Before he was Australia's longest-serving prime minister, Robert Menzies languished on the backbench. Through appealing to the middle class, he found a route back to power.

Any hiccups from China will rattle our economy — and the past week has seen some concerning signals emanating from Beijing that its latest attempt to extract itself from a looming debt crisis has done more harm than good, writes Ian Verrender.

The United States and Saudi Arabia sign a string of agreements in a telling triumph of commercial interest and strategic orthodoxy over US President Donald Trump's alt-right campaign rhetoric, writes Matt Brown.

Sweden's decision to drop its rape investigation into Julian Assange might be hailed as a victory by some, but the Australian is likely to stay put in London's Ecuadorian embassy for the foreseeable future, writes Europe correspondent James Glenday.

The best bands often have the most distinctive, emotive vocalists and in this, Chris Cornell was par excellence, writes Alistair Clout.