Biden threatens to pull support for Israel
The US president also called for an “immediate” ceasefire in Gaza during a tense conversation with the Israeli prime minister.
- Live
- Markets Live
ASX to fall; US rate outlook turns more clouded, Wall St falls
Australian shares to drop. Middle East spooks investors. Dow sheds 530 points on Kashkari rate cloud. Oil tops $US90 a barrel. Follow updates here.
Auerbach tells court of drugs, prostitutes and a ‘pay rise’ offer
In bombshell evidence in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Network Ten, ex-Seven producer Taylor Auerbach described nights out with Mr Lehrmann.
Wylie finds heavyweight backers in push to break up Lendlease
Allan Gray, which owns 6.2 per cent of the struggling property giant, expects the sale of its overseas assets could extract up to $4 billion.
- Live
- Need to Know
Israel to release investigation into aid workers’ deaths
Israel says the findings of an investigation into the killing of charity workers will be made public within 24 hours; Sydney residents are being urged to stay indoors due to heavy rain. Follow updates here.
What PEXA chief Glenn King learnt from his dad’s side hustles
The former Geelong schoolboy says flexibility is crucial as he insulates the monopoly digital property exchange from the threat of greater competition.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Big hurdle needs to be cleared before interest rates can be cut
The easy work’s done in the inflation fight. But the missing piece before interest rates can be cut looks more elusive.
- Driving With Tony Davis
- Motoring
EV-curious? Check out this Range Rover
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legal affairs
- Analysis
- Legal industry
Ex-Seven producer: ‘I have let you down and I am devastated’
Taylor Auerbach was assigned to look after Bruce Lehrmann for the Seven Network. He came to bitterly regret the job.
Founder fights and investor fury exposed as Uber makes its case
Investors in fallen transport app GoCatch were alarmed by its lack of progress and wanted to sack its co-founders around the time UberX launched in Australia, private emails show.
The biggest culture shock for an Aussie lawyer in Tokyo
Despite looking Japanese, Katsu Saikawa is very much Australian, which meant the strong workplace culture of seniority in Tokyo came as a big shock.
Progress on free trade deal for foreign lawyers
Australia and the UK have taken the first steps toward a free trade agreement for lawyers that will relax strict rules around the admission of foreign lawyers.
- Analysis
- Lehrmann trial
Combative Auerbach puts spotlight back on Lehrmann
So how did Taylor Auerbach, a former producer at Channel Seven’s Spotlight program, fare as he testified before Federal Court judge Michael Lee on Thursday?
review
How China saved Elon Musk – and could break him
Elon Musk initially seemed to have the upper hand in the relationship, but Tesla is now increasingly in trouble and losing its edge over Chinese competitors.
The kids aren’t all right. Are phones really to blame?
In his new book Jonathan Haidt claims phones are the cause of the international epidemic of adolescent mental illness. And with that one tricky word, “cause,” he opens himself up to what’s likely to be a world of pain.
- Opinion
- Global economy
Population decline will destroy the West as we know it
By 2100, the number of people worldwide will have peaked. The value of assets will drop and the incomes they generate will fall.
Welcome to WeWork for spies
In this co-working space, only the cappuccino isn’t classified. Servicing the spook sector is a rare bright spot in the market for office facilities,
- Opinion
- Recycling
Plastic recycling needs to be freed from the oil price cycle
Until it’s always cheaper to use repurposed materials, the industry has little hope of success.
Get the latest business news on the go with the AFR’s new iOS app.
Companies
- Updated
- Cash economy
Linfox lays out its terms for keeping Armaguard afloat
Peter Fox, the company’s executive chairman, says his family are “not beggars here”. He says the cash-in-transit monopoly will keep operating if fees rise.
- Updated
- Mergers & acquisitions
Grant Samuel concedes it got Boral valuation wrong in win for Stokes
But the building materials group’s independent directors are still recommending shareholders reject a $1.9 billion takeover offer lobbed by Seven Group.
Trafigura admits its founder Claude Dauphin approved bribes
Trafigura last week became the latest of the world’s largest commodity traders to admit to paying bribes to win business.
Cettire admits to tax queries from Texas authorities
But it says that the issue has been resolved. The luxury fashion marketplace has since March been under intense investor scrutiny over its business model.
Fears for $8b Woodside project under Senegal’s new government
The nationalist rhetoric from a new president who has pledged to rework oil production contracts comes just ahead of the start-up of the Sangomar oil project.
Progress on free trade deal for foreign lawyers
Australia and the UK have taken the first steps toward a free trade agreement for lawyers that will relax strict rules around the admission of foreign lawyers.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Deal activity passes litmus test, more M&A in the tank
Bankers and lawyers always say they’re busy. They have to. But believe them when they say deal activity is better this year.
Companies in the News
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Markets
Iron ore to end 2024 near $US100 a tonne: Capital Economics
Global steel prices are on “shaky ground” and there’s little reason to expect an increase in demand, according to the London-based firm.
What happened overnight? US rally wiped out by rate comment, oil spike
Australian shares were set to drop in line with New York. The Dow shed 530 points. Oil rose above $US90 a barrel. Kashkari tipped the possibility of no rate cuts this year.
‘Sideways’ inflation threatens US rate cut forecasts: Fed official
Minneapolis Federal Reserve boss Neel Kashkari said policymakers need renewed confidence that inflation will cool before beginning a rate-cutting cycle.
- Opinion
- Interest rates
The Fed is wrong about how long rates will go
Betting against the Fed is a fraught endeavour. Nonetheless, in this case I think the market is right, writes Bill Dudley.
Amazon investors eye bigger returns as cash pile grows
The online retailer could see its cash hoard surge through $150 billion later in 2024, and shareholders are keen to pocket directly more of it.
Opinion
Tax review to avoid an ‘intergenerational tragedy’
Incremental change is a waste of time. Ken Henry says someone has to grab this thing and get on with it.
Editorial
Dutton’s slippery populist slope
The opposition leader should be challenging Labor’s bad ideas, not adding one of his own.
Editorial
A first governor-general from the business world
Sam Mostyn’s instinctive promotion of progressive cultural policies will now be cloaked in a vice regal role that should remain above politics and controversy.
Editorial
At Yarralumla it’s not about the person. It’s about the institution
For 99.9 per cent of the time the governor-general is irrelevant to the lives of most Australians. But when they do matter, they matter very much.
Senior correspondent
Tax reform fail threatening the social compact of a nation
A new tax review will have to look at what this generation can do for the Australians of the future.
Contributor
A governor-general from the Chairman’s Lounge
The PM is truer than he knows when he says Sam Mostyn represents modern Australia. It’s a nation of talkers, not doers.
Columnist
Reports
AI’s brave new world
Artificial intelligence is being used by hackers to create ever more convincing fakes, but the technology is also giving our leading companies an edge.
Politics
Queensland, NT to make up Victoria’s gas shortfall this winter
The outlook for July, August and September comes after the Australian Energy Market Operator last month warned of a deterioration in Victoria’s medium-term gas supply.
Lowe sees ‘strong case’ for RBA board members to stay
Philip Lowe has undercut Jim Chalmers’ push for new RBA board members, saying the existing directors are best placed to steer inflation back to target.
‘Young people have been screwed’ on tax: former Treasury boss
Ken Henry has warned the social compact with workers shouldering a rising tax burden faces an “existential crisis”, unless reformers can persuade the public for major changes.
Albanese looks to states for power price help
The prime minister looks set to call on state and territory governments to help deliver further household energy cost relief in the May 14 federal budget.
Auerbach details nights out and ‘pay rise’ offer
The Seven Network has denied it offered former producer Taylor Auerbach a promotion and a pay rise after he spent thousands on a drunken night out with former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann.
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World
Yellen says US has option to shield industries against China
‘We need to have a level playing field,’ the Treasury Secretary told reporters en route to China, where she will press counterparts on the build-up of industrial overcapacity.
McDonald’s buys hundreds of Israel franchise restaurants after boycott
The business became the subject of controversy when photos and videos on Instagram showed stores giving soldiers meals.
Israel’s Gantz demands early elections, piling pressure on Netanyahu
The war cabinet member has broken ranks by demanding a vote near the first anniversary of the conflict in Gaza.
AUKUS subs construction delayed by years: US Navy
Construction of the nuclear-powered submarines Australia is supposed to buy in the early 2030s is running late by up to three years, a review has shown.
Chipmaker resumes production as Taiwan begins quake recovery
TSMC, the leading producer of advanced chips for Apple and Nvidia, has restarted operations, less than 24 hours after evacuating staff and halting work.
Property
Victoria has been targeting the same suburbs for 40 years
Nearly half of the Victorian government’s 10 suburbs slated for increased density have been targeted in multiple similar plans as far back as 1981.
The key to downsizing from a truffle farm to this $3.6m oasis
Sam Curwood has undergone a sea change where he swapped luxury farmland for a home closer to his boys’ school.
Scentre shareholders deliver first strike against CEO’s $5.5m pay
Despite delivering distributions ahead of expectations over the 2023 year, the Westfield owner’s remuneration report has suffered a protest by shareholders.
Home approvals must lift by 80,000 a year to hit target: Oxford
An entrenched shortfall in supply is putting further pressure on record rents and home prices.
Who’s really making money in today’s housing market?
Perth’s house prices surged by up to 40pc in some suburbs but homeowners in Sydney’s premium housing markets are making a bigger windfall, according to CoreLogic.
Wealth
How to pick splendid small caps
The life-changing capital gains on offer make the small-cap sector attractive to investors, but success stories are rare among the thousands of companies that bite the dust.
- Opinion
- SMSFs
What SMSFs need to know as ATO cracks down on illegal access to super
More than $630 million has been accessed illegally from SMSFs. Here’s what you need to know to stay on the right side of the law.
What if my late wife’s pension pushes my super above $3 million?
Reversionary pension law gives surviving spouses time to sort out their super.
Technology
Google mulls charging for AI-powered search in major shift
The proposals would mark the first time any of the software group’s core product falls behind a paywall.
Spotify is increasing its prices again – and you can blame audiobooks
By the end of this month, the streaming giant will raise fees for the second time in a year in five markets, including the UK, Australia and Pakistan.
- Opinion
- Electric vehicles
The big worry for car makers: what if the EV slowdown is not a blip?
If politicians cannot persuade consumers to buy EVs, will they tear up their net-zero pledges, or turn to other measures to drive sales?
Work & Careers
Goldman Sachs’ women problem is getting worse
The mean hourly pay difference between men and women has reached 54 per cent as the bank struggles to promote more women to top positions.
- Exclusive
- Business of sport
Ex-NRL executive in frame for Rugby Aus board as club tensions mount
Alexi Baker is one of two candidates up for election at the company’s AGM as it tries to rebuild the game and change its fortunes.
Life & Luxury
Here’s a puzzle: what is a cruciverbalist’s job?
Should they reflect the linguistic biases of a paper’s readership, or correct those leanings?
Investment wallpaper? It’s a thing
An atelier in France is reviving a lost art form to reimagine opulent modern interiors.
This week’s edits of lovely little luxuries: Speedy bag and summer scent
From the new Louis Vuitton Speedy bag in canary yellow, to French perfume worthy of your Euro vacance, we have inspired suggestions for you.
What happens when a rich US lawyer buys a medieval Tuscan village
Michael L. Cioffi was so taken by a hilltop hamlet in Val d’Orcia that he restored its crumbling structures to create a luxurious boutique hotel and more.
This Aussie start-up’s world-first could change fashion forever
Samsara Eco has patented technology that can break down fabric into new yarn, which can be recycled infinitely. Its CEO thinks it could upend the industry.
