🚀Albanese calls Israel's 'accountability' for Australian's Gaza death 'completely unacceptable'
🚀Albanese calls Israel's 'accountability' for Australian's Gaza death 'completely unacceptable'
Good Evening .
The Greens will use a Senate enquiry into Australia's extinction crisis to investigate the Federal Government's environmental law reform after stakeholders raised concerns that the secret process is going wrong.
While, New evidence has led to the reopening of Bruce Lehrmann's Federal Court defamation case against Network Ten, the former Liberal staffer.
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- Miko Santos, Editor
The S&P/ASX 200 ended the day with a slight decrease, down 0.11%.
Stocks experienced a slight decline but managed to recover from their lowest point in a calm trading session. Gold stocks performed exceptionally well as the gold price reached new record highs, while Telco, Health, and Property stocks experienced significant losses.
In the latest economics news, the RBA minutes have indicated that further rate hikes are unlikely, although the timing of the first cut is still uncertain.
💡Evening’s Headlines
In order to assist communities affected by the ongoing Middle East crisis, the federal government has announced funding of $5.22 million for 37 organisations.
The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee has agreed to hold a public hearing into the new migration bill on 15 April. According to Shadow Minister for Home Affairs & Cyber Security James Paterson
AAP and Google partner to intensify the battle against false information and misinformation
🗳️ AUS POLITICS
Dfat looking into reports of an Australian aid worker's death
The Australian government has confirmed that it is looking into reports that Zomi Frankcom, an aid worker from Australia, was killed in a strike in Gaza.
Four international aid workers from the World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity and their Palestinian driver were killed in an airstrike, according to Gaza medical officials. The workers had assisted in delivering food and other supplies to the northern part of Gaza.
The British, Australian, and Polish passports of three deceased individuals were displayed by Palestinians in a video. At this time, it is unknown what country the fourth aid worker is from.
The Jewish Council of Australia calls on state and federal governments in Australia to immediately cut all military ties and place sanctions on Israel amid the escalating violence in Gaza.[ Continue reading]
📈 INVESTMENT
Australia's private capital market reached A$139 billion after growing by 33% in just 18 months.
The 2024 edition of the annual Australian Private Capital Market Yearbook was released today by Preqin and the Australian Investment Council.
Using both exclusive information from the Australian Investment Council's teams and Preqin's data, the report tracks activity in Australia's private capital market.
Preqin data shows that private capital AUM climbed to A$139 billion by 30 June 2023, from A$104.5 billion at 31 December 2021. This growth trend underscores domestic and international investor appetite to seek returns by investing in Australian ideas, businesses, and assets.
Fundraising amongst Australia-focused private capital funds moderated in 2023, compared with record levels in 2021 - 2022, but continued at levels in line with pre-pandemic norms, with an aggregate value of A$10 billion raised. A general trend has emerged where, in a more subdued global and market environment, more capital is being committed to fewer, but more experienced, fund managers. [ Continue reading ]
📠 BUSINESS
Jetstar departs for Osaka, the culinary hub of Japan.
Jetstar is commemorating the reopening of the sole direct flight route in Australia between Sydney and Osaka (Kansai), as its inaugural flight departed this morning.
This flight restores convenient, affordable travel to Japan's second-biggest city after Tokyo, as the low-cost carrier operates this route for the first time in 15 years.
With the help of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Jetstar will provide three weekly return flights, providing over 100,000 inexpensive seats between Sydney and Osaka annually.
With these direct flights, Jetstar is celebrating 20 years of helping customers take off to more places, more often at amazing low fares.
According to Jenn Armour, Executive Manager of Customer Relations at Jetstar, the airline is thrilled to be able to provide yet another budget route connecting Australia and Japan.
🖥️ Technology
2024 Global GWM TANK Owners Celebration Opens a New Chapter of Off-Road Culture
On March 30, the 2024 Global GWM TANK Owners Celebration was held in Xishuangbanna, China. More than 2,000 loyal GWM TANK owners from China, the Middle East, Europe, Australia and other countries and regions, more than 50 industry partners and hundreds of media representatives explored the charm of technology and jointly celebrated the off-road culture created with owners from the world.
GWM TANK has always been the owner's favorite off-road product line, with its sales volume topping China's rugged off-road sales for 38 consecutive months, and its market share consistently exceeding 50 percent. Up to now, global sales have exceeded 390,000 units. Since 2022, the globalization strategy of GWM TANK has achieved remarkable results. Currently, GWM TANK SUVs have been sold in more than 30 countries and regions around the world, creating a new pattern of acquiring high-end off-road markets with premium and excellent products. [ Continue Reading ]
🌎 World Tonight
One of the world's largest telecommunications companies has launched an urgent investigation after personal data belonging to 73 millions AT&T of its current and former customers was posted on the dark web.
World Central Kitchen is devastated to confirm seven members of our team have been killed in an IDF strike in Gaza.
Three 12-year-old students were shot at a school outside of the Finnish capital on Tuesday. One of the victims subsequently passed away, according to police, and a 12-year-old classmate who was suspected of carrying out the attack was placed under arrest.
🏅 Fact Check
A Fijian businessman backed by the Chinese Communist Party is a prime target for Australian criminals
Prominent Fiji-based businessman Zhao Fugang is a trusted advocate for China’s interests in the Pacific. But Australian law enforcement and intelligence agencies suspect he plays another part: as a senior organized crime leader. Fugang has not been charged with any crime.
From his perch at the hilltop Yue Lai Hotel, China-born entrepreneur Zhao Fugang enjoys a panoramic view of Fiji’s seaside capital, Suva.
But the hotel is not just the headquarters of Zhao’s local business empire, which has stretched from tourism to property development. It’s also the base for the businessman’s parallel job: promoting China’s influence in the Pacific country.
The imposing red-and-black hotel is a favored venue for the local Chinese embassy’s official functions, where Zhao has rubbed shoulders with senior Fijian officials. It’s also home to an official “service center” for Chinese citizens, which has played a public role in fostering security ties between China and Fiji.
The businessman’s role is typical of Beijing’s steady efforts to build its footprint in the Pacific Islands. The ruling Chinese Communist Party often uses prominent members of the overseas diaspora as proxies to push Chinese interests, under a strategy it calls the “United Front.” [ Continue Reading ]
📰 Good News, Inspiring, Positive Stories
Research grant to advance ovarian cancer treatment
The Centenary Institute has received vital grant funding from Cancer Australia to lead new research efforts targeting chemotherapy resistance in ovarian cancer patients.
Ovarian cancer, one of the deadliest cancers affecting women worldwide, is a challenging disease to treat. High rates of chemotherapy resistance hinder treatment success and patient survival.
Dr Alex Cole, from the Centenary Institute’s Centre for Biomedical AI, will lead the research focused on developing a new treatment to counteract a protein called follistatin (FST), known for making ovarian cancer cells resistant to chemotherapy. [ Continue Reading ]