Latest news with #submarine
News.com.au
11 hours ago
- Business
- News.com.au
South Australia shaken by jobs challenges and Premier Peter Malinauskas must be at top of his game
South Australia's foundations are being shaken by global and natural forces, with tempestuous times ahead. In a tumultuous past fortnight, bedrocks of the state economy, employing thousands of people, have been plunged into doubt. Santos, the state's biggest company by far, is the target of an almost $30bn takeover bid by an Abu Dhabi raider, casting great uncertainty over the future of its Adelaide head office. The $368bn nuclear-powered submarine project centred on Adelaide is under threat from a 30-day United States review assessing its alignment with President Donald Trump's America First agenda. Despite some heartening rain, the drought continues to ravage the state's farms – SA primary industries generate $17.1bn annually. State debt was forecast to soar to $48.495bn in the state budget unveiled on June 5, after which the influential S & P Global Ratings warned big new spending ahead of next March's state election could trigger a credit rating downgrade. The purse strings will continue to be tested by the Whyalla steelworks and mine, as the budget set aside $384m in state and federal funds for a potential six-month extension of the state-induced administration. The Malinauskas government might have repeatedly ruled out an ownership stake in Whyalla's steelworks but a $2.4bn state/federal rescue package leaves both on the hook until a new owner is found. Public sector unions are restless. The SA Salaried Medical Officers Association on Thursday rejected a 10 per cent pay rise over three years and recommitted to walking off the job on Wednesday. These are extraordinary and foundational challenges, of varying degrees of concern, to the state economy and, most particularly, the potential for today's aspirational young South Australians to find well-paid, challenging jobs. The risk of Santos's head office leaving Adelaide should not be dismissed lightly. A foreign takeover, as my colleague Giuseppe Tauriello observed on Wednesday, would significantly diminish the last corporate heavyweight left standing in South Australia. Santos dwarfs other SA companies for jobs, investment, sponsorship and general corporate clout. It is four times the size of the state's second biggest firm, Argo Investments, and more than eight times the size of third-ranking Codan. Business success matters in a state where the population is overwhelmingly concentrated in the capital, and most jobs are underpinned by state and federal government spending of some form. Santos and partner Beach Energy in January officially opened a nation-leading Moomba carbon storage project, billed as kickstarting a $600bn industry and hailed by Premier Peter Malinauskas as a 'historic day for our state'. Mr Malinauskas responded to the Santos takeover bid by declaring his government's 'priority at all times is to ensure that South Australian jobs remain in South Australia, and to maintain Santos' headquarters in Adelaide'. This will be a test of his government's mettle and resolve, along with its legislative levers that include ministerial approval for a change in controlling interest of a petroleum resources licence holder, like Santos. Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia, in his Tuesday budget reply speech, predictably painted a bleak picture of a state ravaged by debt, skyrocketing costs, unaffordable homes and a floundering health care system. Nine months out from the next state election, he vowed to deliver a 'debt management plan' to ensure this was at 'a sustainable level'. Mr Tarzia declared the state was 'at a crossroads'. He was right, although the future is always uncertain. Mr Malinauskas has a strong story to tell on economic confidence, a historically low jobless rate and the state's standing in the nation. But he will be justifiably wary of overconfidence ahead of the state election, even if his opponents are at a historically low ebb in their standing. The state is facing some serious challenges and the Premier will need to be at the top of his game.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE It's caused the most unimaginable deaths. But bizarre hobby gripping America is also a secret source of deep sexual arousal
There is a growing subculture of amateur explorers building homemade submarines in their backyards and garages. But it might be driven by something more insidious than a quirky passion for engineering or a curiosity about the deep sea. A new book suggests that the bizarre hobby of plunging thousands of feet in makeshift submersibles could, for some, be linked to unusual sexual desires and Freudian fantasies of returning to a 'womb-like' state - impulses that, in extreme cases, overlap with violence.
Malay Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Taiwan begins sea trials of first locally built submarine amid tensions with China
TAIPEI, June 18 — Taiwan has started sea trials of its first domestically built submarine, as it upgrades its military capabilities to defend against a potential Chinese attack. The vessel is part of a submarine programme launched in 2016 that aims to deliver a fleet of eight vessels. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to annex the self-ruled island, which insists it is a sovereign nation and not subordinate to Beijing. Shipbuilder CSBC Corp said Tuesday that sea trials of the submarine began in the southern port of Kaohsiung on Saturday, nearly two years after the vessel was unveiled. The submarine successfully wrapped up the trial—the first of three stages—on Tuesday with a 'floating navigation test', the company said in a statement. 'CSBC Corporation will continue, based on the test results, to adjust and improve each system, and proceed to the next phase of submerged navigation tests,' the company said. The submarine measures 80 metres (262 feet) in length, has a displacement weight of about 2,500 to 3,000 tons, and boasts combat systems and torpedoes sourced from the US defence company Lockheed Martin. The aim is to finish sea trials by September 30 and deliver the submarine by the end of November, the Navy said last month. But the submarine programme has faced obstacles. The main opposition Kuomintang party and the Taiwan People's Party, which together control the parliament, froze part of the programme's budget earlier this year. The parties said they wanted to see the results of the submarine's sea trials before releasing the funds. Taiwan, which would be massively outgunned by China in a war, is trying to boost its ability to wage 'asymmetric warfare' involving more agile equipment like submarines and drones. But there are concerns that opposition efforts to cut military spending could hurt the island's ability to strengthen its firepower. Taiwan's navy currently has two working submarines, Swordfish-class vessels bought from the Netherlands in the 1980s. Over the same period, China has built itself one of the world's largest navies, with nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers. — AFP
CNA
2 days ago
- Politics
- CNA
Taiwan starts sea tests of first domestically built submarine
TAIPEI: Taiwan has started sea trials of its first domestically built submarine, as it upgrades its military capabilities to defend against a potential Chinese attack. The vessel is part of a submarine programme launched in 2016 that aims to deliver a fleet of eight vessels. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to annex the self-ruled island, which insists it is a sovereign nation and not subordinate to Beijing. Shipbuilder CSBC Corp said on Tuesday (Jun 17) that sea trials of the submarine began in the southern port of Kaohsiung on Saturday, nearly two years after the vessel was unveiled. The submarine successfully wrapped up the trial – the first of three stages – on Tuesday with a "floating navigation test", the company said in a statement. "CSBC Corporation will continue, based on the test results, to adjust and improve each system, and proceed to the next phase of submerged navigation tests," the company said. The submarine measures 80m in length, has a displacement weight of about 2,500 tonnes to 3,000 tonnes, and boasts combat systems and torpedoes sourced from the US defence company Lockheed Martin. The aim is to finish sea trials by Sep 30 and deliver the submarine by the end of November, the Navy said last month. But the submarine programme has faced obstacles. The main opposition Kuomintang party and the Taiwan People's Party, which together control the parliament, froze part of the programme's budget earlier this year. The parties said they wanted to see the results of the submarine's sea trials before releasing the funds. Taiwan, which would be massively outgunned by China in a war, is trying to boost its ability to wage "asymmetric warfare" involving more agile equipment like submarines and drones. But there are concerns that opposition efforts to cut military spending could hurt the island's ability to strengthen its firepower. Taiwan's navy currently has two working submarines, Swordfish-class vessels bought from the Netherlands in the 1980s.
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Taiwan starts sea tests of first domestically built submarine
Taiwan has started sea trials of its first domestically built submarine, as it upgrades its military capabilities to defend against a potential Chinese attack. The vessel is part of a submarine program launched in 2016 that aims to deliver a fleet of eight vessels. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to annex the self-ruled island, which insists it is a sovereign nation and not subordinate to Beijing. Shipbuilder CSBC Corp said Tuesday that sea trials of the submarine began in the southern port of Kaohsiung on Saturday, nearly two years after the vessel was unveiled. The submarine successfully wrapped up the trial — the first of three stages — on Tuesday with a 'floating navigation test,' the company said in a statement. 'CSBC Corporation will continue, based on the test results, to adjust and improve each system, and proceed to the next phase of submerged navigation tests,' the company said. The submarine measures 80 metres (262 feet) in length, has a displacement weight of about 2,500 to 3,000 tons, and boasts combat systems and torpedoes sourced from the US defense company Lockheed Martin. The aim is to finish sea trials by September 30 and deliver the submarine by the end of November, the Navy said last month. But the submarine program has faced obstacles. The main opposition Kuomintang party and the Taiwan People's Party, which together control the parliament, froze part of the program's budget earlier this year. The parties said they wanted to see the results of the submarine's sea trials before releasing the funds. Taiwan, which would be massively outgunned by China in a war, is trying to boost its ability to wage 'asymmetric warfare' involving more agile equipment like submarines and drones. But there are concerns that opposition efforts to cut military spending could hurt the island's ability to strengthen its firepower. Taiwan's navy currently has two working submarines, Swordfish-class vessels bought from the Netherlands in the 1980s. Over the same period, China has built itself one of the world's largest navies, with nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers.
