BLOOMBERG Australia’s government is confident that plans to acquire a fleet of nuclear submarines under the Aukus agreement won’t derail progress in restoring its relations with China. Trade Minister Don Farrell said talks on reviving frozen ties were progressing well at an official level, and that an invitation for him to visit Beijing still stood. That’s despite the overarching aim …

BLOOMBERG President Vladimir Putin made a surprise trip to occupied Mariupol, the Ukrainian city largely destroyed by a months-long Russian siege, according to a Kremlin statement and video released on state television. The highly classified visit was Putin’s first to one of the four Ukrainian regions that Russia claimed in September to have annexed as part of its invasion launched …

BLOOMBERG North Korea test-fired a suspected short-range ballistic missile, adding to its barrage of launches in the past month that included two rockets designed to deliver a nuclear warhead to the US mainland. The missile was fired towards waters to the east of the Korean peninsula, Yonhap News reported, citing South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. It flew for about …