Australia Financial News

Virgin Australia chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka said allowing more competition from Qatar Airways would slash overseas fares by up to 40 per cent.

Adele halted her performance during her Las Vegas concert on Saturday to intervene on behalf of a fan who was being confronted by security personnel. Videos of the incident have now gone viral on social media. The incident occurred as Adele was singing "Water Under the Bridge" at The Colosseum in Caesars Palace, where she maintains a residency. While performing, she noticed security addressing a fan in the audience. In a video posted by the TikTok account @adeleslittleloveee, the fan in question can be observed rising to their feet to sing and dance along to the song. A female security guard approaches the fan and engages in conversation, followed by a male security guard who requests the fan to sit back down. The fan calmly responds, stating, «I'll stay calm.» Adele paused the music and directly addressed the security guard through the microphone, as captured in the footage. Additionally, in a separate video initially posted on Instagram and subsequently shared on other platforms, Adele can be seen gesturing towards the incident. This instance isn't the first time Adele has interrupted her performance to address security matters. In 2017, during a show in Melbourne, Australia, she reprimanded a security guard for instructing fans to remain seated and refrain from dancing, according to the Evening Standard. Adele has also been noted for suspending her concerts to provide medical aid to unwell attendees.

Fortescue Metals executive chairman Andrew Forrest says he will accept the first generation of clean energy projects having lower rates of return than alternative growth options in the iron ore division, as mining boss Fiona Hick added to the extraordinary turnover of executives at the company.

Soaring technology costs of 20 per cent in the past year are making it harder for Australia to roll out projects to reach its 2030 climate targets on the pathway to net zero by 2050.

FIBA Basketball World Cup, the USA have registered two initial wins, cruised past Greece, and have clinched the group round. Canada defeated France, who were eliminated on Sunday after yet another defeat at the hands of Latvia. Steve Kerr has coached Team USA and led by Anthony Edwards, Jalen Brunson, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Mikal Bridges led them. The US finished seventh in 2019 and they hope for a better result this year.

India has sought relaxation in certain visa requirements, reduction in the number of documents and fast tracking of the application processing time to allow easier and quicker mobility of its skilled professionals to Australia. The move is aimed at allowing direct entry of Indian workers into Australia instead of the current practice under which skilled workers are often routed through GCC nations or the UK, Ireland or New Zealand before they land up in Australia. Skills development minister Dharmendra Pradhan raised these issues in his meeting with the Australian healthcare and aged care minister Mark Butler recently as the two countries prepare to hold the seventh round of Australia-India Education and Skills Council meeting next month, people familiar with the deliberations told ET. Since India and Australia have already signed the mutual recognition of qualifications for education and skills, certain visa application requirements could also be looked into for more relaxation, India conveyed to Australia, citing the mandatory requirement to obtain a positive skills assessment from the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council or the Australian Community Workers Association if the candidate obtains the qualifications overseas. According to a senior official, India has also flagged the issue of cost of examination, saying it is very high and can affect the mobility of qualified workers at the round table with the Australian minister.

Rishabh Pant, who has been recovering from his last year's road accident injuries, on Monday, shared a glimpse of his workout routine with fans. Pant took to his official Instagram handle and posted a video clip in which he was seen diligently working out on an exercise bike, in order to regain his form and fitness. «Grip. Twist. Paddle. Good vibes only,» he wrote in the caption. Seeing Pant's recovery several people expressed their joy in the social media post's comment section. One of them was Australian cricketer David Warner, who led the Delhi Capitals during Pant's absence in IPL 2023. He lauded the young cricketer's efforts, expressing his delight by stating, «This makes me smile and very happy.»

Sunil Gavaskar on Monday said India will rise as a 'sporting country' in the next 10-15 years, while lauding historic achievements of javelin sensation Neeraj Chopra, chess prodigy R Praggnanandhaa and badminton star HS Prannoy. Chopra on Sunday became the first-ever Indian to win a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships, while Praggnanandhaa last week created history by reaching the World Cup final at 18 years. Prannoy defeated the world No 1 Viktor Axelsen en route to winning a World Championships bronze. «Earlier, you would see only a few sports would be talked about, media coverage would only be for those,» the Indian cricket icon told the media here after he was revealed as the principal advisor of the Midwicket Stories. «Now all sports have got an outlet and exposure and because of the other sports, we are getting to see the (emergence of) stars.» The Little Master was brimming with joy as he witnessed Chopra's triumphant moment of becoming a world champion in Budapest. «I remember when he (Neeraj Chopra) had won the Tokyo Olympics gold, the India-England series was going on… »I was watching from England, and I was prompted to sing a song 'Mere desh ki dharti sona ugle...' Yesterday, I experienced the same feeling," he said. «We had seen Neeraj two years earlier when he won the gold medal in the Olympics.

ICC 2023 ODI World Cup, set to take place in India this October-November. In an encouraging news for BCCI and ICC, tickets for non-India matches, released on the official ticketing platform BookMyShow at 8 pm on August 25, are selling like hotcakes.

Engineers India Ltd has signed a preliminary agreement with Australia’s Sunrise CSP group for developing energy projects in India and abroad. The agreement will “facilitate an exclusive partnership in concentrated solar thermal power" for oil and gas as well as other energy projects, the Australian Trade and Investment Commission said in a statement. “Together we aim to deliver the clean heat of the sun to industrial production at all scales and all temperatures – from heating and cooling a major cancer hospital as we are in Gujarat today, to making vital chemicals like hydrogen & ammonia, to national-scale power solutions delivering electricity on-demand,” Artur Zawadski, CEO of Sunrise CSP, said.Engineers India provides consultancy as well as engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services to the oil and gas industry as well as other segments of the energy sector. “Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology has wide applications and could also be integrated with the existing industrial facilities and process plants,” said Engineers India Ltd chairperson Vartika Shukla.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce has refused to say whether more competition from Qatar Airways would lower international airfares, conceding only that prices were “coming down anyway”.

Falling prices for steel-making coal has forced Bowen Coking Coal to rethink the future of a mine it bought only two years ago.

Qantas says it is still sitting on more than $500 million worth of its customers’ money in flight credits, but that it could not quantify the exact amount because it changes daily.

Western Australian gold developer Matsa Resources was asking investors for a $1.5 million equity injection to fund its exploration projects on Monday.

Helloworld shares were sharply higher on Monday after the travel agent said it had swung back to a profit and that it would continue growing earnings as international travel rebounds.

Maggie Beer Holdings’ new chief executive says the gourmet food producer will be able to withstand lower consumer spending after posting a drop in sales and cutting the value of its gifts and hampers business.

Consultants say they stand by their work done on the original business case for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, despite the Victorian government later claiming costs had more than doubled when they cancelled the event.

A better-than-expected final dividend has helped keepLiberty Financial’s share price relatively stable despite tougher lending conditions pushing after-tax profits nearly 20 per cent lower and an uncertain outlook.

It might look like Australia is pushing ahead with the transition to wind energy, but a major player in the market believes legislative red tape is slowing down the clean energy transition to a crawl.

Global technology and e-commerce giants are driving demand for direct air capture technology to remove carbon emissions, according to Sydney-based carbon removal company, AspiraDAC. but Australian firms are lagging behind,

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at Jackson Hole. The local currency opened at 82.55 a dollar as compared to Friday’s close of 82.65. The dollar eased from a 12-week peak as traders weighed the US monetary path after the Fed Chair Jerome Powell left open the possibility of further interest rate increases, while the yen hovered close to its lowest in over nine months, Reuters reported.