
Australia PM Albanese meets Indonesian counterpart to discuss defence cooperation and trade
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has praised the strong and resilient partnership between Australia and Indonesia, emphasising their ability to address differences respectfully. He met with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on May 15 in Jakarta for talks on defence cooperation and global trade, marking the first stop on his overseas trip since his re-election earlier this month. Saifulbahri Ismail reports.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CNA
13 hours ago
- CNA
Stocks on guard for payrolls, Tesla tumbles as Trump-Musk bromance sours
SYDNEY :Asian shares slipped on Friday as investors hunkered down for the all-important U.S. payrolls report, while Tesla suffered huge losses on the very public feud between President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk. A run of soft economic data this week has markets wary of a downside surprise in the monthly payrolls print due later in the day, which would add to fears of stagflation while piling pressure on the Federal Reserve to ease policy in a hurry. Tesla shares bounced 0.8 per cent in after-hours trading after tumbling a whopping 14 per cent overnight to wipe off $150 billion in market value. That came after Trump threatened to cut off government contracts to Elon Musk's companies as the once close relationship turned into a bitter open disagreement. There were signs that tempers may be cooling a bit, with Trump telling Politico that "it's okay" when asked about the relationship and that White House aides had scheduled a call on Friday with Musk to broker a peace. Nasdaq futures rose 0.3 per cent and S&P 500 futures gained 0.4 per cent, while the losses in European stock futures narrowed, with EUROSTOXX 50 futures down just 0.1 per cent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.2 per cent on Friday away from its eight-month peak. It is still set for a weekly rise of 2.1 per cent. Chinese blue chips eased 0.2 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.5 per cent as a call between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping offered little clarity to ease ongoing trade tensions. "I think the fact that they are talking, the fact that there is a willingness to find a way through and the channels of communication are open is a positive," said Luke Yeaman, chief economist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. "But I think it's clear that there are still a lot of tensions in the relationship and that neither side wants to give too much away… There's not a lot of goodwill to work with to fundamentally improve the trade relationship." Most Asian shares are down slightly, but Japan's Nikkei is a rare bright spot in Asia, up 0.4 per cent, helping trim its weekly drop to 0.7 per cent. WAIT FOR PAYROLLS Weaker-than-expected labour market data, including a 47 per cent year-on-year jump in Challenger layoffs and a significant downside surprise in ADP's private payrolls, have dampened expectations for the payrolls report. Forecasts are centred on a rise of 130,000 jobs in May, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 4.2 per cent. Any unexpected weakness could bring the next U.S. rate cut forward and trigger a huge rally in Treasuries. Futures imply scant chances of a rate cut until September, which is about 93 per cent priced in, with another move likely to come in December. Yields on the benchmark ten-year Treasuries were flat at 4.3887 per cent, having risen 3 basis points overnight to bounce away from a one-month low. "We expect payrolls to lose additional momentum in May, printing a below-consensus 110,000," said analysts at TD Securities in a note to clients. "Markets have recently been singularly focused on tariffs and deficits, with macro taking a back seat in recent weeks. Our forecast may not be sufficient to catalyze this revamped focus on macro, but we expect downside surprises to generate a larger market reaction." The dollar was 0.2 per cent higher against its major peers on Friday just a touch above a six-week low as soft economic data dent the U.S. currency. The euro hit a six-week top of $1.1495 overnight after the European Central Bank cut rates but signaled that it was nearing the end of its year-long policy easing cycle. Investors have given up on a move in July, with the final move most likely to come in October or December. In commodities markets, oil prices were slightly lower but were headed for weekly gains on supply concerns. U.S. crude futures slipped 0.4 per cent to $63.12 a barrel but were up 3.8 per cent for the week. In precious metals, gold prices climbed 0.4 per cent to $3,366.78 an ounce. For the week, they are up 2.3 per cent.


CNA
16 hours ago
- CNA
Japan's Moriyasu mourns end of unbeaten run after loss to Australia
Hajime Moriyasu has already led Japan to qualification for next year's World Cup finals but there was no disguising his frustration at his understrength side losing 1-0 to Australia in Perth on Thursday. Aziz Behich's 90th minute strike consigned the Samurai Blue to a first loss to Australia in 16 years and a first defeat in all matches since February last year. "It ended up being an extremely frustrating and disappointing result," Moriyasu told reporters. "Many inexperienced players were in action, but they were enthusiastic in practice, showed their best, and were prepared to fight like Japan as a team." Moriyasu has ambitions to win the World Cup next year, not so foolhardy a goal when it is remembered that he led Japan to victories over Germany and Spain at the last edition in 2022. Keen to expand his squad depth, Moriyasu rested his top players on Thursday and put out a team featuring nine players starting for the first time, three of them debutants. They still dominated the match with their neat possession football for all but the last couple of minutes and would have won had they produced a better end-product in front of goal. "I don't think we were technically and physically second best. Maybe, a lack of experience cost us," Moriyasu said "I wanted to see what (inexperienced) players could do in a high-pressure environment. We have to improve and expand our squad." Japan round out their qualifying campaign against Indonesia in Suita on Tuesday and Moriyasu said his team would be aiming to get back to winning ways. "We wanted to continue our unbeaten run, but it's too late for that now," Moriyasu said. "We'll ready ourselves the best we can to round things off with a win."


CNA
17 hours ago
- CNA
Popovic's Australia perfect the art of qualifying ugly
SYDNEY :Tony Popovic would not deny that his Australia team are tough to watch at times but the former centre half has done what he was brought in to do and taken them to the brink of qualification for the 2026 World Cup. The Socceroos were distinctly second best to an understrength Japan in Perth on Thursday but Aziz Behich's late winner means they only have to avoid a 5-0 loss to Saudi Arabia in Jeddah on Tuesday to punch their ticket. "It was a special, special night," Popovic told reporters. "The outpouring of emotions when we scored, and obviously after the game, yeah, they are moments I'll always remember. "We've all played a part in getting us to this point, and we want to go to Saudi Arabia now and really finish the job off." Saudi Arabia was the site of Popovic's greatest triumph as a club coach in 2014, when his Western Sydney Wanderers team drew 0-0 with powerhouse Al Hilal in Riyadh to become Asian champions in only the second year of the club's existence. It was partly that continental experience that encouraged Football Australia to bring Popovic in as coach last September when Graham Arnold quit with the World Cup qualification in trouble. The football has not always been pretty but the Socceroos are unbeaten since he took over with four wins and three draws, having conceded just five goals and scored 14 in the seven games. Popovic acknowledged there was plenty of room for improvement but said the seconds before Behich's goal proved there was already a strong platform of resilience to build on. "Although football wise, we need to get better, and we will get better, but in that moment, the 90th minute, we had six players in the box, six players trying to score a goal," he said. "We were tough, we kept a clean sheet, and we've done something that many Australian sides have found hard to do." Australia had not beaten Asian powerhouse Japan in 10 games going back to 2009 before Thursday night and Popovic said that achievement should not be underestimated. "I understand why, now that I'm in this role, why it's hard to beat Japan," he said. "They are the best, and we want to challenge them to be the best, so we shouldn't shy away from that, and hopefully today, we take a big step forward knowing we can beat Japan." Despite the emotion of the last-gasp victory, Popovic said there was no danger of any complacency ahead of Tuesday's clash at King Abdullah Sports City. "It's been a really intense period since I've come in but everyone's embraced what we're aiming to do. And we're very close now to achieving our goal," he said. "We need to do a job in Saudi. We're in a great position, but we have to finish it off."