The Australian government has decided against canceling a Chinese company’s 99-year lease on strategically important Darwin Port despite U.S. concerns that foreign control could be used to spy on its military.

Australia’s former Prime Minister Scott Morrison has listed his achievements in government including standing up to a “bullying" China as he unsuccessfully argued against being censured by the Parliament for secretly amassing multiple ministerial powers.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he raised with Chinese President Xi Jinping concerns about trade “blockages” but did not walk away from their first face-to-face talks with any promises that the $13 billion barriers to Australian exports would be lifted.

Across the globe, the death of Queen Elizabeth II has prompted reflections on the historic sweep of her reign and how she succeeded in presiding over the end of Britain’s colonial empire and embracing the independence of her former dominions.

Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela offered condolences to the United Kingdom on Friday following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning British monarch.

The leader of a failed campaign to have an Australian president replace the British monarch as Australia’s head of state and who later became prime minister came close to tears while paying tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Leaders around the world are condemning the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe while recalling him as a man devoted to peace, security and international cooperation.

Scott Morrison says his conservative government had left Australia in a robust condition even as voters punished him for his handling of issues including climate change and the pandemic that gave the center-left opposition its biggest victory for almost a decade.

In at least one sense, Scott Morrison is the most successful Australian prime minister in years.

Australian political leaders have apologized to staffers who have endured decades of bullying, harassment and sexual assault inside Parliamentary House and other government offices.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has lost control of his Chinese-owned social media platform WeChat account and a lawmaker has accused China’s leaders of political interference.

Australia's former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has tested positive for COVID-19, as case numbers hit new highs across the country and health officials warned that the real number of cases is likely much higher than testing shows.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has attacked the credibility of French President Emmanuel Macron as a newspaper quoted a text message that suggested France anticipated “bad news” about a now-scuttled submarine deal.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has rejected Chinese criticism of Australia’s new nuclear submarine alliance with the United States and says he doesn’t mind that President Joe Biden might have forgotten his name.

More than three months after winning an election which sparked a constitutional crisis, Samoa’s first female prime minister was finally able to take office on Tuesday.

Soldiers and police in the Pacific nation of Fiji have surrounded and locked down a major hospital.

Australia's prime minister is resisting mounting pressure to lift a temporary ban on flights from India, saying any early resumption of arrivals from that pandemic hot spot would erode Australia’s quarantine capability.

It was expected the interview would expose more rifts in the royal family. Buckingham Palace said Tuesday the allegations of racism by Harry and Meghan were “concerning” and would be addressed privately by the royal family. It was encapsulated by one Twitter user in South Africa who wrote: “It’s Britain and the royal family. “I wish all the members of the royal family all the best, but my focus is getting through this pandemic. Lawyer Sunaina Phul said the Commonwealth “is relevant to the royal family, of course, because it shows that they ruled so many places.

“I wish all the members of the royal family all the best, but my focus is getting through this pandemic. After Oprah Winfrey’s explosive interview with Prince Harry and Meghan, some people said the racism that the couple alleged was was something they expected. Markle also said he has “great respect” for Britain’s royal family and he didn’t think they were racist. “When Meghan joined the royal family, every person of color in the U.K. was worried,” she said. Ad___LOS ANGELES — Prince Harry says he was “trapped” in the royal family before Meghan helped free him.

This image provided by Harpo Productions shows Prince Harry, left, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, speaking about expecting their second child during an interview with Oprah Winfrey. "Oprah with Meghan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special" airs March 7 as a two-hour exclusive primetime special on the CBS Television Network. Winfrey later said Harry told her the comment didn’t come from Queen Elizabeth II or Prince Philip, his grandparents. AdThe situation became so difficult that at one point, “I just didn’t want to be alive anymore,” Meghan told Winfrey. But Harry said the royal family was completely unable to offer that support to its own members.

FILE - In this Feb. 2, 2021 file photo, President Joe Biden speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Twelve times since he took office, President Joe Biden has dialed up a world leader after reinstituting what was a long-held White House standard mothballed by Donald Trump: vigorous preparation. Twelve times since he took office, President Joe Biden has dialed up a world leader after reinstituting what was a long-held White House standard mothballed by Donald Trump: vigorous preparation. Biden made clear his desire to return to diplomacy after Trump withdrew from the Obama-backed international nuclear deal with Iran. White House press secretary Jen Psaki underscored that the Biden administration is recalibrating the relationship with the Saudis.

As Americans celebrate or fume over the new president-elect, many in Asia are waking up to the reality of a Joe Biden administration with decidedly mixed feelings. (AP Photo/Lintao Zhang, Pool, File)TOKYO – As Asia comes to terms with the reality of a Joe Biden administration, relief and hopes of economic and environmental revival jostle with needling anxiety and fears of inattention. Now, as Biden looks to settle tumultuous domestic issues, there’s widespread worry that Asia will end up as an afterthought. A Biden White House won’t “risk antagonizing a country that is widely viewed in Washington as America’s best strategic bet in South Asia,” he said. ___Foster Klug, the AP's news director for the Koreas, Japan, Australia and the South Pacific, has covered Asia since 2005.

Huawei will end its financial backing of the Raiders at the end of the current National Rugby League season. Last year, Huawei renewed its sponsorship deal for two years until the end of the 2021 season. The sponsorship was seen as an attempt to improve Huaweis public image in the eyes of lawmakers and senior bureaucrats who barrack for the Canberra team. Raiders board member Dennis Richardson, a former head of the Defense Department and of the main domestic spy agency, Australian Security Intelligence Organization, had been a vocal supporter of Huaweis sponsorship deal. Neither Huawei nor the team has ever made public the value of the sponsorship.