Only 15 known underwater internet cables connect Australia to the world – and they’re under threat from fishing boats, spies and natural disasters

By Cynthia Mehboob, PhD Scholar in Department of International Relations, Australian National University

The Australian government this week announced it would spend A$18 million over four years on a new centre aimed at keeping safe the undersea cables that power the nation’s internet.

The Cable Connectivity and Resilience Centre is tasked with protecting the critical undersea telecommunications cables throughout the Indo-Pacific region from deliberate interference from malicious actors, or accidental damage.

This is a crucial undertaking.…

Read complete article

~	Indonesia’s BRICS agenda: 2 reasons Prabowo’s foreign policy contrasts with Jokowi’s

~	Rising Voices: Listening to the world on its own terms

~	Moldova has introduced a state of emergency in the energy sector

~	Syria: Rights investigators call for protection of evidence, including mass grave sites

~	Brazil Bans X from Using Children to Power Its AI

~	El Salvador: A thousand days into the state of emergency. “Security” at the expense of human rights.

~	Prince Andrew and the British establishment’s ‘target-rich environment’ for spies

~	Times journalists deemed ‘legitimate military targets’ – how Russia muzzles criticism at home and abroad

~	Climate, migration and conflict mix to create ‘deadly’ intense tropical storms like Chido

~	What the colour of your snot says about your immune health