Australian PM Anthony Albanese signed a strategic agreement with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Friday, which will see the two countries run joint naval patrols in the South China Sea

Australian PM meets Chinese Premier at ASEAN summit, says trade has stabilized. Keen for more progress, he will visit Beijing later this year to mark the 50th anniversary of bilateral ties

Guterres warned of fragmentation "in world economic and financial systems" amid differing views on technology and security; he also urged solutions for poor nations' debt and climate change

Chinese Premier told a summit of Southeast Asian leaders it was important to oppose taking sides, to avoid bloc confrontation or a new Cold War; after talks on the South China Sea made no progress yet again

Opposition MPs are calling for an inquiry into a disputed weapons shipment from China in March last year, amid concerns of increased militarization of the island chain

Impacts felt by currencies such as the Aussie dollar, and across many sectors such as New Zealand dairy products, shares of luxury goods, to miner BHP and the Las Vegas Sands casino firm

Japan’s Nikkei 225 slumped by over 2%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and South Korea’s KOSPI were down 2% and 0.7%, amid fears of more hawkish signals from the Fed later today

Asian markets surge, with Hang Seng climbing 2% and the Nikkei rising by 0.9%, while investors wait for Fed chief's speech at Jackson Hole on Friday

Shanghai blue chips saw another fall, but the Nikkei, Hang Seng and other key regional indexes all saw gains on Wednesday

The deals mania comes as Australia undertakes a critical minerals strategy that envisages major collaborations with investors and global partners to become a renewables superpower

South Korea’s Star Group Industrial and China’s Baotou INST Magnetic will join companies in sectors such as electronics and autos in shifting assembly lines amid backdrop of increasing trade rivalry

A top Pentagon official says Aukus partner Australia would be an ideal site to test US hypersonic and other advanced weapons