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The US is "deeply committed" to the Quad - the grouping with India, Japan and Australia - and will continue to build on that in the year to come, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said. ...we're also deeply committed to the Quad, the concept of in conjunction with Japan and India, the building out of this Quad, which is something you'll see, Rubio said Monday. He delivered remarks along with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong at the Department of State before the Australia-US Ministerial Consultations. Rubio said that the Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting was his first meeting soon after he was sworn in as Secretary of State in January this year. I had been confirmed, sworn in downstairs, and came right up on that elevator and into this room. And it was in this very room that I did my first event as Secretary of State with the Quad," Rubio said. "...I think we've had at least
It is unfortunate that the US did not participate in the G20 in Johannesburg this weekend because important matters relating to world trade were discussed, South Africa's Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau said on Sunday. Tau, asked whether the US would lose out by not attending and reduce its influence on global trade, said this needed to be judged in the context of what the outcomes of the G20 have been. It's been an important discussion around global trade, issues around the World Trade Organisation (WTO), discussion around industrialisation, financing for development, around debt. All those issues are important for the entire world and it is quite unfortunate that their (the US) voice was not coming across at these meetings, Tau said in a media briefing. The minister said discussions with the US around trade would continue. G20 is a separate process. Of course, I can't pretend that it does not reflect on the issues that have been discussed, but so far it hasn
The US government has released a new crash test dummy design that advocates believe will help make cars safer for women. The Department of Transportation will consider using the dummy in the government's vehicle crash test five star-ratings once a final rule is adopted, the agency said in a news release on Thursday. Women are 73 per cent more likely to be injured in a head-on crash, and they are 17 per cent more likely to be killed in a car crash, than men. The standard crash test dummy used in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration five-star vehicle testing was developed in 1978 and was modelled after a 5-foot-9, 78-kilogram man. The female dummy is smaller and has a rubber jacket to represent breasts. It's routinely tested in the passenger or back seat but seldom in the driver's seat, even though the majority of licensed drivers are women. The new female dummy endorsed by the department more accurately reflects differences between men and women, including the shape o