Australia
Technology
The US-Japan Critical Minerals Pact Has a Gap Shaped Like Australia
Washington and Tokyo signed a rare earths deal that barely mentions the world's largest lithium producer. Beijing noticed.
Geopolitics
Selling Your Identity to Train AI: The Gig Economy's Unsettling Trade
People in developing countries are earning a few dollars filming their walks and selling their phone calls. They're signing away rights to their biometric identity forever.
Geopolitics
The AI Tax on Your Power Bill: Data Centres Are Driving Up Electricity Costs
Tech giants promise a revolution, but Australian households are footing the bill for the water and power their data centres consume.
Geopolitics
Gold's worst week since 2011: the Australian headlines miss half the story
As ASX gold stocks slide, Chinese retail buyers and the PBOC are still accumulating. The divergence tells you more than the price drop.
Geopolitics
The $13.6 Million Payday That Made Mark Barnaba Australia's Highest-Paid Director
How a clever options grant at a UK explorer, a transformative acquisition, and the ASX's own governance rules combined to produce a payout most executives can only dream of.
Geopolitics
The $300 energy rebate is ending. Here's what your July bill will actually look like
Wholesale electricity prices are falling, but the maths still works against most households. We break down what July will cost.
Geopolitics
ASIC v Star: Federal Court Ruling Rewrites the Rules for Australian Directors
Justice Lee's ruling against Star's executives carries a message for every Australian boardroom: ignorance of risk is no longer a defence.
Wealth
Cameron McEvoy shatters 17-year 50m freestyle world record
Australian swimmer breaks César Cielo's supersuit-era record in textile suit after overhauling sprint methodology
Trump
Trump AI framework tells states to back off as critics warn of accountability gap
The White House wants to preempt state AI laws before they exist. The constitutional and practical problems run deeper than the four-page document suggests.
Culture
Naomi Osaka and the question that haunts every working mother
After losing in the first round at Miami, the four-time Grand Slam champion asked herself whether the tour was worth the time away from her daughter.
Geopolitics
Ninety per cent dependent, thirty days deep: Australia's fuel supply chain unravels
The Strait of Hormuz blockade has exposed what economists have warned about for decades. Australia's fuel security is a policy fiction propped up by long shipping routes and optimistic assumptions.
Geopolitics
Property profits hit record as first home buyers face an inheritance-shaped barrier
For the first time in 15 years, more than 90% of house resales in every Australian capital turned a profit. The median Sydney house profit is now $750,000.