The British government was expected to give the go-ahead yesterday for the construction of two 65,000 tonne aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy, the biggest warships ever built in Britain.
The decision to order the carriers, which together are predicted to cost up to ?3.9 billion (US$8.05 billion), is expected to trigger a key move in the consolidation of Britain's shipbuilding capability.
BAE Systems and VT Group, partners in the alliance that will build the carriers, are to merge their shipbuilding and naval support operations, though the agreement, also expected to be announced today, will exclude BAE's submarine building facility at Barrow, northwest England.
The British Ministry of Defence declined to comment on the timing of any announcement but ministers are understood to be pressing for an announcement this week. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said last week that he expected an announcement soon, suggesting it would come before parliament rises tomorrow. If an announcement is not made by that time it will probably have to be put back until the autumn, risking further delays to the program. Ministers have said in the past that the carrier order is expected to safeguard or create up to 10,000 jobs.
The new ships, which will be three times larger than Britain's existing carriers, were meant to come into service in 2012 and 2015 but the project has been hit by delays and it is unclear if the original timetable can be maintained.
Lord Drayson, the defense procurement minister, has been pressing for consolidation within the warship building sector as part of the defense industrial strategy, a program designed to ensure that Britain retains key skills and facilities in the defense sector.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in