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    Pentagon Is Reviewing Deal to Equip Australia With Nuclear Submarines

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    The 2021 pact, meant to help counter China’s ambitions in the Asia Pacific, will be examined to ensure that it meets “America First criteria,” a U.S. official said.The Trump administration is reviewing whether a security pact between the United States, Britain and Australia meant to equip Australia with nuclear submarines is “aligned with the president’s America First agenda,” a U.S. defense official said on Wednesday.When the deal was reached under President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s administration in 2021, it was billed as crucial for countering China’s growing military influence in the Asia Pacific. Now, its review appears to reinforce President Trump’s skeptical and transactional approach to longstanding alliances, including demands that allies spend more on their own defense.The Pentagon official said the review would ensure that the pact, known as Aukus, met “common-sense, America First criteria,” including ensuring that U.S. forces are at “the highest readiness,” that allies are doing their part, and that “the defense industrial base is meeting our needs.” The review was first reported by The Financial Times.Australia’s defense minister, Richard Marles, said both Australia and Britain had been notified about the review and that all three nations were still committed to the deal.“We’ve been aware of this for some time. We welcome it,” Mr. Marles said in a radio interview with ABC Melbourne on Thursday, Australia time. “It’s something which is perfectly natural for an incoming administration to do.”Australia sees the Aukus agreement as central to its defense strategy in the coming decades in a region increasingly shaped by China’s assertive military posturing. Nuclear submarines can travel much farther without detection than conventional ones can and would enable the Australian Navy to greatly extend its reach.Under the pact, Australia is scheduled to receive secondhand Virginia-class nuclear submarines from the United States in the 2030s while scaling up the capacity to build its own, using a British design. But there has been concern in both Washington and Canberra about whether the United States can build new submarines to replenish its fleet quickly enough for the older ones to be transferred to Australia.Elbridge Colby, the U.S. under secretary of defense for policy, said during his Senate confirmation hearing in March that he was skeptical about the pragmatic feasibility of the deal. The Financial Times reported that Mr. Colby was heading up the Pentagon review.“So if we can produce the attack submarines in sufficient number and sufficient speed, then great,” Mr. Colby said at the hearing. “But if we can’t, that becomes a very difficult problem.”Even before the review was announced, concern and anxiety had been building in Australia over whether it could continue to depend on its longstanding relationship with the United States, given the Trump administration’s treatment of allies.Mr. Marles, the Australian defense minister, said in the radio interview that he was confident the Aukus deal would proceed because “it’s in the interests of the United States to continue to work with Australia.”Michael D. Shear More

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      David Beckham to Be Knighted by King Charles III

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      The British news media reported that the on-field golden boy and international celebrity will receive the honor from King Charles III.It was perhaps the biggest moment of David Beckham’s decorated soccer career. England needed to score against Greece in 2001 to qualify for the World Cup, and he stood over a free kick with little time left.He duly bent the ball into the net, setting off paroxysms of joy throughout England. The announcer Gary Bloom spoke for the nation when he shouted, “Give that man a knighthood!”It took 24 years, but now he’s getting one.How do you get a knighthood?In the modern age, knighthoods are conferred by the British royal family upon citizens who have achieved great success in their fields and served their country in one way or another.“Recipients range from actors to scientists, and from school head teachers to industrialists,” the royal family’s website says. It might now add “impossibly handsome and famous ex-football stars.” Those conferred with a knighthood get the title “sir.”Let’s hear the credentials of Beckham, er, Sir David.Mr. Beckham, 50, was a brilliant soccer player, most memorably for Manchester United and England’s national team. His famous right foot had the uncanny ability to curl balls through the air and into the net, inspiring the title of the 2002 film “Bend it Like Beckham.”His post-football career has included co-ownership of Inter Miami, the Major League Soccer team. He has been a UNICEF ambassador, and his charisma helped London secure hosting duties for the 2012 Summer Olympics.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Liverpool FC Victory Parade: Driver Plows Into Crowd, Injuring 47

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      The driver, a 53-year-old British man, was arrested, but the event was not being treated as terrorism, the police said. Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the scenes as “appalling.”Local police said they detained a man in connection with a car that was driven through a crowd of people attending a soccer parade on Monday.Darren Staples/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesA driver slammed a car into a crowd celebrating Liverpool’s Premier League victory, seriously injuring a child and an adult and sending more than two dozen people to hospitals, officials in England said on Monday.The crash created chaos at the end of a festive day in which hundreds of thousands of sports fans had gathered for a parade through the Liverpool city center to celebrate their team. More

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      What to Know About the Liverpool FC Parade Car Crash

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      Almost 50 people, including four children, were injured on Monday after a driver plowed into a crowd that had been celebrating Liverpool F.C.’s Premier League title.A driver plowed a car into a crowd of pedestrians in England who were celebrating Liverpool’s Premier League victory at a parade on Monday attended by hundreds of thousands of people.Here is what we know.What happened?The Merseyside Police said they were contacted about 6 p.m. on Monday local time after reports that a car had hit the crowd.Video shared on social media shows a dark-color vehicle with a broken rear window swerving into the crowd and hitting parade-goers, leaving people on the ground. The video shows people rushing to aid the victims, including some who were trapped beneath the vehicle, and surrounding the vehicle once it stopped.Video also shows witnesses attempting to stop the vehicle, with one person prying open the driver’s-side door before a man in the driver’s seat slams the door shut and accelerates into the crowd.At a news conference on Monday night, Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims of the Merseyside Police said: “What I can tell you is that we believe this to be an isolated incident and we are not currently looking for anyone else in connection with it. The incident is not being treated as terrorism.”Who is the suspect?The police said that a 53-year-old British man from the Liverpool area had been arrested after the car stopped at the scene. “We believe him to be the driver of the vehicle,” Ms. Sims said at the news conference.What do we know about the injured?At least 47 people were injured in the crash, including four children, the ambulance service said on Monday night. Twenty-seven of them were taken to hospitals, two of whom — including one child — had sustained serious injuries.Twenty others were treated at the scene with minor injuries. A paramedic on a cycle was also struck by the vehicle, but did not sustain any serious injuries.Four people — including a child — were temporarily trapped under the vehicle, the fire and rescue service said.Officials did not identify any of the victims.Where did it happen?The ramming happened along Water Street in the Liverpool city center, near the end of the 10-mile parade route. More

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      British Retailer M&S Says Cyberattack Will Cost It $400 Million

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      The company also said it would take several more weeks to resolve issues relating to the attack, which came to light last month.Marks & Spencer, one of Britain’s largest retailers, said on Wednesday that disruption from a “highly sophisticated” cyberattack that crippled operations over the last month was expected to linger until July and would cost the company about 300 million pounds ($400 million) in lost profits this year.The breach, which emerged over the Easter weekend, has been costing the company millions of pounds a day after it had to pause online orders, staff had to resort to manual processes and food waste piled up.Some processes like food deliveries to stores are running smoothly again, but the company is still not taking online orders for clothing and home goods and customers cannot get access to its loyalty program. Online orders and related back-end operations will not fully return until July, the company said.“This has been a challenging time,” Stuart Machin, the retailer’s chief executive, said in a call with analysts on Wednesday.“We’re now focused on recovery and customers should be able to shop in our stores as normal,” he said, adding that it would take several more weeks to restart online orders.Cyberattacks and other digital security breaches are relatively prevalent in Britain, disrupting stores, charities and hospitals. But even when they are contained or interrupted, the damage can last a long time as organizations slowly get processes back online and staff members are diverted from other priorities.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Chris Brown Released on $6 Million Bail by London Court

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      The R&B singer was charged last week with grievous bodily harm over a 2023 incident in England. His release from custody means he can proceed with a world tour.Chris Brown, the R&B singer, has been freed from custody by a London judge as he awaits a court case over accusations of an assault in a nightclub.Mr. Brown, 36, was arrested last week at a hotel in Manchester, England, and charged with grievous bodily harm.The singer is accused of attacking a music producer with a tequila bottle at Tape London, a nightclub in the Mayfair district, on Feb. 19, 2023.Lawyers representing Mr. Brown applied for him to be bailed at a hearing at Southwark Crown Court in South London on Wednesday, and London’s Metropolitan Police said the application had been granted.The judge’s decision means that Mr. Brown will be able to perform on an international tour that is scheduled to begin in Amsterdam on June 8. He is then set to visit European countries including Germany, Britain, Ireland, France and Portugal before traveling to the United States.The BBC reported that the judge, Tony Baumgartner, imposed a series of conditions on Mr. Brown, including that he must surrender his passport when not on tour and stay away from Tape London.Mr. Brown’s representatives agreed to pay into the court a security fee of five million pounds ($6.7 million), which can be forfeited if any of the conditions are breached.He has not yet been asked to enter a plea in the case, and British law bans the reporting of any details that could prejudice a jury at a future trial.Omololu Akinlolu, 38, an American rapper who performs under the name HoodyBaby, was charged with grievous bodily harm two days after Mr. Brown, in relation to the same incident.Mr. Brown and Mr. Akinlolu are scheduled to appear at a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on June 20. More

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      Three Iranians Accused of Targeting People in Britain

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      The charges against the men come as concerns have grown about Iranian operatives carrying out operations against British residents and citizens.Three Iranian men appeared in court on Saturday in London, accused of helping Iran’s intelligence service by targeting individuals in Britain.Mostafa Sepahvand, 39; Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44; and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, have been charged under Britain’s National Security Act with engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service between Aug. 14 last year and Feb. 16.They are also accused of carrying out surveillance and reconnaissance as part of a plan to commit serious violence against an individual, who was not identified.The arrests come amid growing concern about efforts by Iranian operatives to target British citizens and residents.The Metropolitan Police said in a statement that the men had been arrested and detained on May 3. “The foreign state to which the charges relate is Iran,” the statement added.The BBC reported that the three had been accused of targeting journalists working for Iran International, an independent, Persian-language broadcaster based in London that has been critical of the Iranian government.All three defendants, who live in London, had illegally entered Britain between 2016 and 2022, and two were among the thousands who have traveled to the country on small boats from France.“The charges that have been laid against these three individuals must now take their course through the criminal justice system, and nothing must be done to prejudice the outcome of those proceedings,” Yvette Cooper, Britain’s home secretary, said in a statement.“But we will also take separate action to address the very serious wider issues raised by this case,” Ms. Cooper added. “The police have confirmed that the foreign state to which these charges relate is Iran, and Iran must be held to account for its actions.”Thanking the police, Ms. Cooper said, “We will not tolerate growing state threats on our soil.”In a speech last year, Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, Britain’s domestic security service, identified Iran as a country of growing concern to the counterterrorism police. He said that since January 2022, the security services had been investigating 20 Iranian-backed plots that posed potentially lethal threats to British citizens and residents. More

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      Kate Middleton Presents 2025 Queen Elizabeth II Award for Design

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      The British royal made a surprise appearance on Tuesday to present a fashion award named for Queen Elizabeth II.The fashion crowd in London is generally known for keeping cool. But on Tuesday, the editors and designers at a ceremony for one of the industry’s most prestigious local awards became palpably excited when Catherine, Princess of Wales, emerged to present this year’s Queen Elizabeth II Award for Design to Patrick McDowell, 29, a Liverpool-born designer.Dressed in an olive Victoria Beckham suit and a white silk pussy-bow blouse, Catherine walked with Mr. McDowell among mannequins and models wearing the designer’s looks inside 180 the Strand, the Central London building where the event took place. It was the second time the princess had presented the award, which was created by the British Fashion Council and the British royal family in 2018 to recognize the role London’s fashion industry “plays in society and diplomacy.”The princess did not give public comments at the ceremony, but Mr. McDowell said that their private conversation touched on topics including a shared appreciation for craftsmanship and the designer’s efforts to make collections in Britain and offer customers the option to repair or rework old garments.Mr. McDowell added that, as Catherine toured the clothes on display, she took interest in a tailored sleeveless jacket called “the Wales jacket.”“She said, ‘Why would you call it that?’ with a big smile,” Mr. McDowell said. “What a moment, to be sharing jokes with our future queen.”Patrick McDowell, left, a Liverpool-born designer and the winner of this year’s Queen Elizabeth II Award for Design.Shaun James Cox/BFCWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      UK Battles Wildfires Amid Drought Warnings

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      A very dry start to spring has helped set off wildfires across Scotland, Wales and England, and officials have warned of a potential drought this summer.Wildfires erupted across Britain over the past week amid the driest start to spring in nearly 70 years. Fires burned through forested areas in Scotland, Wales and England, coinciding with declining river levels and warnings of drought.In Scotland, a large forest fire near the village of Fauldhouse, west of Edinburgh, broke out late Saturday morning and was still burning on Sunday. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service deployed around 50 firefighters, supported by a helicopter dropping water over the woodland area. Mainland Scotland remains under an “extreme” wildfire risk warning through Monday, with officials urging the public to take precautions.Residents in nearby areas were advised by the police to keep windows and doors closed as emergency crews worked to contain the blaze.“Human behavior can significantly lower the chance of a wildfire starting, so it is crucial that people act safely and responsibly in rural environments,” officials said. In southwest Wales, a wildfire broke out on Friday evening on the Welsh Government Woodland Estate near Maerdy. Though it was brought under control, the blaze reignited in several places on Saturday morning before being extinguished on Sunday.Last week in England a major wildfire in Dartmoor, Devon, raged across more than 1,200 acres of land before being put out. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said at the peak of the blazes, crews from 13 fire stations were deployed to the area, as well as wildlife support officers and a police helicopter.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More