Australia Financial News

Late Night with the Devil' has broken a box office record in its opening weekend, reports 'Screen Rant'. Directed by Australian duo Cameron and Colin Cairnes, this horror film has recorded the best opening weekend that the distributor IFC Films has ever had. Earlier, 'Watcher' was IFC's top opening film at $827k, followed by 'Skinamarink' with $819k and 'Blackberry' at $801k. 'Late Night with the Devil' has IFC's widest opening since 'The D Train' (1,009).

The World Happiness Report 2024, a partnership of Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and WHR’s Editorial Board, is out. Mint evaluates its metrics to explain why it may not be the final word on happiness. India is ranked 126 out of 143 nations surveyed.

There is a rising chorus of voices, mostly from the Global South, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the urgent provision of aid to a population that is facing imminent famine. Is anybody listening? Singapore’s foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan is the latest to intervene, telling Israel that it had “gone too far" in its war against Hamas in Gaza. “I have communicated that both to the prime minister, to the foreign minister, and to the other Israelis whom we have met," he said last week on Wednesday.

GT vs MI IPL Live Score 2024: Five times champion Mumbai Indians is all set to go against Gujarat Titans in the 5th match of IPL 2024. This is the first game for new captains of both teams as Hardik Pandya left the captaincy of GT to go back and head MI in the IPL 2024 season.

REA India, which owns Housing.com and PropTiger, is not actively looking for acquisition for further growth but the company is open to evaluate «interesting» opportunities that complement the business or help in securing new technologies, its CEO Dhruv Agarwala said. REA India, which is part of Australia-based REA Group, will focus on consolidating its both businesses — real estate classified platform Housing.com and residential brokerage portal PropTiger.com, he added. In an interview with PTI, Agarwala, who is also CEO of Housing.com and PropTiger, said there is no plan of acquisition in near future.

Overseas Friends of BJP', Australia, launched a campaign for members of the diaspora, titled 'Modi for 2024', covering seven prominent cities and significant landmarks in the country. The campaign is aimed at drumming up overseas support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) going into the Lok Sabha elections in the country. «Overseas Friends of BJP Australia has launched a massive campaign from iconic locations like Sydney Harbour Bridge, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Perth Optus Stadium, Brisbane GABBA, Surfers Paradise in Gold Coast, Mt Ainslie in Canberra and Naval Memorial Garden in Adelaide,» read a post on the official X handle of the 'Overseas Friends of BJP', Australia.

UK and Oman are expected to figure in the commerce ministry's 100-day agenda roadmap for the new government, an official said. The ministry will also focus on issues pertaining to the exporting community with a view to promoting the country's outbound shipments. Further talks between India and Australia to expand the scope of existing economic cooperation and trade agreement (ECTA) for a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA) are also progressing at a healthy rate. The exercise assumes significance as while chairing a Cabinet meeting on March 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the ministers to meet secretaries and other officials of their respective ministries to discuss how the agenda for the first 100 days and the next five years can be better implemented.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz has ended Red Bull's Formula 1 winning streak when the Spaniard took advantage of Max Verstappen's early retirement to win the Australian Grand Prix just two weeks after missing the previous race in Saudi Arabia due to an emergency appendectomy. Sainz, who started on the front row alongside Verstappen, kept his place into turn one, but passed the Dutchman on lap two at turn nine for the lead and took control once his rival retired two laps later with a fiery mechanical failure. Verstappen had won the first two F1 races of the season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and was on a nine-race winning streak.

coal to history, the dirtiest fossil fuel is having a moment. Thanks to a combination of China’s energy insecurity — pushing Beijing back to trusted power sources — plus rising Indian demand, the continued fallout from the war in Ukraine and faltering international programs to wean developing economies off fossil fuels, coal is proving remarkably resilient. Output hit a record last year, and producers are preparing for a future where they will be required for decades yet to balance renewable energy. Even prices are holding up. While thermal coal is trading at just a fraction of the lofty levels reached in 2022, after Russia’s invasion of its neighbor, prices are still well above historic norms. Benchmark Newcastle coal futures are changing hands just under $130 a ton, roughly a quarter of the peak but higher than any level between 2011 and 2020.

global warming and other human threats like underwater noise, pollution and disrupted food sources, according to a new stocktake of their population. Researchers found the greatest genetic differences among the blue whale populations in the eastern Pacific, Antarctic subspecies and the pygmy subspecies of the eastern Indian and western Pacific. Blue whales average about 27 metres in length. Natural selection could be one of the reasons behind these differences, they said. «Each of these groups need to be conserved to maintain biodiversity in the species, and there are indications that natural selection in different environments contributed to driving genetic differences between the high-level groups,» said Catherine Attard, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Australia. He is the first author of the study published in the journal Animal Conservation.

K-pop, K-dramas and K-noodles, with Indian students increasingly considering South Korea for higher education, according to consultants. The number of Indian students headed to South Korea is set to double in 2024 compared to two years ago, according to Rohin Kapoor, partner, management consulting, BDO. “South Korea has rolled out the red carpet for Indian students by offering attractive scholarship schemes at top universities over the last two years,” Kapoor said. At around 2,000 this year, the number is still just a fraction of the Indian students enrolled in traditionally popular destinations such as the US, UK, Canada and Australia. But the East Asian technology hub is fast emerging as an alternative destination for Indian students, owing to factors such as a large number of courses taught in English, a developed market with ample internship and employment opportunities, pro-international student policies and competitive costs along with a government push to attract overseas students.

ALSO READ: Princess of Wales spotted shopping with husband amid 'KateGate' row, netizens say 'that woman is not Kate Middleton...' In his cryptic verses written centuries ago, Nostradamus predicted the potential "abdication" of a king and the rise of an unexpected successor. The similar situation now seems to unwind in the UK's monarchical authority, involving King Charles and Prince Harry.

I am planning to buy a residential property from a person who is a resident of Australia for ₹75 lakh. I understand that since the sale consideration exceeds 50 lakhs I have to deduct tax at 1% of the sale consideration. Is my understanding correct? What are the other formalities that I need to comply with while deducting tax at source? The provision of Section 194IA requires a buyer of immovable property, other than agricultural land, to deduct tax at source @ 1% of the sale consideration if the sale consideration exceeds fifty lakh rupees.

By James Pomfret, Jessie Pang and Greg Torode

Australian government aims to make sure that foreign students come to the country to study, and not just work. The government estimates that the changes will halve the migrant intake in over two years. Among several measures, the Australian government will introduce the ‘Genuine Student Test’.

Australia is set to provide $3 billion to British industry to support the construction of nuclear-powered submarines and ensure its new fleet arrives on time

Decentralized gaming startup Yield Guild Games (YGG) announced it has launched the YGG token on the Ronin network, reaching more gamers in the Web3 community.

Australia and Britain said in a joint statement on Friday there were potentially devastating consequences of an Israeli ground invasion of Rafah in Gaza. «Given the large number of displaced persons taking refuge in the area and lack of safe spaces in Gaza, ministers shared deep concern at the potentially devastating consequences for the civilian population of an expanded Israeli military operation in Rafah,» the statement said. Israel says a ground invasion of Rafah is necessary to eliminate Hamas, despite countries including the United States warning of dire consequences for the more than a million Palestinians who have sheltered there since being displaced elsewhere in the Gaza Strip during the five-month-old war.

Malaysia has declined the opportunity to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games due to financial concerns, as confirmed by the Ministry of Youth and Sports. This decision comes after the withdrawal of Victoria, Australia, last year. The Ministry stated, 'The government has decided not to accept the offer from the Commonwealth Games Federation.' The 2026 event will not be held in Malaysia, citing cost reasons. Earlier yesterday, Malaysia's sports minister Hannah Yeoh had expressed hesitation regarding the country's potential hosting of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, highlighting financial considerations. The uncertainty arose after the original host, the Australian state of Victoria, withdrew last year, citing escalating costs. This withdrawal cast doubt on the fate of the quadrennial event, which primarily involves former British colonies, prompting discussions on its benefits and relevance.

By Lewis Jackson

In a collection of letters, FTX users around the globe have asked for their crypto assets instead of being reimbursed with US dollars.