Stephen Dziedzic

Human rights groups are urging the federal government to ratchet up pressure on Vietnam over the fate of an Australian pro-democracy campaigner who is languishing in jail after disappearing in Cambodia last month.

Nationals leader Matt Canavan's claim that both Nationals and Liberals are against a slated European Union trade deal has angered some Liberals who privately insist the issue has not been settled.

Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta has declared that his country will sign the first agreements for the long-stalled Greater Sunrise gas project

Imprisoned Australian pro-democracy activist Hiep Tran has told his family he never crossed the border into Vietnam, with supporters alleging it is more evidence he was abducted by Vietnamese authorities a month ago.

The federal government has notched a potentially significant strategic win in the Pacific, with Vanuatu saying China's police presence there

Vanuatu's government says it expects China's police presence in the country to reduce over time, as part of the Nakamal Agreement with Australia.

Vanuatu's Internal Affairs Minister Andrew Napuat says he has no plans to cut China's police presence in his country, despite his own government

The federal government has hit two North Korean companies and "shadow bankers" with sanctions for employing fraudulent online workers who help Pyongyang evade UN sanctions and earn cash for its nuclear weapons program.

Timor-Leste has vowed to press ahead with its controversial plan to build a pipeline from the Greater Sunrise gas fields to its south coast after Australian energy giant Woodside Energy walked away from the project.

A top International Criminal Court (ICC) official says Australia and other countries are providing "extraordinary" support to help protect the