Event: Anglican

“Cracks are already beginning to show” in the UK’s funding for the Aukus agreement that could derail the ambitious nuclear submarine plan, a British parliamentary inquiry has found, highlighting a threat to Australia’s security.UK shipbuilding has been under-funded for decades and the country’s submarine availability is “critically low”, the House of Commons defence committee’s report found.When the nuclear submarine HMS Anson visited Australia in February, it was Britain’s only attack-class submarine at sea. It had to be rapidly recalled to the northern hemisphere – ahead of schedule – when war broke out in the Gulf, undermining confidence in UK’s capacity and commitment to Aukus.The defence committee’s inquiry into Aukus “has revealed shortcomings and failings in the delivery of Aukus which threaten to prevent that promise becoming a reality”, the report said.“In the UK, political leadership – essential to secure the success of a programme of Aukus’s length, cost, and complexity – has faded. We call on the prime minister to take a more visible role in promoting and driving forward Aukus to counter the political drift that could see it derailed.”The Guardian put a series of questions to the Australian Submarine Agency, responsible for delivering the Aukus agreement.Australia is dependent upon the UK’s ability to design and build an entirely new class of nuclear submarine, the SSN-Aukus. Any delay or failure on the UK side could leave Australia exposed without any sovereign long-term submarine capability.Q&AWhat is Aukus pillar one?ShowPillar one of the Australia-UK-US (Aukus) agreement involves Australia being given the technology to command its own fleet of conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines. There are two stages:• First, Australia will buy between three and five Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from the US, the first of these in 2032. But before any boat can be sold to Australia, the US commander-in-chief – the president…

Donald Trump has named the former Virginia congressman David Brat to be the next US ambassador to Australia, ending a 15-month vacancy in Canberra.Brat served two terms in Congress until 2018 when he was defeated by a Democrat in a close race.The 61-year-old is a vice-president of business relations at Virginia’s Liberty University.The White House nominated Brat for Senate confirmation for the role on Tuesday morning, Australian time. The post has been vacant since Joe Biden’s ambassador, Caroline Kennedy, left Canberra in November 2024.His nomination comes amid a tense moment in the US-Australian alliance, as Trump repeatedly criticises the Albanese government for failing to assist with the US and Israeli-led war in Iran, and in efforts to reopen the strait of Hormuz.In a 2022 interview with the Trump strategist Steve Bannon, Brat called on Ukraine to surrender territory to Russia, part of a deal proposed by Vladimir Putin to end Russia’s invasion.Anthony Albanese was asked about Brat’s position and his claims that US intelligence agencies conspired to remove Trump from office.The prime minister pledged to work with anyone Trump nominated for the position.“We respect the sovereignty of countries to put forward ambassadors just like we expect our choices to be endorsed,” he said.Sign up for the Breaking News Australia emailSenate confirmation for diplomatic posts can take weeks or months. Brat’s nomination came alongside a series of bureaucratic appointments to US government roles.Brat was born and raised in rural Michigan; his father was a doctor and his mother a social worker. A local newspaper, the Pioneer Press, reported that his family moved to Minnesota in the late 1970s. He attended university in Michigan, eventually studying business administration. He later received a PhD in economics from American University.He has a Masters of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, where, Time magazine reported, he…

Anthony Albanese has urged Google, Meta and TikTok to make deals with Australian media outlets to avoid a dedicated 2.25% levy on local revenues, warning digital giants should not be able to exploit the work of journalists to boost profits.Releasing an exposure draft for the government’s news bargaining incentive (NBI) scheme on Tuesday, the prime minister said platforms could avoid the levy by signing new deals with publishers to pay for news content, and even greater offsets for making deals with smaller publishers. The government expects the plan will raise up to $250m annually for Australian journalism.“People are increasingly getting their news directly from Facebook, from TikTok, and from Google,” said communications minister Anika Wells.“And we believe it’s only fair that large digital platforms contribute to the hard work of journalism that enriches their feeds and that drives their revenue.”The NBI model replaces the Morrison government’s news media bargaining code (NMBC), which Labor says is no longer effective. The model comes more than two years after Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said it would not renew deals worth about $70m to compensate for news content being shared on their platforms.Under the previous model, Google and Facebook agreed deals worth about $250m over three years. Media outlets used the revenue to hire more journalists and modernise news reporting.Under Labor’s model, big tech companies who make agreements with publishers would receive offsets against the levy of up to 170%.Sign up for the Breaking News Australia emailAny revenue collected will be directed to support Australian journalism, with Albanese saying the government didn’t plan to collect revenue and instead wanted to incentivise deals.“We think that investment in journalism is critical to a healthy democracy,” Albanese said.“[Journalism] shouldn’t just be able to be taken by a large multinational corporation and used to…

The United States has “no defence against hypersonic weapons or cruise missiles”, a senior Pentagon official told Congress on Monday, as US President Donald Trump’s US$185 billion Golden Dome missile shield faces continued scepticism.“The Golden Dome will strengthen deterrence by denying adversaries the ability to achieve their objectives through coercion or aggression,” Marc Berkowitz, the assistant secretary of defence for missile defence and deterrence policy, told a Senate hearing on Monday.Trump, a Republican president known for his fixation on outsize military programmes, proposed last year that the US build a space-based missile defence interceptor system and have it operational before the end of his second term in January 2029.The plan was initially priced at US$175 billion through 2035, but the US Space Force increased the estimate by another US$10 billion last month.“We have no defence against hypersonic weapons or cruise missiles today, [or] advanced cruise missiles,” Berkowitz said, when pressed on the urgency of the controversial project.01:26Trump’s Golden Dome shows US ‘obsessed with absolute security’, China saysTrump’s Golden Dome shows US ‘obsessed with absolute security’, China says“China is our pacing competitor. We will deter China from a position of strength with a denial defence along the first island chain,” he added, with other witnesses citing the rapid expansion of the Chinese and Russian missile arsenals.

Pope Leo and new Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally met for the first time on Monday, in a symbolic encounter at the Vatican in which the leaders of the long-separated Catholic Church and Church of England exchanged gifts and prayed together.Mullally, the first woman to serve as spiritual leader of the world’s 85 million Anglicans, was ‌welcomed by Leo, the first US leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, into his formal office at the Vatican’s ornate apostolic palace.The two, who lead Christian denominations that split from each other in acrimony in 1534, met privately before going together to a 17th century chapel where they recited prayers in unison.In formal remarks to Leo, Mullally thanked the pope for his new, forceful speaking style, which the pontiff used on a four-nation Africa tour to sharply denounce war and despotism and which attracted the ire of US President ⁠Donald Trump.“The world needed this message at this time – thank you,” the archbishop said. “It reminded us that despite our sufferings, people long for life ‌in all its fullness, and countless people are working each day for this vision of the common good.”Leo told Mullally that progress had been made in drawing the Catholic Church and Church of England together but lamented ‌that “new problems have arisen in recent decades”, without specifying those problems.

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTYou have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.Female Anglican Leader Prays With Pope, Signaling Unity and Recalling DivideThe meeting highlighted deepening ties between two major Christian denominations, as well as longstanding differences on the ordination of women.A photo released by the Vatican on Monday showed Pope Leo meeting with the Most Rev. Sarah Mullally, the archbishop of Canterbury, at the Vatican.Credit...Simone Risoluti/Vatican Media, via ReutersApril 27, 2026The Most Rev. Sarah Mullally, the first woman to lead the Anglican Communion, prayed at the Vatican on Monday with Pope Leo XIV, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, projecting a powerful image of female ecclesiastical authority within an institution that maintains a male-only priesthood.The historic meeting was both an expression of unity between two of the largest Christian denominations, which split nearly 500 years ago, as well as a reminder of one of their deepest contemporary differences.The Church of England has allowed women to become priests since the 1990s, culminating in Archbishop Mullally’s appointment last year as archbishop of Canterbury, the most senior religious role within the Anglican faith. The Vatican, on the other hand, permits only men to be ordained and discussions about whether women can be ordained have been repeatedly tabled, most recently in December.Without referring to specific issues, Leo acknowledged in an address to the archbishop on Monday that there were “continuing challenges” in the relationship between the two denominations. He said that while “much progress has been made on some historically divisive issues, new problems have arisen in recent decades,” adding that it would be “a scandal if we did not continue to work towards overcoming our differences, no matter how intractable they may appear.”In her address to Leo, Archbishop…

Vatican Media/PAThe two religious leaders met at the Vatican on MondayThe Archbishop of Canterbury has praised Pope Leo for speaking out against injustice after the pair's historic meeting at the Vatican. Dame Sarah Mullally, the first woman to lead the Church of England, met Pope Leo at the Apostolic Palace on Monday, and told the pontiff he would receive a "warm welcome" if he were to visit the UK. In an address following a private discussion between the two religious leaders, she said they were united in prayer for justice and for "peace in our world".It follows the Pope's warning earlier this month that the world is being "ravaged by a handful of tyrants" as he criticised the cost of war during a visit to Cameroon.Dame Sarah said: "Your Holiness, you have spoken powerfully about the many injustices in our world today, but you have spoken even more powerfully about hope."The meeting comes weeks after US President Donald Trump accused the Pope of being "weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy". Pope Leo had voiced concerns over Trump's threat that "a whole civilisation will die" if Iran did not agree to US demands to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz, a threat which was averted after the two sides agreed to a ceasefire. The pontiff said he would continue to "speak out loudly against war" and promote peace.Getty ImagesThe Pope has faced criticism from Donald Trump for speaking out against the cost of warDame Sarah said the Pope's message "reminded us that despite our sufferings, people long for life in all its fullness and countless people are working each day for this vision of the common good".The symbolic moment was the first time a British monarch had prayed at a public service with the head of…