Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has told his government colleagues that reducing student debt will be the first legislative priority for his administration that was returned to power in the nation’s first election in which the Baby Boomer generation was outnumbered by younger voters.

Australia plans to spend a larger share of its foreign aid on its near neighbors in Asia and the Pacific islands after the United States announced major cuts to development and humanitarian aid abroad.

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles says airliners were over the Tasman Sea crossing between Australia and New Zealand when the Chinese navy warned they were flying over a secret live-fire exercise.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has met with his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan as the Trump administration kicks off its formal foreign policy engagements in discussions with the Indo-Pacific “Quad.”.

U.S. officials say the Trump administration would begin formal international engagements this week when Marco Rubio — expected to be confirmed soon as secretary of state — meets with the foreign ministers of India, Japan and Australia.

The Australian Senate is debating a ban on children younger than 16 from social media after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly supported the age restriction.

Forty-five prominent activists in Hong Kong have been sentenced to up to 10 years in jail, sparking criticism from foreign governments and rights groups.

Australia’s foreign minister says she raised allegations with her Indian counterpart that India has targeted Sikh activists in Canada.

Several Pacific island nations singled out Australia to do more to phase out fossil fuel exports during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting which opened in Samoa on Thursday.

Lebanon's Health Ministry says an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in central Beirut has killed nine people.

An Australian investigation has found the Israeli military’s attack on an aid convoy in Gaza that killed seven people resulted from serious failures of defense procedures, mistaken identification, and bad decisions.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the United States has ‘serious concerns’ about the announced result of Venezuela's hotly contested presidential election that authorities say was won by incumbent Nicolas Maduro.

Top diplomats from Japan, the U.S., Australia and India have compiled measures to reinforce maritime safety and cybersecurity and to support other Asia-Pacific countries in improving their defenses.

Relatives of passengers and crew killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine have gathered to mark the 10th anniversary of the tragedy that claimed 298 lives, over half of whom were Dutch.

Australia will provide a further $1.3 million to support reconstruction efforts in Papua New Guinea after last month's deadly landslide.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s visit to Australia has focused on positive aspects of the bilateral relationship including shared giant pandas and a rebounding wine trade after he urged both countries to shelve their differences.

Australia and New Zealand have sent airplanes to New Caledonia to begin bringing home stranded citizens from the violence-wracked French South Pacific territory.

Three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Israel has not informed the U.S. of any specific date for the start of a major offensive into the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Australia is set to provide $3 billion to British industry to support the construction of nuclear-powered submarines and ensure its new fleet arrives on time.

A China-born Australian democracy blogger will not appeal his suspended death sentence imposed by a Beijing court, with his family saying a legal challenge would be detrimental to his welfare.

A Chinese court has given a suspended death sentence to a China-born Australian democracy blogger.

A Russian national has been sanctioned by the U.S., U.K. and Australian governments for his role in a cyber attack that compromised the personal details of more than 10 million Australians.

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles says his government will send 11 military personnel to support a U.S.-led mission to protect cargo shipping in the Red Sea but won't send a warship or plane.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong is crediting improved relations with China for the return home this week of an Australian journalist whose three-year detention in China had strained ties.

Togo’s foreign minister wasn’t having any of it.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has pushed back against Australian demands for an end to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s prosecution, saying the Australian citizen was accused of “very serious criminal conduct” in publishing a trove of classified documents more than a decade ago.

The United States says it will expand its military industrial base by helping Australia manufacture guided missiles and rockets for both countries within two years.

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says political instability in Niger resulting from a military takeover that deposed the country's president this week threatens Washington's economic support to the African nation.

An 88-year-old Australian doctor held captive by Islamic extremists in West Africa for more than seven years has been freed.

A press freedom group says China was the biggest global jailer of journalists last year with more than 100 behind bars as President Xi Jinping’s government tightened control over society.

Australia has suspended a complaint to the World Trade Organization in a bid to reopen the Chinese market to Australian barley for the first time in three years.

Australia has signed a new security deal with Oceania island country Vanuatu as part of an ongoing competition with China for influence in the Pacific.

Congress’ move to eliminate the Pentagon mandate that all U.S. service members get the COVID-19 vaccine delivers a victory for lawmakers and troops who oppose getting the shot.

Australia has reversed a previous government’s recognition of west Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

People affected by the 2002 Bali bombings gathered on the Indonesian resort island to commemorate 20 years since the twin bombing that killed 202 people.

Australia’s federal and state governments have called for Optus to pay for replacing passports and driver’s licenses after 9.8 million of the telecommunications company’s customers had personal data stolen by computer hackers.

Australia says its navy ships have been given clearance to resume visits to the Solomon Islands, which had last week announced a temporary block on all military vessels during a review of its approval processes.

While inflation and recession fears weigh heavily on the minds of voters, another issue is popping up in political campaigns from the U_K_ and Australia to the U_S_ and beyond: the “China threat.”.

China says it is extending threatening military exercises surrounding Taiwan that have disrupted shipping and air traffic and substantially raised concerns about the potential for conflict.

International outrage over Myanmar’s execution of four political prisoners is intensifying with grassroots protests and strong condemnation from world governments.

Australia and New Zealand’s prime ministers have agreed that security concerns regarding China’s expanding influence must be discussed at a meeting of western Pacific leaders.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected calls for him to publicly demand the United States drop its prosecution of WikiLeaks founder and Australian citizen Julian Assange.

Australia’s new foreign minister has visited the Solomon Islands to assure the South Pacific island nation it does not need a security pact with China.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is looking to move beyond regional issues.

The foreign ministers of Australia and China were both making their final stops Friday on what has become an island-hopping diplomatic duel in the South Pacific.

Australia and China are continuing their tit-for-tat diplomatic rivalry in the Pacific as the foreign ministers from each country pay separate visits to island nations.

A record 13 women, including the first female Muslim, have been sworn in as ministers in Australia’s new government.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Tonga on Tuesday as he continued his regional island-hopping tour a day after failing to ink an ambitious deal with 10 South Pacific nations.

When China signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands in April it raised concerns from the U.S. and its allies that Beijing may be seeking a military outpost in the South Pacific, an area of traditional American naval dominance.

China’s foreign minister is visiting the remote Pacific nation of Kiribati, where the future of a vast fishing ground is at stake.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and a 20-strong delegation have arrived in the Solomon Islands at the start of an eight-nation tour that comes amid growing concerns about Beijing’s military and financial ambitions in the South Pacific region.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting South Pacific nations amid concerns over Beijing's growing military and diplomatic presence in the region.

Australia’s new government has urged China to lift trade sanctions if it wants to reset a bilateral relationship that plumbed new depths under the previous administration.

New Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese walked into a global spotlight the day after his swearing-in.

Australia’s new prime minister was sworn into office before flying to Tokyo for a summit with President Joe Biden.

Australians awoke to a new prime minister in Anthony Albanese, the center-left Labor Party leader whose ascension to the nation’s top job from being raised in social housing by a single mother on a disability pension was said to reflect the country's changed fabric.

Australia’s Prime Minister-elect Anthony Albanese is a politician molded by his humble start to life as the only child of a single mother who raised him on a pension in gritty inner-Sydney suburbia.

Australia’s opposition party has promised to establish a Pacific defense school to train neighboring armies in response to China’s potential military presence on the Solomon Islands.

Australia and the United States are stepping up diplomatic outreach to the Solomon Islands after China signed a security deal with the South Pacific island nation that could lead to Beijing establishing a military presence there.

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media in Sydney, Monday, March 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday stood by an unidentified Cabinet minister against calls for him to step down over an allegation he raped a 16-year-old girl more than 30 years ago. The allegation was contained in an anonymous letter sent to the prime minister’s office and to three female lawmakers last week. The letter contained a statement from a complainant that detailed her allegation of a rape she said occurred in New South Wales state in 1988. Hammond and opposition Labor Party Sen. Penny Wong also received anonymous letters about the 1988 rape allegation.