Kirsty Needham is China Correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
On Thursday afternoon in New Delhi, four admirals sat on stage together at a top security conference. Routine as that sounds, it prompted Australian defence scholar Rory Medcalf to live tweet from the audience that he was watching "history being made".
Malcolm Turnbull has softened his rhetoric on China, Australia's largest trading partner, as Australia seeks closer defence ties with its strategic rival Japan.
The Chinese businessman's payment of a bill for Labor Senator Sam Dastyari attracted media attention.
China's suspension of exports from Australian beef processors will be raised in meetings in Beijing.
State newspaper singles out deployment of 1250 marines to claim America is preparing for nuclear war.
Defence experts said Pyongyang could have the ability to strike Australia with an inter-continental ballistic missile within three years.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has delivered a blistering rebuke to the North Korean regime.
North Korea's foreign ministry has lashed out at Julie Bishop and warned Australia was "coming within the range of the nuclear strike".
Decision signals clear fears even among close US allies about the superpower's commitment to Asia.
Tony Abbott is claiming victory on his Liberal Party reform push despite his defeat on the floor of the NSW state conference, and denies he and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull are at loggerheads over the issue.
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