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Qantas plans to axe nearly 1,000 jobs after striking an outsourcing deal that will involve many of the roles being sent offshore.
Staff were informed this morning 850 positions will go, including through mass redundancies.
Australia's largest airline has signed a deal with tech consultants Accenture, with the first round of cuts to affect staff in finance, procurement, human resources and marketing.
Under the arrangement, most of Accenture's services will be delivered in India, although some roles will remain in Australia.
Qantas chief Vanessa Hudson says the changes are about modernising the technology behind the business and becoming more efficient.
She says she's sorry for the uncertainty facing workers and acknowledged it will be hard news for some.
The airline will now consult with affected workers.
The federal government plans to force tech companies to allow independent evaluation of their artificial intelligence models, as part of its response to an AI agent hacking a Medicare statistics website.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says it's imperative artificial intelligence is shaped in Australia's interests.
He says new AI legislation will include mandatory safety and security protections, and a new regulator.
Mr Albanese says we need to shape AI, rather than let it shape us.
"One of the first things that we are doing here today is announcing our mandatory AI Safety and Security Protections, which will be part of our AI legislation. As part of that, these protections will be regulated by a new targeted AI safety regulator who will be able to enforce significant penalties for AI companies doing the wrong thing."
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the government is hypocritical for encouraging electrification while continuing to approve coal and gas developments.
She's welcoming the start of the COP31 climate conference in Türkiye, which Australia is co-hosting.
Senator Hanson-Young says Australia needs to do much more to tackle the climate crisis.
"It's a bit hypocritical for the government to be in Türkiye talking about the need for electrification while they continue to allow the fossil fuel industry to expand here in Australia, opening up new coal and gas fields pushing up pollution levels and making the climate crisis worse."
US President Donald Trump says the FBI is investigating Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s affair with an alleged Chinese government agent, but says he doesn’t think the executive has a reason to worry.
The revelations raise concerns about whether China has been able to access the cutting-edge chips designed by Nvidia, powering the development of artificial intelligence.
President Trump says he's spoken to Mr Huang.
He says he didn't know about the allegations when he went to China in May.
"No, I didn't hear about it then. But a lot of people have heard about it, and Jensen totally denies that. He had — I asked him today, because I did speak to him today just to see if he's feeling all right, how you doing. And I asked them about that. And he had — he said he had absolutely no idea that the person in question was a spy. I asked him that question, 'Did you have any idea that she was a spy?' He said, 'I had no idea that he was a spy.' And I really believe him. Yeah.
A warning: This story contains references to sexual assault.
Comedian Russell Brand has been jailed for 10-and-a-half years after he was convicted of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others around two decades ago.
The 51-year-old stood in the dock at London's Southwark Crown Court as Judge Joel Bennathan sentenced him.
Brand will serve two-thirds of the sentence in custody before being released on licence.
Judge Bennathan says Brand is a sexual predator who believed his fame meant he could act however he liked.
"Whatever women wear, wherever they go, indeed whatever they drink, they retain the right to say no and to demand justice from the criminal courts when sexual predators like you, Russell Brand, act without their consent."
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732, or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au . In an emergency, call 000.
In the NRL, the PNG Chiefs have landed their youngest player to date, signing Papua New Guinea international Zac Laybutt from the North Queensland Cowboys.
An eight-time representative of the P-N-G national side, Queensland-born Laybutt becomes the eighth member of coach Willie Peters' squad for the Chiefs' inaugural NRL season in 2028.
The rest of the roster so far includes Jarome Luai, Joey Manu, Zac Lomax and Brian To'o.
