Oceania

Australia is set to open up for more international travel, but its home quarantine trials have raised some eyebrows.
Coronavirus

Australia border relief brings unease over 'Orwellian' quarantines

Critics question need for facial recognition during home isolation

4 October 2021
Sunbakers gather on Coogee Beach in Sydney on Sept. 12: those less fortunate looked on through gritted teeth.
Opinion

COVID lays bare Australia's dyed-in-the-wool complacency

Has the 'lucky country' finally run out of luck?

2 October 2021
French President Emmanuel Macron, second from left, and then-Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, center, on a Royal Australian Navy submarine in May 2018. (AAP image/Mick Tsikas)
International relations

EU pushes back Australia trade talks over France submarine snub

AUKUS deal puts goal of FTA by year-end further from reach

2 October 2021
Singtel is looking to expand its data center business in Southeast Asia as the pandemic boosts demand for data-related services.
Telecommunication

Singtel sells Australia cellphone towers to fund 5G expansion

Singapore telco to net $1.37bn from sale as it plans regional data center push

1 October 2021
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says "it's time to give Australians their lives back" and let them travel again.
Coronavirus

Australia to ease international border restrictions from November

First phase to free up outbound travel, linked to home quarantines on return

1 October 2021
Joe Biden, joined virtually by Scott Morrison, left, listens as Boris Johnson speaks on Sept. 15: Washington is doing something new and unexpected.
Opinion

AUKUS shows beginnings of U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy

Success will depend on economic, as well as military statecraft

1 October 2021
People wait in line outside a COVID-19 vaccination center at Sydney Olympic Park. Vaccines from the U.K. that had been at risk of expiring have been put to use in Australia.
COVID vaccines

From Australia to Thailand, vaccine swap deals help ease shortages

Nearly expired doses shipped to nations with slow rollouts

1 October 2021
Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison, left, met with U.S. President Joe Biden in New York on Sept. 21. The two countries have reinforced their strategic relationship with a nuclear submarine agreement.
Comment

Australia 'crosses the Rubicon' with nuclear submarine accord

AUKUS deal reverberates among Asian nations coping with China-US row

30 September 2021
A liquefied hydrogen carrier transporting its first cargo from Australia extracted from brown coal is docked at Kobe Works yard in Kobe, western Japan, on Jan. 13: not all hydrogen is the same. (Photo by Naoki Hori)
Opinion

Our climate emergency requires huge amounts of green hydrogen

Energy source provides unmatched potential to cut global emissions

29 September 2021
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during the Quad summit in the East Room of the White House on Sept. 24. Seated clockwise from left, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
Indo-Pacific

Quad expands cooperation to space at first in-person summit

Leaders agree to boost vaccine distribution, expand 5G and meet annually

25 September 2021
Scott Morrison looks at a model of submarine after signing a Strategic Partnership Agreement with France in Canberra in February 2019: France's submarines were no longer fit for the purpose of defending Australia.
Opinion

Australia owes France nothing

Canceled submarines were no longer fit for purpose

25 September 2021
Joe Biden, center, is joined virtually by Scott Morrison, left, and Boris Johnson during his remarks about a national security initiative on Sept. 15: AUKUS should prompt a moment of sober reflection.
Opinion

Quad must wrestle with post-AUKUS Asian dilemmas

Trilateral security pact reveals Washington's new ambition

24 September 2021
SoftBank Robotics and Keenon Robotics are keen to roll out their service bots to the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. (Photo by Mayuko Tani)
Technology

SoftBank-powered robots to help Grab with meal deliveries

Singapore and Japan to use the droids jointly developed by China's Keenon

21 September 2021
A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine: A pact that will hand Australia the technology for such vessels has raised concerns in Southeast Asia.
Indo-Pacific

Australia seeks to calm ASEAN nerves over AUKUS, nuclear weapons

Ambassador vows pact won't affect bloc's 'centrality' in regional architecture

21 September 2021
Airwallex, which offers a global fintech payment platform, has over 1,000 employees in 20 offices around the world.
DealStreetAsia

Fintech unicorn Airwallex hits $4bn valuation after raising $200m

Hong Kong-based company wants to expand its global operations

21 September 2021
Pictured at the Elysee Palace in June, Australian Prime Minister Scott made no mention to French President Emmanuel Macron of Canberra's pursuit of a nuclear submarine deal with the U.K. and the U.S.
Opinion

Why France is apoplectic with rage at Australia's submarine betrayal

Act of duplicity shatters Paris' Anglo-American partnership in Asia

21 September 2021
The International Space Station's Kibo science module can be booked for satellite releases through SpaceBD, a Tokyo-based rocket ride share service.
20 September 2021
Joe Biden will give his first U.N. General Assembly speech as U.S. president on September 21, followed by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines via video.
Your Week in Asia

Quad summit, Evergrande bond deadline and UNGA opening

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

19 September 2021
A draft of a joint statement obtained by Nikkei shows how Quad leaders intend to take a stand against China's use of science and technology to maintain authoritarian regimes around the world.
Indo-Pacific

Quad leaders to call for securing chip supply chain

Japan, India, Australia and U.S. leaders to link advanced tech with human rights

19 September 2021
Scott Morrison, center, appears on stage with video links to Boris Johnson, left, and Joe Biden at Parliament House in Canberra on Sept. 16: AUKUS is intended to be a counterweight to China's burgeoning military expansion.
Opinion

AUKUS fallout misses the silent spearhead lurking beneath

Beijing will move quickly to exploit fissures in the U.S. alliance network

17 September 2021
Representatives of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership member countries take part in a news conference in Santiago, Chile, in 2019.
Trade

China officially applies to join CPTPP trade pact

Bid comes day after U.S., U.K. and Australia announce new defense partnership

16 September 2021
China says the U.S. and U.K. decision to export nuclear-powered submarine technology to Australia proves that they are using nuclear exports for geopolitical gains.
Indo-Pacific

China slams U.S.-led plan to give nuclear submarines to Australia

Beijing calls on Washington, London, Canberra to drop 'zero-sum game mentality'

16 September 2021
U.S. President Joe Biden, in the East Room of the White House, is joined virtually by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to introduce a security partnership on Sept. 15.
Indo-Pacific

U.S.-led alliance to give Australia nuclear submarines to counter China

New AUKUS joins Canberra to U.S., U.K. 'for generations' in Indo-Pacific

16 September 2021
Mining industry haul trucks, some of which can carry over 200 tons, currently run largely on diesel. (Photo courtesy of Fortescue)
Climate Change

Australia's big miners race to deploy emissions-free trucks

Fortescue, BHP and Rio Tinto shift focus from automation to decarbonization

15 September 2021
President Joe Biden speaks during a visit to the U.S. state of Idaho on Sept. 13. He will host the leaders of Japan, India and Australia at the White House on Sept. 24.
Indo-Pacific

White House says Quad summit to take place Sept. 24

China, pandemic and climate change on agenda for first in-person meeting

14 September 2021