Billboards with the slogans “Death to America — Death to Israel” have appeared in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad in recent days. There are at least five of the large signs in central Baghdad, some less than a mile from the U.S. Embassy, the Iraqi presidential palace and the national government’s headquarters. The signs appear to be part of a ...

Popular Mobilization Forces intercepted a drone in Iraq’s Diyala Province using anti-aircraft missiles, Al Manar reportedA prominent Iran-backed militia in Iraq said Wednesday it intercepted a surveillance drone east of Baghdad. According to a statement by the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), the drone had been collecting intelligence to prepare for an attack against military targets in the area.Arab media, including ...

Lebanese Tourism Minister Avedis Guidanian said on Wednesday that Lebanon is taking efforts to promote the Chinese-Lebanese tourism ties to a new height. “One of the best implemented achievements to date which will attract more Chinese tourists to Lebanon is their exemption from long procedures to receive a visa and from paying fees to enter our country. All they need ...

Scott Morrison pressed on whether Liberal MP is a ‘fit and proper’ person to be sitting in federal parliament Labor has targeted Scott Morrison over the credentials of Chinese-born MPGladys Liu, asking what steps he had taken to ensure she was a “fit and proper” person to sit in parliament. In question time on Wednesday, the shadow attorney general, Mark ...

Exclusive: PM has signalled Australia isn’t making any new emissions reduction targets, at least at this point Scott Morrison will not attend the UN climate action summit despite him being in America to visit the Trump administration at the time – deploying the foreign minister, Marise Payne, and the Australian ambassador for the environment, Patrick Suckling, instead. Guardian Australia understands ...

Something strange is happening in the air above Antarctica that hasn’t happened since 1992 — and it has dire consequences for Australia. The Arctic is on fire. Now, Antarctica is suddenly experiencing a heatwave. And that means a looming rainfall apocalypse for Australia. According to a recent report by senior researchers from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, we’re in for ...

A former colleague of mine at the OECD (a Paris-based public policy research organization financed by member country governments) smiled at me over a five-o’clock beer with a cutting remark that reports of economic analysis were “a dime a dozen.” I felt like wiping the floor with him, but gulping down my drink, I thought again how low a once ...

Australia should diversify its network of defence allies as the military might of America weakens, report warns America’s military authority is waning and it is ill-prepared to go to war withChina in the Indo-Pacific region, a new report from the United States Studies Centre has warned, arguing Australia must move towards a shared reliance on a network of allies, in ...

Scott Morrison to map out overhaul of public service while Josh Frydenberg will promise banking changes before end of year The Morrison government will define its plans to reform the public sector by focusing on service delivery to middle Australians and set out a timetable for banking and financial sector reforms in two major speeches on Monday. Scott Morrison, speaking ...

The Coalition is being warned that a renewed push to tighten the character test for visa holders could see a fivefold increase in the number of people facing deportation, with residents from New Zealand and humanitarian refugees disproportionately affected. The Morrison government has reintroduced a bill to change the Migration Actto provide grounds for visa cancellation or refusal where a non-citizen has been ...