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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice begins her first official visit to Australia today with security talks in Sydney. Dr Rice landed in Sydney overnight after jetting in from Indonesia, and was whisked away in a car convoy accompanied by a helicopter security escort. Her schedule for coming days includes bilateral meetings with Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, as well as the first ministerial-level trilateral security dialogue between Australia, the US and Japan. The growing influence of China, regional security, the Iraq war and tensions on the Korean peninsula are also on the agenda. The Federal...

A SECURITY summit between the US, Japan and Australia in Sydney next week is expected to sharpen tensions with China, with deteriorating relations between Beijing and Tokyo high on the agenda. The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, will meet the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, and their Japanese counterpart, Taro Aso, on Wednesday for the first ever ministerial-level security talks between the three countries. China's Secretary-General of the State Council, Hua Jianmin, will be in Sydney at the same time to attend the inaugural meeting of the US-led Asia-Pacific climate change summit. The Herald understands the talks will...

Breaking (in Japanese) Sankei (Tokyo):Korean Central News Agency from Pyongyang, North Korea abruptly announced it is breaking off and will not continue, 'bilateral security talks' between North Korea and Japan, unless and until (get this!) Japan returns to North Korea at once the five Japanese families who are currently on a temporary visit to Japan who had been kidnapped many years ago and taken to North Korea against their will, brainwashed, and pressed into Japanese language teaching and spy school. Breaking. Egg (or kimchee as the case may be) ALL over Communist North Korea's face.North Korea is crying IN PUBLIC...