As part of an ambitious defense deal between Australia, Britain and the US, Australia will buy up to five US-made nuclear submarines to be delivered in the 2030 s. The deal deepens a three-way defense agreement aimed at reinforcing American-led military dominance of the Asia-Pacific region to counter China. The security pact between the three countries, known as AUKUS, is going to be added to the agreement in the year 2021. It would involve Australia buying a new class of submarines with British designs and American technology, and rotating U.S. attack submarines through Perth, Western Australia by 2027. That would cover a gap in Australia's undersea abilities as its existing six diesel submarines age out of service. The deal also includes long-term plans to cooperate on artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cyberwarfare and missiles. President Biden plans to host the leaders of Australia and Britain in San Diego on Monday, where the three leaders plan to announce the next phase of their partnership. Diplomacy: The arrangement would require Australia to heavily depend on the U.S. Navy, which could limit its margin of discretion. Australia pulled out of a deal to buy French submarines in 2021, which caused a diplomatic storm. China could view the moves as a provocation.
Russia launched its biggest aerial attack in a few weeks. The attack included six of the country's newest hypersonic missiles, which fly at more than five times the speed of sound and are almost impossible for Ukraine to shoot down. Russia said the strikes were retaliation for an incursion by a pro-Ukrainian group into its Bryansk region last week. The use of hypersonic missiles and a higher than typical number of ballistic missiles helped Russia counter Ukraine's increasingly effective air defense systems: Of the 81 Russian missiles, 47 hit targets, Ukraine said. That is a much higher success rate than in other recent major missile attacks. The attack killed nine people in the country, knocked out power in several areas and damaged three electrical plants.
The Philippine government wants to eliminate jeepneys, the iconic open-air buses that have served commuters for decades, and replace them with minibuses. The transition and not having a vehicle would mean the end of their livelihood, as drivers fear they won't be able to afford it. This week, transportation unions organized a short work stoppage to resist the plan, which led schools to suspend in-person classes and businesses to plan for remote work. Drivers are angry that the government wants them to pay for replacements, which cost $43,600, and the government wants them to do so through a profit-sharing cooperative, which they say would bury them in debt. The plan was introduced in 2017 by former President Rodrigo Duterte, who said the phaseout would help improve Manila's poor air quality and ease gridlocked traffic. He once announced that the phaseout would happen by 2018, but the country s transportation department pushed back the deadline after drivers organized a strike.
In Japan, a video showing people licking soy sauce bottles or spit on sushi on a conveyor belt is going viral. Several popular chains have made changes in an effort to soothe customers concerns, such as making customers order from a touch-screen. The police in Nagoya arrested three people who posted a sushi terrorism video and held them on suspicion of forcible obstruction of business. The photographer Ans Westra recorded the most comprehensive record of New Zealand's social history. She died at 86.