News

The four-phase plan has made nuclear arms control experts nervous … here’s why
In a tripartite deal with the US and the UK, Australia to acquire a fleet of up to eight nuclear-powered submarines, forecast to cost up to $368bn between now and the mid-2050s. Australia will spend $9bn over the next four years.
From this year Australian military and civilian personnel will embed with US and UK navies, including within both countries’ submarine industrial bases. From 2027 the UK and the US plan to rotate their nuclear-powered submarines through HMAS Stirling near Perth as part of a push to step up training of Australians.
Embedded personnel and port visits: Australian military and civilian personnel will embed with the the allies’ navies. US nuclear-powered submarines will increase their visits to Australian ports, with Australian sailors joining US crews for training.
Submarine rotations: From 2027 the UK and the US plan to rotate one UK Astute class submarine and up to four US Virginia class submarines through HMAS Stirling.
Sale of US Virginia-class submarines: From the early 2030s – pending approval by Congress – the US intends to sell Australia three Virginia-class submarines, with a potential option for two more if required.
SSN-Aukus: A combination of UK submarine design and US defence technology will contribute to the development of the new SSN-Aukus submarine – intended as the future attack submarine for both the UK and Australia. Both Australia and the UK intend to start building SSN-Aukus submarines in their domestic shipyards before the end of this decade. The first such boat may enter into UK service in the late 2030s, but the Australian navy will receive its first Australian-built SSN-Aukus submarine in the early 2040s.

Ronnie Woo’s upbringing and love for his husband are the main ingredients in his debut cookbook, Did You Eat Yet?

Ronnie Woo’s upbringing and love for his husband are the main ingredients in his debut cookbook, Did You Eat Yet?

Rep. Judy Chu, a California Democrat, says people in the AAPI community "held their heads a little higher" after the movie's big night.

The arrangement is part of a broader effort to counter China’s military development and assertive territorial claims across Asia.

Opposition amendment to stop the government barring small boat arrivals claiming asylum defeated by 312 votes to 249
Junior hospital doctors in England started a 72-hour strike this morning. My colleagues Denis Campbell and Aubrey Allegretti have the story.
This morning Prof Philip Banfield, the chair of the BMA’s council, claimed that, paradoxically, hospitals could be safer than normal, because elective operations won’t be taking place and because more senior doctors, consultants, would be covering for the doctors on strike. He told the Today programme:
What is going to happen over this next three days is that we are going to see senior doctors – I don’t like the words junior and senior, this is just a level of experience and training – so we’re seeing consultants and specialist doctors cover.
They will stop, or should stop, their elective work and actually the NHS is maintaining a great deal of elective work. So we should see that the service is safe. In fact, actually, we should see it is even safer than normal.
Because the care is going to be given by consultants, consultants seeing patients, doing things that they normally wouldn’t do.

Also, Russia is set to face war crimes charges and China’s new premier seeks to reassure investors.

First of new vessels expected to be seaworthy by the end of 2030s, with Australia receiving theirs in early 2040s
The UK’s nuclear-powered submarine fleet could double in size as plans were revealed for the new “Aukus” vessels to be based on a British design.
In a bid to counter the growing threat from China, the UK’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, vowed alongside his US and Australian counterparts to stand “shoulder to shoulder” to protect peace in the Indo-Pacific given its implications for security across the world.

Reworking of policy marks Britain’s changed view of its position in light of tilt to authoritarianism and volatility
Britain’s may mark the moment when the UK sobers up about its place in a world that it now describes as “defined by danger, disorder and division”, and increasingly tilting to authoritarianism.
Gone is the optimistic Global Britain bombast of the Boris Johnson era, set out in the original integrated review only two years ago. That version championed the UK as “a beacon of democratic sovereignty” and one of the most influential countries in the world, and hailed its ability to draw on its post-Brexit status to “do things differently, economically and politically”.
“What has changed is that our collective security now is intrinsically linked to the outcome of the conflict in Ukraine.”
“The transition into a multipolar, fragmented and contested world has happened more quickly and definitively than anticipated. We are now in a period of heightened risk and volatility that is likely to last beyond the 2030s.”
“A growing convergence of authoritarian states are challenging the basic conditions for an open, stable and peaceful international order, working together to undermine the international system or remake it in their image.”

Asian American community leaders called for solutions to gun violence ahead of President Joe Biden’s Southern California visit. On Tuesday, Biden is scheduled to visit Monterey Park, where 11 people ...

Asian American community leaders called for solutions to gun violence ahead of President Joe Biden’s Southern California visit. On Tuesday, Biden is scheduled to visit Monterey Park, where 11 people ...