- Taiwan questions two in probe into Hezbollah pagers
- Viral Korean Olympic shooter scores first acting role as assassin
- Farrell set for 'challenge' of downing Bordeaux in Top 14
- Springbok Etzebeth diverts attention from looming caps record
- Inter on a high ahead of Milan derby as Napoli face Juve test
- Bank of Japan leaves key interest rate unchanged
- Arnold quits after six years in charge of Australia
- Asian markets track Wall Street record to extend global rally
- Guirassy and Anton to return to Stuttgart with new side Dortmund
- Marseille bidding to continue 'almost perfect' Ligue 1 start
- Arnold quits as coach of Australia men's football team
- Harris and Oprah hold star-studded US election rally
- Allies to remember failed WWII parachute operation
- Perez leading new-look Villarreal charge against leaders Barca
- Man City face Arsenal in Premier League title showdown, Postecoglou under pressure
- Fake celebrity endorsements, snubs plague US presidential race
- Documentary brings Argentine 'death flights' to the big screen
- Strike shows challenge to Boeing 'reset' of labor relations
- World leaders to gather at UN as crises grow and conflicts rage
- How plastic pollution poses challenge for Canada marine conservation
- Scientists track plastic waste in pristine Canada marine park
- South Africa's Buhai grabs LPGA Queen City lead
- Japan inflation firms to 2.8% ahead of BoJ rate decision
- Russia's Kadyrov accuses Musk of 'remotely disabling' his Cybertruck
- Titan sub had to abort a dive days before fatal implosion: testimony
- Ohtani makes MLB history with first 50-homer, 50-steal season
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases, 49 homers
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases
- Barca downed by Monaco as Arsenal held in Champions League stalemate
- Head's 'good night at office' after century seals win over England
- Dubois seeks legitimacy with Joshua scalp
- Rate cut could lift consumer spirits before US elections
- Last-gasp Gimenez strike sends Atletico past Leipzig
- Barca stumble at Monaco after early red card
- Raya heroics save Arsenal in Champions League opener at Atalanta
- Cathay Airbus engine fire linked to cleaning: EU regulator
- Guardians beat Twins to secure MLB playoff berth
- Jihadist attack in Mali capital killed more than 70: security sources
- Alonso hails 'efficient' Leverkusen after Feyenoord rout
- Head's hundred seals Australia win over England in 1st ODI
- Ex-Man United striker Anthony Martial joins AEK Athens
- NFL unbeatens meet as Texans visit Vikings, Steelers host Chargers
- Head's hundred seals Australia win over England in 1st ODI after Labuschagne strikes
- Dream debut for Wirtz as Leverkusen thump dire Feyenoord
- Myanmar flood death toll climbs to 293: state media
- Israel army says West Bank air strike kills 4 militants
- LIV golfers get green light for US Ryder Cup team, PGA Championship
- US accuses social media giants of 'vast surveillance'
- Ten Hag to bed Hojlund, Mount in carefully when they return for Man Utd
- Breaking bad as McIlroy endures 'weird' day
Australia slams China 'lifeline' to Russia
Australia on Friday pilloried China's failure to denounce the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as Beijing's "unacceptable" decision to ease restrictions on a key Russian export in the face of Western sanctions.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the world must unite to condemn Russia, voicing particular concern "at the lack of a strong response from China".
Beijing announced Thursday that it would import more Russian wheat, in stark contrast to Western countries rolling out sanctions on the Kremlin and its allies.
"You don't go to throw a lifeline to Russia in the middle of a period when they are invading another country. That is simply unacceptable," Morrison said.
Russia produces around a quarter of the world's wheat, according to UN data, a trade worth billions of US dollars a year.
Ukraine produces a further 10 percent of world supply and there are concerns that war and sanctions will strangle production and fuel already high food prices globally.
China had previously only allowed wheat imports from a handful of areas in Russia, citing disease concerns.
The deal announced by China's General Administration of Customs on Thursday, which was reportedly agreed when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Beijing in February, allows for imports from more regions.
China has urged dialogue and expressed sympathy for what it calls the Kremlin's "reasonable" security concerns around Ukraine.
Western powers on the other hand have denounced Putin's actions wholesale -- sanctioning banks, oligarchs and government officials.
India -- a major purchaser of Russian weapons -- has also so far refrained from condemning Moscow's actions, but Morrison did not mention New Delhi.
Relations between China and Australia are at their lowest ebb in a generation.
The two sides have engaged in rhetorical tit-for-tat denunciations and Beijing has placed extensive trade sanctions on Australian goods -- though Australian wheat has so far avoided the chopping block.
Morrison has put China and national security firmly at the centre of his campaign for re-election in a vote expected this May.
The conservative leader trails in the polls to the opposition centre-left Labor Party, led by Anthony Albanese.
H.Seidel--BTB