A senior commander with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) says too much is being made of the time lag between the start of the Chinese Navy’s live-fire exercise in the Tasman Sea and Australian authorities being notified of the event.

Admiral Quinton McHale (main picture) told a Senate hearing in Canberra that the criticisms ignored the fact that steps were already under way to improve the RAN’s ability to detect any future exercises by China.

“We’ll soon have brand spanking new submarines that will mean we’ll know a lot sooner if anyone is in or near our territorial waters,” Admiral McHale aid.

“So I suggest everyone just stay calm and hold their tongues until, well until around the late 2030s or early 2040s.”

Admiral McHale refused to take further questions, adding: “I don’t mean to sound too ‘woke’, but I believe that these days any reference to a lawful Chinese fire drill is, quite correctly, viewed as being racist.”

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will deploy special envoys to the West Bank where his government is accused of attempting the type of genocide against Palestinians it has already committed in Gaza.

Mr Netanyahu told reporters in Tel Aviv that he was “exceedingly sensitive” to any such allegations.

Trying hard to suppress a giggle, he said: “To ensure my government’s actions are seen in the correct light I’ll be sending two experts to the West Bank to take charge of our operations there.

“I have hand-picked those very well-qualified experts who, it so happens, are a husband-and-wife team we have used many times previously in Gaza.

“It is hoped that Ethel and Nick Cleansing will begin their work in the West Bank as soon as today,” Mr Netanyahu blurted out before collapsing in laughter and leaving the room.

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Founder of online merchandising company Amazon and owner of The Washington Post, the billionaire Jeff Bezos, has re-issued a note to the newspaper’s staff to “clarify” his planned new editorial policy for content on its opinion pages.

Mr Bezos (below) sparked controversy when he outlined the new policy in an email to all employees which said: “I’m writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages. We are going to be writing every day in support and defence of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.”

Following heavy criticism of his new approach, Mr Bezos said he was resending a modified  message to clear up any confusion.

The new message read: “I’m Righting to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages. We are going to be Righting every day in support and defence of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We’ll cover other topics – two of course, Donald Trump and anything MAGA – but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.”

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