US military, seeking strategic advantages, builds up Australia’s northern bases amid China tensions

US military, seeking strategic advantages, builds up Australia’s northern bases amid China tensions
1 / 2
Fighter jets fly over a crowd in a display during Exercise Pitch Black at Mindil Beach, Darwin, on July 18, 2024. (REUTERS)
Short Url
Updated 26 July 2024
Follow

US military, seeking strategic advantages, builds up Australia’s northern bases amid China tensions

US military, seeking strategic advantages, builds up Australia’s northern bases amid China tensions

DARWIN, Australia: The US military is building infrastructure in northern Australia to help it project power into the South China Sea if a crisis with China erupts, a Reuters review of documents and interviews with US and Australian defense officials show.
Closer to the Philippines than Australia’s east coast capital, Canberra, Darwin has long been a garrison town for the Australian Defense Force and a US Marine Rotational Force that spends six months of each year there.
A few hundred kilometers to the south, RAAF Base Tindal is home to key elements of Australia’s airpower, and was a temporary base for US jets in recent exercises.
As northern Australia re-emerges as a strategically vital Indo-Pacific location amid rising tensions with China, the United States has quietly begun constructing hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of facilities there to support B-52 bombers, F-22 stealth fighters, and refueling and transport aircraft — all part of a larger effort to distribute US forces around the region and make them less vulnerable.
“When you look at the positioning of northern Australia, particularly Darwin, in relation to the region ... it’s always good to have multiple options in where you would want to put your forces in any type of crisis,” said Col. Brian Mulvihill, commanding officer of the US Marine Rotational Force.
Tender documents show that intelligence briefing rooms, upgraded runways for bombers, warehouses, data centers and maintenance hangars are in the works. Massive fuel storage facilities are already built, officials told Reuters on a rare visit to the two northern bases.
The projects, scheduled for construction in 2024 and 2025, make northern Australia the top overseas location for US Air Force and Navy construction spending, with more than $300 million set aside under the US congressional defense authorizations for those years.
There is more on the horizon: The US Navy in June sought contractors for projects worth up to $2 billion to build wharves, runways, fuel storage and hangars in places including Australia’s Cocos Islands, and neighboring Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste, under a program to counter China.
China’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.




Wing Commander Andrew Nelson, commanding officer for Australia's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter squadron based at RAAF Tindal, and Lt. Col. Ryan Nickell from a visiting US F-22 squadron, pose for a photograph near the town of Katherine in the Northern Territory, Australia, on July 17, 2024. (REUTERS)

Air Commodore Ron Tilley, the Royal Australian Air Force director-general of capital facilities and infrastructure, confirmed Washington was paying for the facilities at Darwin and Tindal, which would support US operations.
“I don’t believe the US would be spending all this money on our northern bases if there wasn’t an arrangement in place where they could use those facilities they are funding in times of conflict,” he added.
Canberra has drawn closer to its top security ally, Washington, under the AUKUS pact to transfer US nuclear submarine technology to Australia next decade. Yet it has been largely silent on US military construction in the north.
The Australian government recently highlighted its own plans to spend A$14 billion “hardening” the northern bases under the country’s biggest defense shakeup since World War Two.
The Australian and US defense officials interviewed for this story said the new facilities should not be characterised as US bases. Foreign basing is a sensitive domestic political issue for Australia; successive governments, including that of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, have said there are no US bases on Australian soil.
“All the bases will remain Australian bases, but will be able to be utilized by our international partners,” Tilley said.

Laying foundations
A 2011 agreement with Australia for the US Marine Corps to temporarily train in Darwin has evolved into a regional deterrence role for about 2,000 Marines each year, Mulvihill said. War games this month included troops from the Philippines and Timor Leste.
The Marines are adding facilities at Darwin for their MV-22 Osprey aircraft, which can shuttle troops and equipment.
“Darwin is absolutely key terrain for us to help bring stability to the region,” he said in an interview at Darwin’s Larrakeyah Barracks. “We are more focused on that interoperability with the Australian Defense Force – how can we project power from northern Australia into the region.”
The United States wants to be able to disperse its forces from its largest bases in the Pacific, such as Guam and Okinawa, to reduce vulnerability.
For Australia, the northern bases offer greater access to the South China Sea, and with Tindal, a secure inland location for Australia’s F-35A stealth aircraft and its MQ-4C Triton long-range surveillance drone. A US F-22 Raptor squadron shared the facilities this month during Exercise Pitch Black.
Tindal’s location is “vitally important,” said RAAF Base Tindal Wing Commander Fiona Pearce, with “greater reach into our near region.”
US tender documents and engineering plans for Tindal show parking and hangars for six B-52 bombers and refueling aircraft.
Australia is spending A$1.5 billion ($981.45 million) on Tindal’s redevelopment, and by July a new terminal, control tower, hangars and accommodation for extra personnel were near completion. Separate US and Australian jet fuel stores sit side by side, and the tarmac is being dug up for the bomber expansion.




Tibby Quall, an indigenous Australian, is seen at a protest site in Darwin, Australia, on July 16, 2024. (REUTERS)

‘Already a target’
A third of residents in the sparsely populated Northern Territory are Indigenous Australians, although they make up just 10 percent of Darwin’s population.
Traditional Owners, as Indigenous Australians who have cultural access rights to an area of land or sea are referred to in Australia, can visit sacred sites on the bases, US and Australian officials said.
Tibby Quall, 75, is among several Traditional Owners who say growing demand for defense-related housing in Darwin has led to land-clearing of forests they want protected, while rising prices have pushed Indigenous families out of the city.
Despite visitation rights, he says, his family has no real voice on how the land is used.
“Defense are the prominent citizens,” said Quall, a military veteran.
Darwin Mayor Kon Vatskalis says his city, where a Chinese company runs the port, welcomes the economic boost as the defense presence grows, although some residents have raised concerns that hosting the US military could make the city a target.
“The reality is that we are already a target: We are the most northern port in Australia, we are the city that serves the gas and oil industry,” said Vatskalis, who supports the military expansion.


China’s BYD, Tsingshan scrap plans for Chile lithium plants as prices plunge

China’s BYD, Tsingshan scrap plans for Chile lithium plants as prices plunge
Updated 08 May 2025
Follow

China’s BYD, Tsingshan scrap plans for Chile lithium plants as prices plunge

China’s BYD, Tsingshan scrap plans for Chile lithium plants as prices plunge
  • Retreat a blow to Chile’s aim to develop more domestic processing of lithium
  • Chile is the world’s no. 2 producer of the key metal for electric vehicle batteries

SANTIAGO: Chinese automaker BYD and metals group Tsingshan are backing out of multi-million dollar plans to build lithium cathode plants in Chile, the country’s economic development agency said on Wednesday.
The retreat by the two huge Chinese companies is a blow to Chile’s aim to develop more domestic processing of lithium, a key metal for electric vehicle batteries. Chile is the world’s no. 2 lithium producer.
Both projects were hit by plunging lithium prices, said government economic development agency Corfo, which in 2023 had tapped BYD and Tsingshan for a preferential lithium price deal as part of its efforts to spur investment in Chile.
“The companies selected by Corfo have been affected in their investment decisions by the global market conditions, which have shown a sharp drop in prices,” Corfo said in a statement.
Tsingshan told Reuters it has withdrawn plans for a $233 million project to produce 120,000 metric tons of lithium iron phosphate (LFP). Chile’s national assets ministry told Reuters that BYD filed an intent to withdraw its plans in January.
BYD, the world’s biggest maker of electric cars, declined to comment. BYD last year flagged delays to a planned $290 million plant, which was expected to produce 50,000 metric tons per year of LFP for cathodes.
Chilean newspaper Diario Financiero first reported the scrapped investments.
Chile’s effort in 2018 to encourage lithium-related investments via a pricing deal also fell apart. Chilean chemical company Molymet, China’s Sichuan Fulin Transportation Group Co. , and a joint venture between Korean firms Posco and Samsung for various reasons withdrew their plans.
Tsingshan and BYD would have had access to preferential prices of lithium produced by Chilean miner SQM through 2030, a timeframe that Corfo said also may have influenced the withdrawal of the projects.
In addition, Corfo said Tsingshan had wanted to assign the project development to a unit of the company that had not participated in the bidding process, which Corfo said was not possible.
Corfo last week opened a second bidding process for a similar scheme, this time to provide a purchasing deal with US lithium producer Albemarle through 2043 for companies that commit to lithium-related projects.
Albemarle and the selected investors will be able to use an “alternative form” to determine a price agreement, Corfo said.


Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters occupy Columbia University library

Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters occupy Columbia University library
Updated 08 May 2025
Follow

Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters occupy Columbia University library

Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters occupy Columbia University library
  • Student protesters at Columbia, Jewish organizers among them, say the government is unfairly conflating pro-Palestinian protests and antisemitism

NEW YORK: Dozens of protesters stood on tables, beat drums and unfurled pro-Palestinian banners in the main reading room of a Columbia University library on Wednesday in one of the biggest demonstrations at the school since its New York City campus was roiled by a student protest movement last year.
Videos and photographs on social media showed the protesters, most wearing masks, with banners saying “Strike For Gaza” and “Liberated Zone” beneath the Lawrence A. Wein Reading Room’s chandeliers in the Butler Library. Columbia’s public affairs office said in a statement that its public safety staff were asking protesters to show identification, and that if protesters do not comply with orders to disperse, they will be disciplined for breaking school rules and face “possible arrest.”
At one point, more people were seen trying to enter the library, according to a Reuters witness. Public safety staff locked a door and shoving and pushing ensued.
The protest comes as Columbia’s board of trustees continues its negotiations with US President Donald Trump’s administration, which announced in March it had canceled hundreds of millions of dollars of grants to the university for scientific research.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in an interview with the NBC 4 news channel that Columbia officials had asked for help and that the New York Police Department was sending officers to the campus.
Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a collection of student groups, recirculated on social media on Wednesday their long-standing demand that the university end investments of its $14.8 billion endowment in weapons makers and other companies that support Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian territories.
Trump, a Republican, has called the pro-Palestinian student protests across college campuses last year antisemitic and anti-American. Student protesters at Columbia, Jewish organizers among them, say the government is unfairly conflating pro-Palestinian protests and antisemitism.
Trump is also trying to deport some pro-Palestinian international students at US schools, saying their presence could harm US foreign policy interests.
The protesters in the library also demanded the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and Columbia graduate student who remains in a Louisiana immigrants jail after he was among the first to be arrested.


Putin’s order for three-day truce with Ukraine enters force

Putin’s order for three-day truce with Ukraine enters force
Updated 08 May 2025
Follow

Putin’s order for three-day truce with Ukraine enters force

Putin’s order for three-day truce with Ukraine enters force
  • Putin announced the truce last month as a “humanitarian” gesture, following pressure from Trump
  • Ukraine never agreed to the truce and has dismissed it as theatrics, calling instead for a 30-day ceasefire

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order for a three-day truce with Ukraine to coincide with Moscow’s World War II Victory Day commemorations has taken effect, Russian state media reported.
Ukraine never agreed to the truce and has dismissed it as theatrics, calling instead for a 30-day ceasefire.
The three-day order began at midnight Thursday (2100 GMT on Wednesday) and is scheduled to last until the end of Saturday, according to the Kremlin.
“The ceasefire ... on the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory has begun,” Russia’s state RIA news agency reported.
Hours before Putin’s order was scheduled to enter force, Moscow and Kyiv traded a slew of aerial attacks, prompting airport closures in Russia and leaving at least two dead in Ukraine.
The Kremlin has said Russian forces will honor Putin’s order to cease fire, but will respond “immediately” if Ukraine launches any attacks.
Putin announced the truce last month as a “humanitarian” gesture, following pressure from the United States to halt his three-year assault on Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump has been trying to broker a lasting ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv since his inauguration, but has failed to extract any major concessions from the Kremlin.
Putin rejected a joint US-Ukrainian proposal for an unconditional ceasefire in March, and has since offered only slim contributions to Trump’s peace efforts.
Ukraine has said it does not believe Russia will adhere to this truce and accused Moscow of hundreds of violations during a previous, 30-hour ceasefire ordered by Putin over Easter.


Polish police say one killed in axe attack at Warsaw University

Polish police say one killed in axe attack at Warsaw University
Updated 07 May 2025
Follow

Polish police say one killed in axe attack at Warsaw University

Polish police say one killed in axe attack at Warsaw University
  • "Police have detained a man who entered the University of Warsaw campus," Warsaw Police said
  • Gazeta Wyborcza daily reported that the attacker was a third-year law student

WARSAW: Police said on Wednesday they had detained a 22-year-old Polish man after he killed one person with an axe at Warsaw University, in an attack the institution described as a "huge tragedy".
"Police have detained a man who entered the University of Warsaw campus. One person died, another was taken to hospital with injuries," Warsaw Police said in a statement on X.
They said the incident occurred at around 6:40 p.m. (1640 GMT), when the man attacked people on the campus with an axe, adding that the detainee was a 22-year-old Polish citizen.
Gazeta Wyborcza daily reported that the attacker was a third-year law student.
Private broadcaster Polsat News reported that a woman's severed head and an axe had been found at the university.
A spokesperson for the district prosecutor's office declined to comment on whether a severed head had been found.
The spokesperson said that a female administrative employee of the university had been killed at the scene and a security guard was injured and was taken to hospital in critical condition.
He said that the attacker had entered an auditorium at the university.
Reuters reporters at the scene saw police vans and a cordon around the auditorium where the attack took place.
The Rector of the University of Warsaw said in a statement that May 8 would be a day of mourning at the institution, calling the attack a "huge tragedy".
"We express our great sorrow and sympathy to the family and loved ones," the statement read.


Belgian teens found with 5,000 ants in Kenya given option of fine or sentence

Belgian teens found with 5,000 ants in Kenya given option of fine or sentence
Updated 07 May 2025
Follow

Belgian teens found with 5,000 ants in Kenya given option of fine or sentence

Belgian teens found with 5,000 ants in Kenya given option of fine or sentence
  • Authorities said the ants were destined for European and Asian markets in an emerging trend of trafficking lesser-known wildlife species

NAIROBI: Two Belgian teenagers found with 5,000 ants in Kenya were given a choice of paying a fine of $7,700 or serving 12 months in prison — the maximum penalty for the offense — for violating wildlife conservation laws.

Authorities said the ants were destined for European and Asian markets in an emerging trend of trafficking lesser-known wildlife species.

Belgian nationals Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, both 19 years old, were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house in Nakuru county, which is home to various national parks. They were charged on April 15.

Magistrate Njeri Thuku, sitting at the court in Kenya’s main airport on Wednesday, said in her ruling that despite the teenagers telling the court they were naïve and collecting the ants as a hobby, the particular species of ants they collected is valuable and they had thousands of them — not just a few.

The Kenya Wildlife Service had said the teenagers were involved in trafficking the ants to markets in Europe and Asia, and that the species included messor cephalotes, a distinctive, large and red-colored harvester ant native to East Africa.

“This is beyond a hobby. Indeed, there is a biting shortage of messor cepholates online,” Thuku said in her ruling.

The illegal export of the ants “not only undermines Kenya’s sovereign rights over its biodiversity but also deprives local communities and research institutions of potential ecological and economic benefits,” KWS said in a statement.

Duh Hung Nguyen, a Vietnamese national, told the court that he was sent to pick up the ants and arrived at Kenya’s main airport where he met his contact person, Dennis Ng’ang’a, and together they traveled to meet the locals who sell the ants.

Ng’ang’a, who is from Kenya, had said he didn’t know it was illegal because ants are sold and eaten locally.