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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
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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".

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World

Netanyahu Says US Deal with Iran Must Dismantle Nuclear Infrastructure

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he speaks during the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, in Jerusalem, February 15, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he speaks during the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, in Jerusalem, February 15, 2026. (Reuters)
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Netanyahu Says US Deal with Iran Must Dismantle Nuclear Infrastructure

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he speaks during the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, in Jerusalem, February 15, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he speaks during the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, in Jerusalem, February 15, 2026. (Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he told US President Donald Trump last week that any US deal with Iran must include the dismantling of Iran's nuclear infrastructure, not just stopping the enrichment process.

Speaking at the annual Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Netanyahu also said Israel still needs to "complete the job" of destroying all tunnels in Gaza. Israel, he said, has already dismantled 150 km (93 miles) of an estimated 500 km.

A second round of ‌talks between ‌the US and Iran are slated for this ‌week. ⁠Iran is pursuing ⁠a nuclear agreement with the US that delivers economic benefits for both sides, an Iranian diplomat was reported as saying on Sunday.

Netanyahu said he is skeptical of a deal, but it must include enriched material leaving Iran. "There shall be no enrichment capability - not stopping the enrichment process, but dismantling ⁠the equipment and the infrastructure that allows ‌you to enrich in the ‌first place," he said.

Iran and the US renewed negotiations earlier this month ‌to tackle their decades-long dispute over Tehran's nuclear program ‌and avert a new military confrontation. The US has dispatched a second aircraft carrier to the region and is preparing for the possibility of a sustained military campaign if the talks do ‌not succeed, US officials have told Reuters.

Netanyahu also said that he aimed to end ⁠US military aid ⁠to Israel within the next 10 years, after the current 10-year deal of receiving $3.8 billion a year - which is largely spent in the United States on equipment - ends in 2028.

Due to a thriving economy, "we can afford to phase out the financial component of the military aid that we're receiving, and I propose a 10-year draw down to zero. Now, in the three years that remain in the present memorandum of understanding and another seven years draw it down to zero," Netanyahu said.

"We want to move with the United States from aid to partnership," he said.

World

Iran’s Top Diplomat to Attend ‘Indirect’ Talks with US in Geneva

08 February 2026, Iran, Tehran: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gives his weekly press conference at the Foreign Ministry in Tehran. (dpa)
08 February 2026, Iran, Tehran: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gives his weekly press conference at the Foreign Ministry in Tehran. (dpa)
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Iran’s Top Diplomat to Attend ‘Indirect’ Talks with US in Geneva

08 February 2026, Iran, Tehran: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gives his weekly press conference at the Foreign Ministry in Tehran. (dpa)
08 February 2026, Iran, Tehran: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gives his weekly press conference at the Foreign Ministry in Tehran. (dpa)

Iran’s top diplomat was traveling from Tehran on Sunday to Geneva where the second round of nuclear negotiations with the US will take place, Iranian state media reported.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his delegation left for the Swiss city after the first round of indirect talks took place in Oman last week. Oman will mediate the talks in Geneva, the IRNA state-run news agency reported on its Telegram channel.

Similar talks last year broke down after Israel launched what became a 12-day war on Iran, that included the US bombing Iranian nuclear sites.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to use force to compel Iran to agree to constrain its nuclear program. Iran has said it would respond with an attack of its own. Trump has also threatened Iran over its deadly crackdown on recent nationwide protests.

Regional countries have warned that any attack could spiral into another regional conflict.

The Trump administration has maintained that Iran can have no uranium enrichment under any detail, which Tehran says it will not agree to.

Iran continues to insist that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but officials however have increasingly threatened to pursue a nuclear weapon. Before the war in June, Iran has been enriching uranium up to 60% purity, just a short technical step away from weapons-grade levels.

Araghchi is also expected to meet with his Swiss and Omani counterparts, as well as the director general of the UN’s atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

World

China Confirms Visa-free Access for Canada, UK Visitors from Feb 17

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping, ahead of a bilateral meeting in Beijing, China, January 29, 2026. Carl Court/Pool via REUTERS
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping, ahead of a bilateral meeting in Beijing, China, January 29, 2026. Carl Court/Pool via REUTERS
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China Confirms Visa-free Access for Canada, UK Visitors from Feb 17

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping, ahead of a bilateral meeting in Beijing, China, January 29, 2026. Carl Court/Pool via REUTERS
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping, ahead of a bilateral meeting in Beijing, China, January 29, 2026. Carl Court/Pool via REUTERS

China confirmed that Canadian and British citizens will be able to visit the country visa-free from Tuesday, after the two countries' leaders had announced such agreements following official trips to Beijing.

British and Canadian prime ministers Keir Starmer and Mark Carney both visited Beijing in January, seeking to bolster relations with China and pivot from the increasingly mercurial United States, said AFP.

Both leaders had hailed progress following meetings with top Chinese leaders such as President Xi Jinping, including on issues like visa-free access for their citizens to China.

Beijing's foreign ministry confirmed these agreements on Sunday, saying Canadian and British citizens will be able to travel to China visa-free from Tuesday, with the policy in effect until December 31.

"Holders of ordinary passports from these countries can enter China without a visa for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends, exchanges, or transit for a period not exceeding 30 days," it said in a statement.

This was to "further facilitate people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries", it added.