Foreign Affairs

The comments come after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy told incoming US President Donald Trump he would be open to talks, but was sceptical Vladimir Putin would want peace.

While the Pacific Policing Initiative has won wide backing from Pacific leaders and police chiefs, it has also generated some cynicism in the region.

The fall of President Bashar al-Assad raises critical questions about the future of Syria and who speaks for its people. Here's what we know about Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its leader, Abu Mohammad al-Golani.

Two Assad-era intelligence officials face war crimes charges from the US but they remain at large, while more than 100 military sites were hit in Israeli air strikes.

Some of the Syrian community in Australia are rejoicing, following the Assad regime being overthrown by rebel forces, said refugee and Sydney business owner Sophie Bejek.

With the Assads potentially headed to a luxe haven for exiles in Moscow, Vladimir Putin is left scrambling to save his two bases in Syria and maintain his foothold in the region.

Siaosi Sovaleni is stepping down as Tonga's prime minister with less than a year until the country's next election.

The head of South Korea's high-ranking official corruption investigation office has ordered a travel ban for President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is under investigation for his declaration of martial law last week.

Australians Scott Rush, Matthew Norman, Si-Yi Chen, Martin Stephens, and Michael Czugaj are serving life sentences in Indonesia for their roles in a drug smuggling plot in 2005. 

Australia and Nauru have signed a landmark new treaty which will see the federal government provide $140 million in budget and security support to the Pacific Island country over the next five years — with a condition no "third party" nation be involved in its security and key infrastructure.

There have been large celebrations after Syrian rebels ousted the country's longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

Whatever the final outcome of the chaos in Syria, the past week has seen an extraordinary upheaval.

The collapse of France's government has thrown New Caledonia into fresh uncertainty as it tries to recover from its worst civil unrest in decades.

It is one thing to take issue with the federal government's position on a resolution to the UN but another to argue it has caused rising anti-Semitic attacks in Australia.

South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik tells parliament that he and other politicians will fight to prevent martial law if President Yoon Suk Yeol declares it again.

The federal government is preparing to unveil a slew of Pacific initiatives designed to bolster its strategic position in the region.  

PNG's entry into the NRL is expected to be announced in Sydney late next week, with Australia injecting $600 million to support the Port Moresby-based team.

South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol opted for the nuclear option when he declared martial law. But it followed months of scandals, low approval ratings and a stand-off with a hostile parliament.

Indonesia says it's prepared to transfer home five Australians serving life sentences over a 2005 plot to import drugs from Bali.

The federal government's decision to back a United Nations resolution urging Israel's withdrawal from Gaza was an attempt to win back votes going to the Greens, the opposition leader claims.