World
Asia
Chinese space rocket’s accidental take-off results in fiery conclusion
Falling rocket debris in China after launches is not unheard of, but it is very rare for part of a rocket under development to make an unplanned flight.
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Abducted in Japan
‘Heartbreaking’: Penny Wong condemns abduction of Australian children in Japan
Parents warn Tokyo’s two-year delay in implementing new laws could trigger a “dash to the finish line” to abduct more children.
- by Eryk Bagshaw and Natalie Clancy
Mission improbable: My race to Saipan for a date with history
I was woken by a phone message from my editor: could I get to a remote Pacific archipelago within 24 hours in time for Julian Assange’s plea hearing?
- by Lisa Visentin
Analysis
Assange saga
The dark footnote in the history of tiny island where Assange was freed
After 14 years, the many twists and turns of Julian Assange’s legal woes were finally decided on Saipan – a little-known Pacific island.
- by Lisa Visentin
Chinese dissident recalls secretive jet-ski escape across the Yellow Sea
Kwon Pyong escaped China on a jet-ski last summer. He strapped five fuel barrels to his craft, and brought five water bottles and five sandwiches for the dash across the sea.
- by John Yoon
‘Bad spiral’: Feeling the heat in Ukraine, Putin turns up the temperature elsewhere on the West
Some analysts worry that Western desensitisation to Putin’s warnings, particularly about using nuclear weapons, has created a precarious situation.
- by Paul Sonne
Analysis
China relations
Pandas can’t paper over Australia’s differences with China
Premier Li Qiang’s visit was the culmination of hard work by the government to recalibrate the relationship with China. But it also exposed differences that cannot be papered over with diplomatic niceties.
- by Lisa Visentin
Putin and Kim getting behind the wheel of new ‘alliance’
The Russian president’s first visit to North Korea in 24 years is being watched closely by Seoul and Washington.
- by Kim Tong-Hyung
China renames hundreds of villages in Xinjiang to scrub away Uyghur identity: Human Rights Watch
Villages once known by religious, historical or cultural terms of the Muslim minority group now carry names like “Red flag” or “Unity”.
- by Lisa Visentin
Opinion
China relations
Beijing is not on our side. Let’s not fall for a pair of therapy pandas
Premier Li Qiang’s visit confirmed the mask is back on and the tactics have changed, but China’s strategy has not.
- by Peter Hartcher
Trump-era Pentagon ran secret anti-vax social media campaign aimed at the Philippines
Hundreds of US-backed social media posts decried the quality of face masks, test kits and China’s Sinovac inoculation, the first vaccine that would become available in the Philippines.
- by Christopher Bing and Joel Schectman