Cameron to Deliver Delayed Europe Speech on Wednesday

Prime Minister David Cameron will deliver his postponed address on Britain’s future relations with Europe on Wednesday, his office said Monday.Mr. Cameron had planned to deliver the speech in Amsterdam on Friday but delayed it amid the Algerian hostage crisis, in which at least three Britons were killed. However, Mr. Cameron’s office released excerpts suggesting he had planned to explicitly warn that Britain might leave the European Union unless the bloc changed the way it was run.

Under pressure from his Conservative Party, Mr. Cameron has signaled his readiness for a referendum on the relationship with Europe, although the precise question to be asked is not clear.

The United States has been unusually public in its insistence that Britain, a close ally, stay in the union. Last week, a White House spokesman quoted President Obama as telling Mr. Cameron by telephone that “the United States values a strong U.K. in a strong European Union, which makes critical contributions to peace, prosperity and security in Europe and around the world.”

Northern Irish protests peaceful as "flag" riots subside

Protests in Northern Ireland passed off peacefully for the first Friday night this year after almost six weeks of rioting by pro-British loyalists.

The loyalists have held nightly demonstrations since pro-Irish nationalist councillors voted last month to end a century-old tradition of flying the British union flag every day over Belfast City Hall.

The flag's removal unearthed deep discontent among loyalists, who complain of feeling left behind by political changes since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement brought an uneasy end to three decades of sectarian conflict that cost some 3,600 lives.

Some protesters turned out in the snow on Friday, but for the fourth consecutive night there was no outbreak of violence. More protests are planned this weekend, including two afternoon rallies outside the city hall in central Belfast.

Fighting broke out on Saturday as mainly Protestant loyalist protesters passed a Catholic nationalist area on their way home from a rally in the city centre.

Royal Navy to face surveillance, transport helicopter shortages

The UK Royal Navy will encounter a potential four-year gap in its ability to deliver organic airborne surveillance and control (ASaC) services late this decade, following the retirement in 2016 of its last Westland Sea King helicopters, the government's National Audit Office (NAO) has warned.

Thirteen Sea King 7 ASaC aircraft are operated by the RN's Fleet Air Arm, with the type having provided airborne early warning cover from surface ships and also currently flying overland surveillance missions in support of operations in Afghanistan. Nicknamed "Baggers", the helicopters carry a Thales Searchwater radar.

The Ministry of Defence's "Crowsnest" effort to buy a replacement capability should enter its assessment phase this year, with current plans calling for some of the RN's upgraded AgustaWestland Merlin HM2 multimission helicopters to be adapted to carry an ASaC equipment fit. Options are believed to include integrating systems currently flown aboard the Sea King, or ordering a new mission system from Lockheed Martin, including active electronically scanned arrays being developed by Northrop Grumman using technology also found on Lockheed's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

In its annual Major Projects Report, published on 10 January, the NAO says the RN also faces the prospect of a two-year gap in its commando helicopter force capability, between the retirement of its Sea King HC4/4+ transports (one picture above) and the full availability of an upgraded fleet of Merlin HC3/3As, which are due to be transferred from Royal Air Force ownership in 2014-15.

"The department is examining alternative means of closing these capability gaps," the government's spending watchdog says. A replacement ASaC system would be available in time to coincide with the operational availability of the RN's first of a possible two 65,000t Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, according to its four-year estimate.