Happy Friday! Australia has found itself at the centre of great power geopolitics in Asia, with a promise to deepen military ties with India while drawing the ire of China over a nuclear submarine deal.
Anthony Albanese, who has been visiting India this week, called Delhi “a top tier security partner” and announced the Indian military’s participation in the Australian defence force’s flagship war games in August.
There was little fanfare in Beijing, however, at Australia’s reported decision to buy nuclear submarines from the US and UK. While Australia argues the new military assets will help it safeguard Indo-Pacific peace and stability, the view from China is that it will do the opposite.
“This trilateral cooperation constitutes serious nuclear proliferation risks, undermines the international non-proliferation system, exacerbates [the] arms race and hurts peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific,” a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said.
Albanese is expected to formally announce the submarine deal on Monday, US time, when he meets the US president, Joe Biden, and the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, in San Diego.
Top news
Judge ejects breastfeeding mother | A judge has been condemned for ejecting a woman feeding her baby while observing a trial in Melbourne’s county court yesterday, saying she was not permitted to breastfeed in court because it was a distraction. Victoria’s attorney general said “no woman deserves to be shamed and humiliated for public breastfeeding”, but the judge defended his actions as “self-explanatory”.
North-west Queensland floods | Record-breaking floods have caused a partial evacuation in the outback town of Burketown near the Gulf of Carpentaria. Major flood warnings are in place for the Nicholson, Gregory and Leichhardt rivers, with further falls of potentially more than 100mm of rain expected over catchments.
Racism at NRL game | New South Wales premier Dominic Perrottet has called for life bans for racism at sporting games, after an incident last night that saw South Sydney player and Biripi man Latrell Mitchell allegedly racially abused by a teenage spectator. “I call on the NRL to take that action,” the premier said.
Google to test flying coffees | Australians could see many more coffees flying around the suburbs after Google announced plans to test technology designed to load its drones and boost the number of airborne deliveries.
Hamburg shooting | At least seven people have been killed and dozens were injured after a shooting at a Jehovah’s Witness centre in the northern German city of Hamburg, local media have reported, citing police and emergency services. Police said they believed the gunman was among the dead.
China wants more babies | China’s birthrate fell to 6.77 per 1,000 people last year, the lowest on record. To reverse the trend, authorities are exploring ways to encourage people to have more kids – free college education and IVF subsidies are some of the ideas proposed.
Xi handed unprecedented third term | Still in China – Xi Jinping’s grip on power is official, after the country’s rubber-stamp parliament appointed the 69-year-old for another term as president. For decades, Chinese presidents were limited to two terms in office, but Xi abolished term limits in 2018.
Traute Lafrenz dies aged 103 | The last surviving member of the White Rose resistance movement, which urged Germans to stand up against Nazi tyranny during the second world war, has died in her South Carolina home. The White Rose was one of the most famous groups to resist the Nazis inside Germany.
Trump facing possible criminal charges | Prosecutors have signalled to Donald Trump that he could face criminal charges for making a hush money payment to the adult film actor and director Stormy Daniels. The Manhattan district attorney’s office has offered the ex-president the chance to testify next week before the grand jury that has been listening to evidence in the potential case, the New York Times said, citing four anonymous sources.
Full Story
‘Stop the boats’: Is the UK adopting Australia’s cruel mistakes? – with Lenore Taylor
This week the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, promised to “stop the boats” – language familiar to Australians. Our editors discuss in this 19-minute episode the enduring inhumanity of Australia’s immigration regime and whether the UK will learn from our mistakes – or repeat them.
What they said …
***
“In 2023, it’s extraordinary that this (breastfeeding court ejection) has happened at all. It’s really disappointing.” – Ingrid Stitt
Stitt, Victoria’s minister for early childhood, was among many to share their dismay at the Melbourne judge for evicting a breastfeeding mother.
In numbers
While the Australian government remains committed to tax cuts that would most benefit the wealthiest among us, the US is heading in the opposite direction. The White House’s budget includes proposals to raise revenue from the top end – including a bump to the corporate tax rate. The only challenge: getting it through the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Before bed read
Do you like your hot cross buns traditional, or are you partial to a few extras like choc chips? Three experts conducted a blind taste test of 21 buns – assessing each bun for flavour, appearance, aroma and texture, plus its nutritional content – to see which one came out on top. The winner? A 67c traditional fruit hot cross bun from Woolworths.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: MAX. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
Sign up
If you would like to receive this Afternoon Update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here. And start your day with a curated breakdown of the key stories you need to know. Sign up for our Morning Mail newsletter here.
