Australia
OpenAI’s breach of Australian health department website prompts rebuke from Albanese
MELBOURNE, Australia | Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday he was extremely concerned about OpenAI ‘s breach of an Australian health department website and that the artificial intelligence company took too long to reveal the incident. An OpenAI agent infiltrated the public-facing Medicare Statistics Reporting Service portal on June 18, he said. The portal hosted […]
DoorDash and Uber Eats to offer delivery from US Costco stores
Costco said Thursday it’s partnering with DoorDash to offer delivery from its U.S. warehouse stores. DoorDash already offers Costco delivery in a few markets, including Australia, Sweden and Puerto Rico. But the nationwide partnership is a first for the San Francisco-based delivery company, which said Costco was among the most-searched retailers not yet on its […]
Australian social media users to be offered choice to opt out of algorithms
CANBERRA, Australia | Australian social media users would be given a choice to opt out of algorithms under proposed laws announced by the government Tuesday that would let users have more control over what they see on their social media feeds. “We’ll require social media platforms to provide user empowerment tools that give people over […]
Scientists investigate if a herpes virus is behind the mass deaths of sardines off South Africa
JOHANNESBURG | Scientists in South Africa are investigating why masses of sardines have washed up dead or dying along parts of the country’s west and south coast — and if a herpes virus detected in the fish is responsible. The mass mortality of sardines this month has so far stumped the country’s Department of Forestry, […]
Australia’s music industry bans AI-generated tracks from official charts
MELBOURNE, Australia | Australia’s recorded music industry will bar tracks wholly generated by artificial intelligence from official charts as burgeoning generative technologies threaten artists’ livelihoods, a representative said on Tuesday. The crackdown comes as a variation of Madonna’s pop hit “Like a Prayer” created by an Australian producer using AI-generated vocals and drums has spent […]
A timeline of Prince Harry and Meghan’s relationship with the royal family as they return to the UK
LONDON | Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, will return to the United Kingdom, seemingly marking the end to a yearslong rift between them and the royal family. The Daily Telegraph reported the couple won’t resume their roles as working members of the royal family, but returning to Britain means King Charles III, who is […]
UK bans under-16s from using social media apps including TikTok and YouTube
LONDON | Britain will ban children aged under 16 from using a range of social media apps, including Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, to protect them from harmful content and excessive screen time, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday. The plan was met with mixed reaction, with some praising Starmer for taking action and others questioning […]
Australian cockroach kingpin caught with 100,000 illegal insects in record bug bust
WELLINGTON, New Zealand | More than 100,000 live cockroaches illegal to keep in Australia were confiscated from a single breeder in the country’s largest-ever seizure of exotic invertebrates, officials said Friday. The haul of Madagascar hissing cockroaches and dubia cockroaches, worth 200,000 Australian dollars ($142,000), was seized in May from a commercial breeder in the […]
Australia launches record $1.4B lawsuit against 3M over ‘forever chemicals’ at defense bases
MELBOURNE, Australia | Australia is suing U.S. conglomerate 3M for more than 2 billion Australian dollars ($1.4 billion) over so-called “forever chemical” contamination from firefighting foam at defense bases, the government said on Thursday. The government’s largest-ever claim for compensation relates to contamination with per- and polyfluoroaklyl substances, known as PFAS, at 28 bases. Human-made […]