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The UK, Australia and the United States have agreed a “landmark” partnership to boost their defences and share nuclear submarine secrets at a time of growing concern over China.

The initiative will focus initially on helping the Australian navy procure a multi-billion-pound fleet of nuclear-powered submarines – a move that Beijing will likely see as aggressive.

But London, Canberra and Washington said they will also seek to collaborate in cyber, quantum technologies and artificial intelligence as well as other underwater capabilities – areas in which western democracies are frantically racing their authoritarian rivals to dominate.

Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison in the garden of 10 Downing Street in June
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Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison in the garden of 10 Downing Street in June

In a joint statement, Boris Johnson, Joe Biden of the United States and Australia’s Scott Morrison said: “The endeavour we launch today will help sustain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

“For more than 70 years, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, have worked together, along with other important allies and partners, to protect our shared values and promote security and prosperity. Today, with the formation of AUKUS, we recommit ourselves to this vision.”

The PM said the three nations were “natural allies” and “while we may be separated geographically, our interests and values are shared”.

He added: “The AUKUS alliance will bring us closer than ever, creating a new defence partnership and driving jobs and prosperity.

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“This partnership will become increasingly vital for defending our interests in the Indo-Pacific region and, by extension, protecting our people back at home.”

The word “China” was not mentioned in the statement, nor in an accompanying press release but the predominant security and defence challenge facing the world’s democracies is the rise of an increasingly assertive, authoritarian Beijing.

Boris Johnson and Joe Biden have agreed the partnership with Australian prime minister Scott Morrison
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Boris Johnson and Joe Biden have agreed the partnership with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison

Commenting on the new venture, Mr Johnson said: “This partnership will become increasingly vital for defending our interests in the Indo-Pacific region and, by extension, protecting our people back at home.”

The submarine collaboration is the most immediate area of work.

The US and UK navies already cooperate very closely with their nuclear-powered submarine fleets – one of the most secret, complex and sensitive areas of defence.

Sharing their knowledge with Australia is understood to be viewed as the most significant collaboration on capabilities in decades.

Nuclear-powered submarines are superior to their diesel-powered, conventional counterparts as they can operate more quietly and stay underwater for longer – pivotal traits for a submarine that wants to have the advantage over its target.

They use nuclear power to run. The boats Australia is seeking to procure will not be nuclear armed as Australia, unlike the UK and the US, is a non-nuclear weapons state.

The three allies said their collaboration on nuclear technology would be in line with all nuclear-related treaties.

How exactly the collaboration will work, what it will cost, how many boats will be built, where and which companies will be involved is set to become clearer over the next 18 months.

The leaders, in their joint statement, said: “We will leverage expertise from the United States and the United Kingdom, building on the two countries’ submarine programmes to bring an Australian capability into service at the earliest achievable date.”

No date was set for when the first submarine will come into service, however.

The partnership will help Australia procure nuclear-powered submarines
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The partnership will help Australia procure nuclear-powered submarines

The announcement appears to signal the end of a previous plan by Canberra to replace its current submarine fleet with more diesel-powered boats in a deal announced in 2017 with a French company called Naval Group.

Australia, in need of help to procure its own nuclear-powered fleet, is thought to have approached the UK and the US first about the idea of working more closely together in March of this year.

The nations are already three members of the so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance.

But the AUKUS partnership seeks to strengthen even further the bond. It may at some point see other like-minded countries join.

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Trump has ‘heated phone call’ with Netanyahu over strike targeting Hamas in Qatar

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Trump has 'heated phone call' with Netanyahu over strike targeting Hamas in Qatar

Donald Trump had a heated phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after his military targeted Hamas inside Qatar, according to a report.

The American president told Mr Netanyahu on Tuesday that the decision to strike inside the US ally’s territory was not wise, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing senior administration officials.

The Israeli prime minister responded by saying he had a brief window to launch the airstrike and took the opportunity, according to the newspaper.

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Anger over Israeli strikes on Qatar

A second call between the two leaders later that day was cordial, with Mr Trump asking Mr Netanyahu if the attack had been successful, the publication added.

Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of the Islamist group Hamas with the attack in the Qatari capital Doha on Tuesday.

Hamas has said its top leaders survived the airstrike, but five members were killed, including the son of its exiled Gaza chief and top negotiator Khalil al Hayya.

The Israeli military operation in Doha has been widely condemned internationally and was particularly sensitive as Qatar has been hosting and mediating in negotiations which are trying to bring about a ceasefire in the war in Gaza.

On Wednesday, Mr Netanyahu warned Qatar to either expel Hamas officials or “bring them to justice. Because if you don’t, we will”.

Qatar has hit back at him, saying his comments about the Gulf nation hosting a Hamas office were “reckless”.

Donald Trump with Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House earlier this year. Pic: Reuters
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Donald Trump with Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House earlier this year. Pic: Reuters

Meanwhile, the Israeli ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, has said that if Israel failed to kill Hamas leaders on Tuesday, it would succeed next time.

“We have put terrorists on notice, wherever they may be… we’re going to pursue them, and we’re going to destroy those who will destroy us,” he said.

The airstrike took place shortly after Hamas claimed responsibility for Monday’s shooting at a bus stop on the outskirts of Jerusalem that killed six people.

Read more:
Analysis: Israel has crossed a huge diplomatic red line

In another development, Sir Keir Starmer has had talks with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Downing Street, with Mr Herzog saying they argued during a “tough meeting”.

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PM meets Israeli president

PM condemns Israeli action

The prime minister has condemned the Israeli attack in Qatar, and raised the matter with the president, saying it was “completely unacceptable”.

“He said the strikes were a flagrant violation of a key partner’s sovereignty and do nothing to secure the peace we all desperately want to see,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.

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Israel has been angered by Britain’s plans to join several other Western countries, including France and Canada, in recognising a Palestinian state later this month – unless Israel meets conditions including a ceasefire in Gaza.

“Things were said that were tough and strong, and clearly we can argue, because when allies meet, they can argue. We are both democracies,” Mr Herzog said at an event at Chatham House.

He also proposed offering a “fact-finding mission” to Israel, “sitting with us and studying the situation in Gaza on the humanitarian level”.

“Because we have full answers, and we are fully transparent,” he said.

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Drones and salami: How Putin is testing the West with Poland airspace violation

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Drones and salami: How Putin is testing the West with Poland airspace violation

The unprecedented Russian drone attacks on Poland are both a test and a warning.  How Europe and NATO respond could be crucial to security on this continent.

The Russians are past masters at what’s called “salami slicing”. Tactics that use a series of smaller actions to produce a much bigger outcome that otherwise would have been far more provocative.

The Kremlin is probing the West with gradual but steady escalation. A British Council building and an EU installation are bombed in Kyiv; a senior EU official’s plane’s GPS is jammed.

On their own each provocation produces nothing more than rhetoric from the West – but new lines are crossed and Russia is emboldened.

Ukraine war latest: NATO chief sends message to Putin

Vladimir Putin has a history of testing the West. Pic: Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via Reuters
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Vladimir Putin has a history of testing the West. Pic: Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via Reuters

Putin is good at this.

He used salami slicing tactics masterfully in 2014 with his “little green men” invasion of Crimea, a range of ambiguous military and diplomatic tactics to take control. The West’s confused delay in responding sealed Crimea’s fate.

He has just taken a larger slice of salami with his drone attacks on Poland.

A drone found in a field in Mniszkow, eastern Poland
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A drone found in a field in Mniszkow, eastern Poland


They are of course a test of NATO’s readiness to deploy its Article 5 obligations. Russia has attacked a member state, allies believe deliberately.

Will NATO trigger the all for one, one for all mechanism in Poland’s defence and attack Russia? Not very likely.

But failing to respond projects weakness. Putin will see the results of his test and plot the next one.

Expect lots of talk of sanctions but remember they failed to avert this invasion and have failed to persuade Russia to reverse it. The only sanctions likely to bite are the ones the US president refuses to approve, on Russia’s oil trade.

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Russia’s Poland incursion represents ‘new chapter’ in Ukraine war, expert says

So how are the drones also a warning? Well, they pose a question.

Vladimir Putin is asking the West if it really wants to become more involved in this conflict with its own forces. Europeans are considering putting boots on the ground inside Ukraine after any potential ceasefire.

If this latest attack is awkward and complicated and hard to respond to now, what happens if Russia uses hybrid tactics then?

Deniable, ambiguous methods that the Russians excel in could make life very difficult for the alliance if it is embroiled in Ukraine.

Think twice before committing your troops there, Russia is warning the West.

Read more:
The pivotal question for NATO
Trump ready to move to second stage of Russia sanctions

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There is more Europe could do.

It could stop buying Russian energy, which it is still astonishingly importing – more than 20 billion euros a year at the last count.

It could use its massive economic advantage (20 times that of Russia’s, and that was before the war) to do more to fund Ukraine’s defence.

While it continues to do neither, expect more excruciating slices of the salami to come.

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Riot police clash with ‘Block Everything’ protesters in Paris

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Riot police clash with 'Block Everything' protesters in Paris

Riot police have clashed with protesters in Paris after they took to the streets in response to calls to ‘Block Everything’ over discontent with the French government.

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of the French capital and other cities, including Marseille and Montpellier, in response to the online ‘Bloquons Tout’ campaign, which is urging people to strike, block roads, and other public services.

The government has deployed more than 80,000 officers to respond to the unrest, which has seen 200 arrested nationwide so far, according to police, and comes on the same day the new prime minister is being sworn in.

Demonstrators were seen rolling bins into the middle of roads to stop cars, while police rushed to remove the makeshift blockades as quickly as possible.

Tear gas was used by police outside Paris‘s Gare du Nord train station, where around 1,000 gathered, clutching signs declaring Wednesday a public holiday.

Others in the city blocked the entrance to a high school where firefighters were forced to remove burnt objects from a barricade.

Riot police with shields face off with protesters in Paris. Pic: Reuters
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Riot police with shields face off with protesters in Paris. Pic: Reuters

Protesters block the streets in Paris on Wednesday. Pic: AP
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Protesters block the streets in Paris on Wednesday. Pic: AP

"Block Everything" blockade a street in Paris. Pic: Reuters
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“Block Everything” blockade a street in Paris. Pic: Reuters

A protester raises a red flare outside Paris's Gare du Nord train station. Pic: Reuters
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A protester raises a red flare outside Paris’s Gare du Nord train station. Pic: Reuters

Elsewhere in the country, traffic disruptions were reported on major roads in Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes, and Lyon.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau told reporters a group of protesters had torched a bus in the Breton city of Rennes.

Read more
France’s economic crisis explained

Protesters fill the streets and block tram lines in Montpellier, southern France. Pic: Reuters
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Protesters fill the streets and block tram lines in Montpellier, southern France. Pic: Reuters

A protester in Montpellier waves a lit flare. Pic: Reuters
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A protester in Montpellier waves a lit flare. Pic: Reuters

Protesters hold a sign that reads: '10 September public holiday!!' in Paris. Pic: Reuters
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Protesters hold a sign that reads: ’10 September public holiday!!’ in Paris. Pic: Reuters

Fourth prime minister in a year

The ‘Block Everything’ rallies come amid spiralling national debt and are similar to the Yellow Vest movement that broke out over tax increases during President Emmanuel Macron’s first term.

‘Bloquons tout’ was first spearheaded online by right-wing groups in May but has since been embraced by the left and far left, experts say.

On Monday, former Prime Minister Francois Bayrou lost a vote of no confidence, and was replaced by Sebastien Lecornu at the Hotel Matignon on Wednesday afternoon, becoming the fourth person in the job in just 12 months.

French outgoing Prime Minister Francois Bayrou (left) with his replacement Sebastien Lecornu at Paris's Hotel Matignon. Pic: Reuters
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French outgoing Prime Minister Francois Bayrou (left) with his replacement Sebastien Lecornu at Paris’s Hotel Matignon. Pic: Reuters

Crowds of protesters outside Gare du Nord in Paris. Pic: Reuters
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Crowds of protesters outside Gare du Nord in Paris. Pic: Reuters

'Block Everything' protesters outside Paris's Gare du Nord on Wednesday. Pic: Reuters
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‘Block Everything’ protesters outside Paris’s Gare du Nord on Wednesday. Pic: Reuters

A teacher, Christophe Lalande, taking part in the Paris protests, told reporters at the scene: “Bayrou was ousted, [now] his policies must be eliminated.”

Elsewhere, union member Amar Lagha said: “This day is a message to all the workers of this country: that there is no resignation, the fight continues, and a message to this government that we won’t back down, and if we have to die, we’ll die standing.”

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