Australia

A health care professional administers the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in Melbourne on Monday as high-risk workers received the first shots in the state of Victoria's rollout of mass vaccination. 
Coronavirus

Australia begins mass COVID-19 vaccination program

Authorities expected to administer more than 60,000 doses by the end of the week

22 February 2021
Japan's Naomi Osaka celebrates winning her final match of the women's Australian Open against Jennifer Brady of the U.S.
Life

Naomi Osaka claims 2nd Australian Open and 4th Grand Slam

Japan's ace solidifies her standing as new tennis queen

20 February 2021
Google reached a deal to host articles printed in The Australian and other News Corp media properties. (AAP)
Media & Entertainment

Google sweetens article fees to defuse Australian news spat

Facebook bans article sharing over legislation that would require it to pay

19 February 2021
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Indo-Pacific

Quad vows to work with ASEAN and Europe in first Biden-era meeting

Foreign ministers commit to free and open Indo-Pacific with eye on China

19 February 2021
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will speak with counterparts from Japan, India and Australia Thursday. (Photo courtesy of the State Department)
Indo-Pacific

Blinken to meet 'Quad' partners Japan, India and Australia on Thursday

Foreign ministers to discuss free and open Indo-Pacific in first meeting in Biden era

18 February 2021
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, pictured in May 2017: politicians are pushing the proposal as a favor to their preferred news organizations, including the Murdoch media empire.
Opinion

Australia's flawed push to make Big Tech pay for news

Proposed law will align traditional media and tech platforms against consumers

12 February 2021
The New South Wales Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority will begin discussing the implications of the inquiry's findings for the future of the Crown Sydney on Feb. 12. (Courtesy Crown Resorts)
Travel & Leisure

Inquiry finds Crown Resorts 'not fit' to run Sydney casino

Observers see repercussions for company properties in Melbourne and Perth

9 February 2021
Cheng Lei, a Chinese-born Australian journalist for CGTN, the international branch of China Central Television, attends a public event in Beijing on Aug. 12. Cheng has been formally arrested in China on suspicion of illegally supplying state secrets overseas, Australia's foreign minister says.
Politics

China officially arrests Australian TV anchor Cheng Lei

Canberra calls for 'basic standards of justice' for anchorwoman

8 February 2021
Security personnel look on during the visit by members of the World Health Organization team tasked with investigating the origins of COVID-19, at the Hubei provincial center for disease control in Wuhan, China on Feb. 1. 
Your Week in Asia

WHO's Wuhan probe, Toyota and Nissan results, Australian Open

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political news

7 February 2021
A helicopter launches during flight operations aboard the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan in the South China Sea.
International relations

Quad group prepares 1st meeting of leaders to keep China in check

US, Japan, Australia and India to discuss cooperation for 'free and open Indo-Pacific'

7 February 2021
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Asia Insight

Europe pivots to Indo-Pacific with 'multipolar' ambitions

ASEAN and other players welcome hedge against US-China rivalry

2 February 2021
The Sydney Opera House and harbor waterfront. Analysts expect that Australia's stock market is poised for a rebound as the global economy recovers and mining exports to China boom.
Market Spotlight

Australia investors eye boost for stocks as economic calm returns

Recovery expected after tepid 2020, but China tension and exchange rate pose risks

1 February 2021
A tennis player looks out the window of a hotel where players are undergoing mandatory quarantine ahead of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Jan. 21.
Life

Australian Open tennis organizers defy pandemic

Rocky road to Melbourne highlights problems facing Tokyo Games

28 January 2021
Pro-Trump protesters enter to the U.S. Congress, at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington on Jan. 6.
Comment

Fears of extreme violence in US haunt world as Biden debuts

America could become epicenter of far-right extremism: experts

22 January 2021
Sumitomo wants to start slowly in Australia, then gradually ramp up electrolyzer production as the market grows. (Source photos by EPA/Jiji and Kyodo) 
Climate Change

Sumitomo enters 'green hydrogen' business in Australia

Japanese trading house to use solar power in tie-up with plant engineer JGC

21 January 2021
A BHP Billiton iron ore mine site at Newman, Western Australia. While other industries were hammered by COVID, Australia's mining companies enjoyed brisk demand from China in 2020.
Commodities

BHP and Rio rise above China-Australia tensions

Iron ore and copper prices hit 8-year highs amid Beijing's infrastructure spree

20 January 2021
Melbourne-based didgeridoo player Mitch Tambo's cover of the hit Australian song "Absolutely Everybody" has appeared on music charts globally, including in the U.K., the U.S., Europe, Indonesia, Thailand and New Zealand. (Photo courtesy of Mitch Tambo)
Arts

Australia's Mitch Tambo marries ancient traditions with modern pop

First Nations artist is a songwriter, dancer and didgeridoo player

20 January 2021
Beachfront property in Hyams Beach: Demand for lifestyle properties has grown with the increased prevalence of remote work since the pandemic.
Property

Australia's suburban home prices soar as city dwellers seek space

Telecommuting in pandemic lets families pick bigger houses near nature

20 January 2021
Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Hu Yaobang, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, in 1985.
Tea Leaves

Anti-China drift imperils Australia's tolerant self-image

Political wrangles threaten to engulf Asia's perfect business couple

13 January 2021
Joe Biden stands with his nominees for his national security team on Nov. 24, 2020: the incoming Biden administration might be surprised to discover that U.S. alliances are in good shape.
Opinion

Biden will inherit healthy Indo-Pacific alliances

New president won't have to work too hard to repair US partnerships

10 January 2021
Gold miners like this one in Victoria are ramping up operations in expectation of renewed interest in the yellow metal as a safe-haven asset.
Commodities

Australian gold miners rush for funding amid rising metal market

Renewed investor appetite pushes even old concerns to restart digging

8 January 2021
Pepper Group has acquired Tokyo-based collection agency MC Group as it seeks to revive local businesses suffering under excessive debt loads. (Photo by Hirofumi Yamamoto)
Companies

KKR-backed Pepper to collect foreign investors' bad debt in Japan

Australian company looks to help struggling businesses amid pandemic

7 January 2021
Huawei Marine has submitted a bid to lay the cable, which would improve telecommunications links to Micronesia and other Pacific island nations. (Photo by Matt Kieffer)
International relations

Chinese bids on Pacific cable raise alarm in US and Australia

Washington fears infrastructure will be used for spying by Beijing

3 January 2021
Thai Airways aircraft lined up at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand on May 21. (Photo by Akira Kodaka) 
Transportation

Asian airlines fly nervously into post-COVID future

Carriers brace for restructuring, but crisis also presents opportunities

31 December 2020
China's aggressive and insulting diplomacy has united public opinion in Australia.
Opinion

We Australians face China's bullying insults with honor

Beijing has shown the world exactly what sort of great power it would be

30 December 2020