Australians squirmed Thursday as US President Joe Biden thanked their prime minister for joining a major new defence alliance but appeared to forget his name.
The pact will enable Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines and will see the country scrap its Attack Class Submarine Programme with France in favour of a deal with the UK. Paris has reacted angrily.
The fault lines of a disastrous new world war are rapidly emerging as the Biden administration forges alliances in the Indo-Pacific against China which the US regards as the greatest threat to its global hegemony.