Breaking News, Business, Financial and Economic News, World News from EconoTimes

Become a contributor

Bookmark Econotimes

Sat, Jun 20, 2026 07:12 AM All times are UTC

Follow Series

©Econometrics LLC . All Rights Reserved.

Tony Walker

Adjunct Professor, School of Communications, La Trobe University

The Australian Financial Review: International Editor (2010-2016), Washington correspondent (2004-2010), Political Editor (2000-2004), Financial Times: Middle East correspondent (1984-1993), Beijing bureau chief (1993-1998), North American correspondent 1998-2000. Publications include Arafat: The Biography (Virgin Books 2004) and The Thomson Five: A golfing legend's greatest triumphs (Melbourne University Press 2016). Graduate Australian National University BA.(1968) Dual Walkley award winner for commentary (2003 and 2007). Paul Lyneham Award Excellence Press Gallery journalism (2003).

Xi cements his power at Chinese Communist Party congress

Oct 24, 2022 17:29 pm UTC| Politics

Xi Jinpings clean sweep in elevating trusted allies to the commanding heights of the Chinese Communist Party is a political outcome that has implications beyond Chinas borders. Xi sits virtually unchallenged, for the...

Women-led protests in Iran gather momentum - but will they be enough to bring about change?

Oct 13, 2022 11:45 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

As protests in Iran drag on into their fourth week over the violent death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman, there are two central questions. The first is whether these protests involving women and girls...

China Crisis Series

Xi Jinping sends message to US on China's rising power in Boao address

Apr 23, 2021 12:11 pm UTC| Insights & Views

Chinese President Xi Jinpings muscular speech to the Boao Forum Asia annual conference was clearly designed to send a signal to the United States that China regarded the change of administration as an opportunity for a...

Global Geopolitics Series

Dan Tehan's daunting new role: restoring trade with China in a hostile political environment

Jan 19, 2021 04:42 am UTC| Politics

The new trade minister, Dan Tehan, has been handed one of the Morrison governments most demanding roles. Despite a lot of chest-thumping in government circles about the need to stand up to Chinese bullying, Tehans task...

Global Geopolitics Series

Israel's proposed annexation of the West Bank could bring a 'diplomatic tsunami'

Jul 02, 2020 15:56 pm UTC| Politics

In a deadly game of Middle East cat and mouse, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is continuing to weigh his options in pushing ahead with plans to extend Israeli sovereignty over territories occupied by Israel in...

Global Geopolitics Series

Beware the 'cauldron of paranoia' as China and the US slide towards a new kind of cold war

May 26, 2020 08:47 am UTC| Insights & Views

In September 2005, before an audience of some of the most powerful business figures in the United States, then US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick unveiled his responsible stakeholder formula for Chinas global...

Netanyahu set to survive another knife-edge Israeli election

Mar 04, 2020 03:46 am UTC| Politics

Benjamin Netanyahu may well have survived to fight another day as Israels prime minister after a third knife-edge election in less than a year. However, it could be days, or even weeks, before a new Israeli government...

1 2 3 4 5

Economy

Canada Imposes 10% Tariff on Canned Vegetable Imports to Protect Domestic Industry

Canada has introduced a temporary 10% tariff on certain canned vegetable imports as part of efforts to protect domestic growers and food processing companies from increasing foreign competition. According to a statement...

Italy’s Economy Outpaces Eurozone Peers as Investment Spending Fuels Growth

Italy has emerged as one of the strongest-performing major economies in the Eurozone, driven largely by robust investment spending and government-backed stimulus programs, according to a recent UBS research report. Since...

Oil Prices Steady as U.S.-Iran Truce Uncertainty and Middle East Tensions Keep Markets on Edge

Global oil prices stabilized on Friday, but Brent crude remained on track for a weekly decline of more than 8% as investors assessed the uncertain future of the U.S.-Iran peace agreement and ongoing geopolitical risks in...

Asian Stocks Surge as Oil Prices Fall and Strong US Dollar Weighs on Markets

Asian stock markets rallied on Friday, with Japan and South Korea reaching record highs as easing tensions in the Middle East and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz pushed oil prices lower, reducing global inflation...

US Stock Futures Slip After Wall Street Rally Fueled by US-Iran Deal and Chipmaker Surge

U.S. stock index futures edged lower on Thursday evening, giving back some gains after a strong Wall Street rally driven by optimism surrounding a new U.S.-Iran agreement and a powerful surge in semiconductor stocks....

Politics

U.S.-Iran Talks Resume in Switzerland as Lebanon Ceasefire Boosts Hopes for Lasting Deal

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi are expected to travel to Switzerland for renewed diplomatic talks, signaling fresh momentum toward a broader U.S.-Iran agreement after a...

Bolivia Nears End to 50-Day Crisis After Government Reaches Deal With Workers

Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz has reached a key agreement with the Bolivian Workers Confederation (COB), marking a significant step toward ending a nationwide crisis that has disrupted the country for nearly 50 days. The...

Marco Rubio to Visit Gulf Nations for Key Middle East Talks

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to travel to the Middle East next week, with planned visits to Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain, according to a report from Axios citing multiple sources...

Trump Inspects Upgraded Qatar-Gifted Boeing 747 as Interim Air Force One Nears Service

President Donald Trump toured an upgraded Boeing 747 at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Friday as the aircraft moves closer to entering service as part of the Air Force One fleet. The luxury jet, originally gifted by...

Trump Says Anthropic No Longer Seen as National Security Threat

U.S. President Donald Trump said he no longer views artificial intelligence company Anthropic as a national security threat, marking a significant shift from his stance just a week earlier. The comments came during an...

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

John Jumper Leaves Google DeepMind for Anthropic Amid Intensifying AI Talent Race

John Jumper, the Google DeepMind researcher who shared the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his groundbreaking work on the AlphaFold artificial intelligence system, has announced that he is leaving Google DeepMind to join...

Meta Seeks Legal Shield From Child-Harm Lawsuits Amid KOSA Talks

Meta Platforms is reportedly lobbying U.S. lawmakers to include legal protections for social media companies in the proposed Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a move that could significantly impact thousands of lawsuits...

SpaceX Stock Slides After IPO Rally as Valuation Concerns Grow

SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) shares extended their pullback on Thursday after a remarkable post-IPO rally, as investors locked in profits and questioned the companys lofty valuation. The stock, which dropped nearly 10% earlier in...

US Raises Concerns Over Possible ASML EUV Machine Transfer to China

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has reportedly raised concerns with Dutch semiconductor equipment giant ASML regarding the possible transfer of one of its advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines to...

Google Gemini Co-Lead Noam Shazeer Leaves for OpenAI Amid AI Talent Race

Noam Shazeer, a vice president of engineering at Google and one of the leaders behind the companys Gemini artificial intelligence models, has announced that he is leaving Google to join OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. The...