عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Australia Unveils Initial US$2.8 Billion for New Nuclear Subs Facility

The USS Ohio docks in Brisbane, the first Ohio-class submarine to dock at the Port of Brisbane, Australia, 30 July 2025. EPA/DARREN ENGLAND
The USS Ohio docks in Brisbane, the first Ohio-class submarine to dock at the Port of Brisbane, Australia, 30 July 2025. EPA/DARREN ENGLAND
TT
TT

Australia Unveils Initial US$2.8 Billion for New Nuclear Subs Facility

The USS Ohio docks in Brisbane, the first Ohio-class submarine to dock at the Port of Brisbane, Australia, 30 July 2025. EPA/DARREN ENGLAND
The USS Ohio docks in Brisbane, the first Ohio-class submarine to dock at the Port of Brisbane, Australia, 30 July 2025. EPA/DARREN ENGLAND

Australia unveiled AU$3.9 billion (US$2.8 billion) in spending on Sunday as a "down payment" on a new facility to build nuclear submarines under the tripartite AUKUS security pact with Britain and the United States.
The AUKUS pact aims to arm Australia with a fleet of cutting-edge submarines from the United States and would provide for cooperation in developing an array of warfare technologies, reported AFP.
The submarines, the sale of which will begin in 2032, lie at the heart of Australia's strategy of improving its long-range strike capabilities in the Pacific, particularly against China.
The deal could cost Canberra up to US$235 billion over the next 30 years, and also includes the technology to build its own vessels in the future.
Defense minister Richard Marles said the facility in Osborne, near the southern city of Adelaide, would be at the heart of that.
In the long term, an estimated AU$30 billion is expected to be spent on the facility.
"The transformation underway at Osborne shows Australia is on track to deliver the sovereign capability to build our nuclear-powered submarines for decades to come," he said.
The investment in the Submarine Construction Yard "is critical to delivering Australia's conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines", Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement.
"We are accelerating AUKUS opportunities to secure Australia's future defense capability and create lasting prosperity and jobs for the state," he added.
In September, Canberra also revealed a US$8 billion investment to be spent over a decade to transform a shipbuilding and maintenance precinct in Perth, Western Australia, into facilities for a future fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.
Australia had a major bust-up with France in 2021 when it cancelled a multi-billion-dollar deal to buy a fleet of diesel-powered submarines from Paris and went with the AUKUS program instead.
The pact was thrown into doubt last June when Washington said it was launching a review into whether it aligned with President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda.
In December, the Pentagon said it had cleared that hurdle and that Trump had ordered it "full steam ahead".

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Iran, US Race to Find Crew Member of Crashed American Fighter Jet

A US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft refuels from a KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft during a mission supporting Operation Epic Fury during the Iran war at an undisclosed location, April 2, 2026. US Air Force/Handout via REUTERS
A US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft refuels from a KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft during a mission supporting Operation Epic Fury during the Iran war at an undisclosed location, April 2, 2026. US Air Force/Handout via REUTERS
TT
TT

Iran, US Race to Find Crew Member of Crashed American Fighter Jet

A US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft refuels from a KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft during a mission supporting Operation Epic Fury during the Iran war at an undisclosed location, April 2, 2026. US Air Force/Handout via REUTERS
A US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft refuels from a KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft during a mission supporting Operation Epic Fury during the Iran war at an undisclosed location, April 2, 2026. US Air Force/Handout via REUTERS

Iranian and American forces raced each other Saturday to recover a crew member from the first US fighter jet to go down inside Iran since the start of the war.

Tehran said it had shot down the F-15 warplane and US media reported United States special forces had rescued one of its two crew members, with the other was still missing.

Iran's military also said it downed a US A-10 ground attack aircraft in the Gulf, with US media saying the pilot of that plane was rescued, reported AFP.

The war erupted more than a month ago with US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed supreme leader Ali Khamenei, triggering retaliation that spread the conflict throughout the Middle East, convulsing the global economy and impacting millions of people worldwide.

US Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the loss of the F-15, but White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: "The president has been briefed."

President Donald Trump told NBC the F-15 loss would not affect negotiations with Iran, saying: "No, not at all. No, it's war."

On Saturday, there were fresh strikes on Israel, Lebanon and Iran, as well as on Gulf states.

An AFP journalist saw a thick haze of grey smoke covering Tehran's skyline after hearing several blasts over the capital. It was not immediately clear what had been targeted.

- 'Valuable reward' -

A spokesperson for the Iranian military's central operational command earlier said "an American hostile fighter jet in central Iranian airspace was struck and destroyed by the IRGC Aerospace Force's advanced air defense system".

"The jet was completely obliterated, and further searches are ongoing."

An Iranian television reporter on a local official channel said anyone who captured a crew member alive would "receive a valuable reward".

Retired US brigadier general Houston Cantwell, who has 400 hours of combat flight experience, said a pilot's training would likely kick in before he or she parachutes to the ground.

"My priority would be, first of all, concealment, because I don't want to be captured," he told AFP.

Mohammad Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament, mocked the Trump administration.

He wrote on X: "After defeating Iran 37 times in a row, this brilliant no-strategy war they started has now been downgraded from 'regime change' to 'Hey! Can anyone find our pilots? Please?'

"Wow. What incredible progress. Absolute geniuses."

World

Explosion Hits Pro-Israel Center in the Netherlands

Rotterdam Police officers. (Getty Images/AFP)
Rotterdam Police officers. (Getty Images/AFP)
TT
TT

Explosion Hits Pro-Israel Center in the Netherlands

Rotterdam Police officers. (Getty Images/AFP)
Rotterdam Police officers. (Getty Images/AFP)

A blast hit a pro-Israeli center in the Netherlands, police said Saturday, adding it caused minimal damage and no injuries.

A police spokeswoman told AFP no one was inside the site run by Christians for Israel, a non-profit, in the central city of Nijkerk when the explosion went off outside its gate late on Friday.

An investigation was ongoing.

The incident comes after a string of similar night-time attacks on Jewish sites in the Netherlands and neighboring Belgium in recent weeks that has heightened concerns in the wake of the war in the Middle East.

World

Iran Says Strike Hit Close to Its Bushehr Nuclear Facility, Killing a Guard and Damaging a Building

Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor (Reuters)
Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor (Reuters)
TT
TT

Iran Says Strike Hit Close to Its Bushehr Nuclear Facility, Killing a Guard and Damaging a Building

Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor (Reuters)
Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor (Reuters)

Iran’s atomic agency says an airstrike has hit near its Bushehr nuclear facility, killing a security guard and damaging a support building. It is the fourth time the facility has been targeted during the war.

The agency announced Saturday’s attack on social media.

The US AP’s military pressed ahead Saturday in a frantic search for a missing pilot after Iran shot down an American warplane, as Iran called on people to turn the pilot in, promising a reward.

The plane, identified by Iran as a US F-15E Strike Eagle, was one of two attacked on Friday, with one service member rescued and at least one missing. It was the first time the United States lost aircraft in Iranian territory during the war, now in its sixth week, and could mark a new turning point in the campaign.

The conflict, launched by the US and Israel on Feb. 28, has rippled across the region. It has so far killed thousands, upended global markets, cut off key shipping routes, spiked fuel prices and shows no signs of slowing as Iran responds to US and Israeli airstrikes with attacks across the region.