A little more than a week has gone by since US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gathered at a naval base in San Diego, California, to unveil plans for the US and UK to provide Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines under the Aukus trilateral security pact between the three countries. Mr Albanese hailed the agreement, which will cost his country up to A$368 billion ($246 billion), as “the biggest single investment in Australia’s defence capability in our history, strengthening Australia’s national security and stability in our region”.
But the move, which is clearly aimed at containing China, has already caused a huge backlash – not just from Beijing, which said the plan “constitutes serious nuclear proliferation risks, undermines international non-proliferation system, fuels arms races, and hurts peace and stability”. Countries in the region, such as Malaysia and Indonesia, have expressed concerns, particularly over the issue of nuclear proliferation, while the announcement has provoked an ongoing barrage of criticism from a range of public figures in Australia.
Former prime minister Paul Keating – like Mr Albanese, a member of the Labour Party – led the onslaught with a no-holds-barred interview with ABC’s Laura Tingle and the National Press Club of Australia two days later. He called it “the worst deal in history” and said it was a drastic and “incompetent” move, from a “defence of Australia” strategy to one of confronting China in the South China Sea, and one that would leave the country totally reliant on the US. “The reactor is run by the Americans,” he said. “The control system is run by Americans.” He added that “underneath all this is the idea that China is threatening or has threatened us. What ‘threaten us’ means is an invasion of Australia”. Describing both the idea and the pact as “rubbish”, Mr Keating said: “China cannot threaten Australia and would never think to do so.”
Paul Keating has done Australia an important service by making sure this very consequential change to the country’s security stance is raised and debated
Another former prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, pointed out that since Australia lacked its own nuclear capabilities, “if there is foreign oversight, supervision or assistance, without which that capability cannot be deployed”, the country’s proposed new submarine force would not be “fully sovereign”. Adding that billions of dollars will be going to the shipbuilding industries in the US and UK, Mr Turnbull declared those two countries to be the “big winners” of the deal. (Mr Keating had put it somewhat less delicately. “‘Global Britain’ was looking for suckers,” he said. “And they found us.”)
The Albanese administration insists that the new deal does not contain an implicit quid pro quo that Australia would automatically come to America’s aid should it be in military conflict with China. But given bipartisan support for Aukus in Australia, many believe the country’s true position was outlined by the current opposition leader and then defence minister Peter Dutton, when he said in 2021 that it “would be inconceivable that we wouldn't support the US in an action [over Taiwan] if the US chose to take that action”.
This is evidently the belief of Hugh White, one of Australia’s most respected international relations academics, who said on Sunday that the deal was tantamount to a “promise” to do so. “This is a very serious transformation of the nature of our alliance with the United States,” Prof White said on a podcast recorded for Australian National University. “The US don’t really care about our submarine capability – they care deeply about tying Australia into their containment strategy against China.” Any such conflict, he warned, would be “World War III” and would be likely to go nuclear.
And former Labour environment minister Peter Garrett raised concerns over the disposal of nuclear waste from the submarines. “God help future generations, especially if they happen to live in the outback or near an existing – or future – defence facility, or if they consume primary products impacted by radioactive leaks into land or water,” he said, calling the decision to buy the submarines “the most costly and risky action ever taken by any Australian government”.
Mr Keating could not have been less diplomatic in his interview, but the former prime minister has done Australia an important service by making sure this very consequential change to the country’s security stance is raised and debated.
It is crucial that it is thoroughly discussed, especially since a panel of hawks assembled by two of Australia’s main newspapers, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, recently warned that the country could be at war with China within three years. I believe this was an over-dramatic and wildly irresponsible claim. For if Australia were to side with the US in the event of a confrontation over Taiwan, that would be a war of choice, and by no means an inevitability. All this sabre-rattling about the island, which Beijing sees as a renegade province, is also a choice: it is not necessary, and many believe it is dangerously raising tensions, to the extent that it may help bring about a conflict that need not occur.
As it happens, the Aukus nuclear-powered submarines wouldn’t come into service until at least the 2030s – years too late for the Sinophobic doomsayers. But the issue does lay bare that Australia has to decide if it wants to commit to being America’s “deputy sheriff” in the region, with all that entails, or whether the country is ready to step out of the shadow of the Anglosphere, forge its own path, and deepen its own engagement in the Asia-Pacific.
The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 575bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh554,000
On sale: now
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh282,870
On sale: now
Company%20Profile
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Match info
Manchester City 3 (Jesus 22', 50', Sterling 69')
Everton 1 (Calvert-Lewin 65')
Day 2, stumps
Pakistan 482
Australia 30/0 (13 ov)
Australia trail by 452 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the innings
Company%20profile
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Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
The Byblos iftar in numbers
29 or 30 days – the number of iftar services held during the holy month
50 staff members required to prepare an iftar
200 to 350 the number of people served iftar nightly
160 litres of the traditional Ramadan drink, jalab, is served in total
500 litres of soup is served during the holy month
200 kilograms of meat is used for various dishes
350 kilograms of onion is used in dishes
5 minutes – the average time that staff have to eat
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Fixture: Liechtenstein v Italy, Tuesday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match is shown on BeIN Sports
The biog
Age: 32
Qualifications: Diploma in engineering from TSI Technical Institute, bachelor’s degree in accounting from Dubai’s Al Ghurair University, master’s degree in human resources from Abu Dhabi University, currently third years PHD in strategy of human resources.
Favourite mountain range: The Himalayas
Favourite experience: Two months trekking in Alaska
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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More from Aya Iskandarani
Personalities on the Plate: The Lives and Minds of Animals We Eat
Barbara J King, University of Chicago Press
The BIO:
He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal
He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side
By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam
Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border
He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push
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Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
How Apple's credit card works
The Apple Card looks different from a traditional credit card — there's no number on the front and the users' name is etched in metal. The card expands the company's digital Apple Pay services, marrying the physical card to a virtual one and integrating both with the iPhone. Its attributes include quick sign-up, elimination of most fees, strong security protections and cash back.
What does it cost?
Apple says there are no fees associated with the card. That means no late fee, no annual fee, no international fee and no over-the-limit fees. It also said it aims to have among the lowest interest rates in the industry. Users must have an iPhone to use the card, which comes at a cost. But they will earn cash back on their purchases — 3 per cent on Apple purchases, 2 per cent on those with the virtual card and 1 per cent with the physical card. Apple says it is the only card to provide those rewards in real time, so that cash earned can be used immediately.
What will the interest rate be?
The card doesn't come out until summer but Apple has said that as of March, the variable annual percentage rate on the card could be anywhere from 13.24 per cent to 24.24 per cent based on creditworthiness. That's in line with the rest of the market, according to analysts
What about security?
The physical card has no numbers so purchases are made with the embedded chip and the digital version lives in your Apple Wallet on your phone, where it's protected by fingerprints or facial recognition. That means that even if someone steals your phone, they won't be able to use the card to buy things.
Is it easy to use?
Apple says users will be able to sign up for the card in the Wallet app on their iPhone and begin using it almost immediately. It also tracks spending on the phone in a more user-friendly format, eliminating some of the gibberish that fills a traditional credit card statement. Plus it includes some budgeting tools, such as tracking spending and providing estimates of how much interest could be charged on a purchase to help people make an informed decision.
* Associated Press
The specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Transmission: two-speed
Power: 671hp
Torque: 849Nm
Range: 456km
Price: from Dh437,900
On sale: now
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Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
