World
What to know before Friday’s blockbuster Biden v Trump debate
It’s been four years since the pair last shared a debate stage, and polls suggest they are virtually tied as they edge towards an election rematch in November.
- by Farrah Tomazin
Opinion & Perspectives
I’m relieved for Julian Assange. I’m also deeply concerned
My own prison ordeal gave me a taste of what Assange may be feeling. He’s out – but the chilling effect on press freedom remains.
Peter Greste
Author, journalist and academic
What most Israelis hope will happen to Netanyahu when the war is over
More would vote for a man who’s not even in parliament if an election were held today, according to a poll published on Friday.
Peter Hartcher
Political and international editor
Can a national hero like Kylian Mbappe stop the rise of the far-right in France?
Before President Emmanuel Macron’s stunning decision to dissolve parliament and call a snap poll, France’s reckoning with the hard right was scheduled for 2027.
Rob Harris
Europe correspondent
North America
Exclusive
Assange saga
‘We’re overjoyed’: Assange’s family counts down to his return after plea deal with US
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is set to arrive in Australia as early as Wednesday night, bringing a sudden end to his long-running legal saga and delighting his relatives and supporters.
- by Matthew Knott
Opinion
Julian Assange
I’m relieved for Julian Assange. I’m also deeply concerned
My own prison ordeal gave me a taste of what Assange may be feeling. He’s out – but the chilling effect on press freedom remains.
- by Peter Greste
Europe
Crimean beachgoers struck by deadly shrapnel shower from missile
- by Guy Faulconbridge and Filipp Lebedev
Asia
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
- by Lisa Visentin
Also in World
Opinion
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
What most Israelis hope will happen to Netanyahu when the war is over
More would vote for a man who’s not even in parliament if an election were held today, according to a poll published on Friday.
- by Peter Hartcher
Heat deaths in Mecca shine light on underworld pilgrim industry
- by Emad Mekay and Vivian Nereim