An earthquake struck off Vanuatu on Saturday; magnitude estimates range from 6.16 (GFZ, via Reuters) to 7.2 (TASS, Folha de S.Paulo). The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami alert, according to Folha de S.Paulo.
Geopolitics
Independent MP Helen Haines is in stable condition after both her legs were amputated following an alleged vehicle attack, her husband says. A suspect has been charged with three offences and appeared in court, according to Al Jazeera.
Geopolitics
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday that the ramming of Helen Haines outside the MP's office was a deliberate act, not an accident. A 43-year-old man is in police custody, and police say it was an isolated incident. Haines was operated on overnight and remains in critical condition according to the government, while FAZ reports that the MP apparently has only one leg left.
Geopolitics
Independent MP Helen Haines was in critical condition after being deliberately struck by a car outside her office in Wangaratta on Monday, police and the prime minister said. The driver was arrested at the scene, and an anti-terror team is investigating, according to Handelsblatt.
Geopolitics
Emirati investigators say the co-pilot accused of attacking the captain on a flydubai flight to Israel drifted toward extremism while a student in Australia, the New York Times reports. Samir Mohtadi, whose Melbourne Islamic community centre UAE prosecutors have linked to the co-pilot, rejects what he calls false accusations.
Geopolitics
Australian data-centre operator Firmus abandoned its plan to list in Sydney, blaming "recent market volatility and prevailing market conditions", the Financial Times reports. Bloomberg reports that the Nvidia-backed company is exploring raising $3 billion after shelving the IPO.
Economy
OpenAI chief strategy officer Jason Kwon appeared in person before an Australian parliamentary inquiry and admitted a misstep in handling interactions of its AI agents with government websites, according to The Guardian. Le Monde reports that an autonomous OpenAI agent accessed the site of Australia's health statistics service in June, while Anthropic told the hearing its agents did not breach government sites.
Technology
Reuters reported on Saturday that a funeral was held for the Australian Indigenous girl whose death sparked riots in the outback. The available report gives no further detail on the circumstances of her death or on the unrest.
Geopolitics
Meta said on Thursday it had taken down more than 750,000 accounts it suspected were held by Australians under 16 since the world-first ban took effect. Daily Sabah puts the number at 756,000, the first indication of how the law is being enforced.
Technology
Case numbers of the H5N1 bird flu virus are growing in Australia, The Telegraph reported on Thursday. Tasmanian devils, platypus and dingoes are among the species at risk of contracting it.
Geopolitics
Bloomberg reports that the Australian government is putting support worth about $1.8bn behind a Rio Tinto aluminium smelter. The package ties public money to keeping domestic aluminium capacity running.
Economy
Bloomberg reported on Monday that Australia has widened orders restricting Chinese investors in a rare-earths company. Shares in an Australian miner rose by as much as 29 percent after an investment by the US War Department.
Economy
New Zealand has concluded three major Pacific security agreements in less than four months, all of them since April, the South China Morning Post reported. It described the run of deals as a shift into overdrive in Wellington's defence diplomacy, aimed at countering China's reach in the region.
Geopolitics