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    In early 2022, Malcolm Turnbull was having discussions in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron about getting the French nuclear submarine contract back on track.

    Revealed: Turnbull’s Paris option to revive French subs deal

    Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull paved the way for Australia to renegotiate the French submarine contract when Labor came to power, but there was silence from the new government.

    • James Curran
    Biomass Projects founder Richard Paterson hopes to transform Western Australia’s largest weed infestation into carbon-capturing biochar.

    This trailblazer turns destructive weed into a replacement for coal

    Biomass Projects has plans to build the world’s largest biochar production on a 225,000-hectare Pilbara plot that is overrun with mesquite.

    • Gus McCubbing

    More RBA rate rises ‘unwarranted’ as non-migrant jobs growth tumbles

    Yarra Capital chief economist Tim Toohey has cut his economic growth forecast from 2.25 per cent to 1.75 per cent in 2024-25, well below the RBA’s 2.1 per cent.

    • Ronald Mizen

    Federal Court allows class action contingency fees

    Law firms will be able to run class actions off their own balance sheets in the Federal Court and share in damages awards.

    • Ronald Mizen

    US jobs data bolsters rate cut bets: Wall Street

    US bond yields fell and equities extended their rally as the path to a Fed pivot has become ever so slightly wider.

    • Timothy Moore

    How solar beat every forecast to win the renewables race

    Solar power is on track to generate more electricity than all the world’s nuclear power plants in 2026, its gas-fired power plants in 2030 and its coal-fired ones in 2032.

    • The Economist

    Opinion & Analysis

    Ukraine remains NATO’s pressing test of global relevance

    The shadow that hangs over NATO’s 75th birthday is a strange brew of populism that now endangers the alliance’s claim to modern strategic relevance.

    The AFR View

    Editorial

    The AFR View

    Asian allies key to our cyberdefence against China

    Japan and South Korea have for the first time joined Five Eyes allies led by Australia in directly calling out Chinese cyberattacks, but more can be done.

    Alastair MacGibbon

    Cybersecurity expert

    Alastair MacGibbon

    The best way to empower ASIC to tackle bad corporate behaviour

    Readers’ letters on beefing up ASIC’s powers; the dangers of neglecting science; and those left behind in the selective schools scramble.

    Contributor

    It’s an energy race between the implausible and the impossible

    Peter Dutton has come up with a nuclear-powered cost of living wedge to expose Labor’s overreach on renewables and sustainability.

    Matthew Warren

    Energy expert

    Matthew Warren
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    More From Today

    US President Joe Biden stands with fellow NATO leaders during a group photo in Washington DC for the alliance’s 75th anniversary.

    Ukraine remains NATO’s pressing test of global relevance

    The shadow that hangs over NATO’s 75th birthday is a strange brew of populism that now endangers the alliance’s claim to modern strategic relevance.

    • The AFR View
    For the first time, Australia is mentioning shadowy Chinese cyber wardare organisations by name.

    Asian allies key to our cyberdefence against China

    Japan and South Korea have for the first time joined Five Eyes allies led by Australia in directly calling out Chinese cyberattacks, but more can be done.

    • Alastair MacGibbon

    The best way to empower ASIC to tackle bad corporate behaviour

    Readers’ letters on beefing up ASIC’s powers; the dangers of neglecting science; and those left behind in the selective schools scramble.

    Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is now pushing for nuclear power plants, such as this one in Georgia, in the US, to solve Australia’s need for new energy generation.

    It’s an energy race between the implausible and the impossible

    Peter Dutton has come up with a nuclear-powered cost of living wedge to expose Labor’s overreach on renewables and sustainability.

    • Matthew Warren
    President Joe Biden delivers a NATO summit welcome speech.

    Inside the Democrats’ fight over Biden

    Hosting the NATO summit was supposed to help the US president demonstrate unity within the Democratic Party. But it is tearing itself apart.

    • Jennifer Hewett
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    Yesterday

    Foreign Minister Penny Wong has criticised malicious foreign cyber activities.

    Where do Australia’s China ties go after hack?

    The public outing only raises the question of where Australia takes the matter from here, and what it expects China to do.

    • The AFR View
    New UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

    Starmer’s centre-right policies will not bring meaningful change

    Readers’ letters on the shrinking centre of politics; harsh punishment in Queensland; Peter Dutton’s supermarkets plan; Victoria’s Suburban Rail Loop; and the ambiguity of Palestinian protesters.

     SSNs, as these submarines are referred to in military parlance, are incredibly powerful assets capable of multiple roles.

    Control of the sea is worth gambling on AUKUS

    To any objective observer it is apparent acquiring nuclear-powered submarines has significant advantages for national security. However, these come with major costs and risks.

    • Richard Dunley
    A nuclear power plant in Bavaria, Germany.

    CSIRO brings science, not politics, to electricity cost debate

    Some nuclear fans claim the agency has a position on Australia’s energy mix. That is both wrong and a misinterpretation.

    • Doug Hilton
    President Joe Biden.

    Confused despair grips Democratic voters

    Joe Biden seems to be revelling in his determination to once again prove his doubters wrong. The Trump campaign is confident it ensures their victory on November 5.

    • Jennifer Hewett

    This Month

    Fatima Payman will set on the Senate crossbench.

    Labor strife exposes risk to our cohesion

    Readers’ letters on Fatima Payman’s exit from the Labor Party; Monique Ryan’s call for an early election; handouts for Baby Boomers; the changing face of pharmacies.

    The MAGA and Brexit movements disobey the commonsense rules of economics.

    Economic logic always trumps junk politics

    Brexit, MAGA trade policies, and the Coalition’s nuclear power push will fail because they make no economic sense.

    • Craig Emerson
    Pro-Palestine protests outside Victoria’s state parliament in November. Gaza has become a meta issue for young Muslims.

    Our larrikin egalitarianism is more appealing than tribalism

    This is another critical time for this nation’s multiculturalism. Anthony Albanese must lead the case against sectarian identity politics that might unsettle it.

    • Tanveer Ahmed

    Immigration is the reason swing states are turning back to Trump

    Joe Biden is still betting big he can move key swing states his way, but Arizona was shifting back to Trump well before that debate. Jennifer Hewett reports from the south-west.

    • Jennifer Hewett

    Pezzullo bangs the war drums against placating an ‘imagined China’

    The former Home Affairs secretary does not, however, present a philosophy of international relations that might form a basis for Australia’s position in the world.

    • James Curran
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    RBA governor Michele Bullock is facing fresh calls to raise the cash rate.

    Why Michele Bullock’s next rate call will be one of the toughest

    The RBA governor faces one of the hardest calls any central banker has ever had to make. The chances of getting it wrong are higher than ever, and so are the costs.

    • Jonathan Shapiro
    Anna Hughes of the AOFM speaks at an economist lunch in Sydney on Thursday.

    AOFM chief puts banks on notice as bond trading probe heats up

    The head of the government’s debt agency has reminded the banks, which are hired to help it sell billions of dollars of bonds, what is expected of them.

    • Jonathan Shapiro

    There is no catastrophic failure of AUKUS Plan A

    The “optimal pathway” may not run exactly to plan, but the risk is known, is being managed, and all three partners have demonstrated their commitment to the process.

    • Jennifer Parker
    Evidence of a link between social media and poor mental health in young women is growing.

    Mental health crisis for young women started in 2012, study finds

    More research has found a strong link between the emergence of social media and depression, anxiety and self-harm.

    • Julie Hare

    Which states are in ‘the slow lane’ for retail spending?

    Retail sales in Victoria and Queensland are lagging the rest of Australia on a per-person basis, while Western Australia tops the spending charts.

    • Updated
    • Ronald Mizen