World

Australia’s defence minister says no to U.S. subs down under

Published

2 months ago

December 7, 2022

Australia’s defence minister says no to permanently basing U.S. subs down under, welcomes greater military presence

Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles has welcomed greater U.S. military presence in the nation, but has ruled out the possibility of having a permanent home for American submarines.

Marles is in Washington, meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Defence Secretary, Lloyd Austin.

Earlier, Marles made a visit to a nuclear submarine manufacturing yard in New England.

It follows speculation the Australian government may have been considering allowing some American subs to have a permanent home down under.

But the defence minister has ruled out this proposition.

He says while America’s naval presence in Australia has been growing, “home porting” takes it a step further. He says this is not a position the government wants to be in at this stage.

“The trajectory of the American presence in Australia has been growing … and that’s what we would anticipate,” Marles told The Herald Sun

It comes as the two nations seek to increase their defence relationship and enhance their forces.

It’s expected Australia will soon face a so-called “capability gap” after the current fleet of Collins-powered subs is retired. The country will then have to wait for the arrival of nuclear-powered vessels.

The defence minister’s visit to Washington comes ahead of the Albanese government’s first AUSMIN defence and foreign policy talks with American officials.

Additionally, Marles and his UK and U.S. counterparts will also hold their first AUKUS trilateral meeting.

Here, details about Australia’s path to acquire nuclear-powered submarines of its own are likely to be finalised, but they will be kept secret until next year.

Business

New York Stock Exchange in free fall

Published

3 days ago

January 27, 2023

ticker NEWS

Human error sends the New York Stock Exchange tumbling

We’ve all made mistakes at the office from time to time, but spare a thought for one worker who may have single-handedly brought down the New York Stock Exchange with just one tiny error.

The mistake of one employee has wiped billions of dollars off the charts for some of the globe’s largest companies.

The individual reportedly triggered wild swings and volatility on the New York Stock Exchange.

A number of big brand names were caught up in the catastrophe. It included McDonald’s, Walmart, and Mobil.

The NYSE eventually came clean. Officials admitted the“root cause” of the screw-up was a “manual error” from a staff member in the backup data centre.

The employee accidentally left the system running.

That’s why some stocks behaved as if trading had already started, with no opening prices being set, sending the market into a meltdown. #trending #featured

Sport

Bombshell pro-Russian video emerges from Australian Open

Published

3 days ago

January 27, 2023

ticker NEWS

A bombshell video has emerged of the father of tennis star Novak Djokovic, amplifying the Russian controversy the Australian Open

Djokovic’s father was seen posing for pictures with a group of Putin supporters after his son won against Russia’s Andrey Rublev, to qualify for his 10th semi-final.

Russian flags have been banned from the Australian Open, but that didn’t stop one fan.

A man was seen holding a Russian flag with Putin’s face on it and wearing a t-shirt with the pro-war ‘Z’ symbol on it.

Four spectators were questioned by police and evicted from Melbourne Park.

After losing her semi-final, Belarusian Viktoria Azarenka hit back at media when pressed on tennis’ relationship with Russia’s war on Ukraine.

She told reporters incidents like Novak’s father posing with Russian fans have nothing to do with players.

World

FBI Director discusses classified documents as U.S. lawmakers demand answers

Published

3 days ago

January 27, 2023

Veronica Dudo

Bipartisan outrage on Capitol Hill as politicians say the Biden administration is stonewalling their quest for answers

FBI Director Christopher Wray is speaking out for the first time after several batches of classified documents were discovered in U.S. President Joe Biden’s Wilmington home and Washington think tank office.

On Thursday, Wray urged lawmakers and officials to be “conscious of the rules” when dealing with classified documents.

The statements appear to be a veiled criticism of President Biden after news broke that some of the classified papers in the President’s possession date back 14-years ago to when Biden was a Delaware Senator raising questions if this is a pattern for the president to mishandle classified information.

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, there is bipartisan outrage as lawmakers say the Biden administration is stonewalling them in their quest for answers.

Currently, both Biden and former President Donald Trump are facing special counsel investigations into their mishandling of classified documents—and just this week, former Vice President Mike Pence turned over classified documents to the DOJ.