The leaders of the G20 countries have tasked the United Nations with co-ordinating aid for Afghanistan during a special summit although they were not united on how to deal with the country’s Taliban rulers. Italy holds the rotating G20 presidency this year and Prime Minister Mario Draghi called the summit to address the burgeoning disaster in Afghanistan. He said the …

  Former prime minister Tony Abbott has described China as a “bully” and stressed the importance of “solidarity with Taiwan”, while addressing a regional conference on the island. Mr Abbott made the visit to Taiwan, where he met President Tsai Ing-wen, after a weekend in which China flew dozens of military jets near the island as part of a bid to exert power over …

At least 17 people have been killed in celebratory gunfire in Kabul after Taliban sources said their fighters seized control of Panjshir, the last province in Afghanistan holding out against the Islamist group. Leaders of opposition to the Taliban have denied that the province has fallen. The Shamshad news agency said “aerial shooting” in Kabul on Friday killed 17 people …

The Taliban are due to form a government despite fighting in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley where forces battling the hardline Islamists say they are enduring “heavy” assaults. The Taliban face the enormous challenge of shifting gears from insurgent group to governing power, days after the United States fully withdrew its troops and ended two decades of war. But they are still battling to extinguish …

In their first press conference since seizing control of the Afghan capital, the Taliban have assured women their rights would be respected “within the limits of Islam”. They said women will have a right to education and work, but exactly what life will look like under a new Taliban government is unclear. Many Afghan women are terrified of a return of the repressive laws that were imposed under …

Witnesses say at least three people have been killed in anti-Taliban protests in the city of Jalalabad, in eastern Afghanistan, as the militant group moves to consolidate power across the country Two witnesses and a former police official told Reuters Taliban fighters opened fire when residents tried to raise Afghanistan’s national flag at a square in the city. Three people were …

Who are the Taliban and what do they want? Here’s what you need to know about Afghanistan’s militant extremists The President of Afghanistan has fled and Taliban insurgents have taken the capital Kabul after a lightning offensive. Returning from a 20-year exile from power, the Taliban hardliners are expected to impose harsh restrictions on the lives of Afghans, to the dismay …