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Key posts
- Australian households are putting themselves at financial risk
- Biden warns Albanese on risks of dealing with China
- Trump ally elected new US House Speaker, ending weeks of wrangling
- This morning’s headlines at a glance
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Watchdog hits Uber with spam and advertising fine
Rideshare giant Uber has been hit with a fine for sending two million emails that breached spam laws.
The media watchdog says Uber sent all those messages on a single day in January, failing to include an unsubscribe link in emails advertising an alcohol home delivery service.
Half a million emails were sent to customers who had already unsubscribed from Uber’s messaging.
Uber has been hit with fines for spamming customers. Credit: Joe Armao
It also breached spam laws as businesses must get consent from consumers before they send direct marketing messages.
Australian Communications and Media Authority chair Nerida O’Loughlin said Uber had accidentally characterised the emails as non-commercial, leading to the breach in their spam obligations.
“An avoidable error has led to more than two million messages being sent without a way for people to unsubscribe,” she said in a statement.
“Consumers are fed up with their wishes not being respected. People rightly expect to have choice over who contacts them for marketing purposes.”
Uber has already paid its $412,000 fine.
AAP
Australian households are putting themselves at financial risk
Households are taking on more financial risk by cutting back on insurance, running down savings and resorting to short-term credit as they grapple with inflation and higher interest rates.
New data reveals a substantial fall in household spending on health insurance since interest rates began to rise, with this expense 10 per cent lower in June 2023 than a year earlier.
Credit bureau illion estimates there has also been a 7 per cent decline in spending on home and contents insurance in June 2023, compared to a year earlier.
The analysis of spending patterns by illion is compiled using credit and banking data from more than 18 million Australian credit consumers.
Barrett Hasseldine, head of modelling at illion, says the fall in insurance spending indicates families are choosing to drop cover, reduce cover, or increase their insurance claims excess to reduce costs.
Learn more about the stresses facing households here.
Biden warns Albanese on risks of dealing with China
United States President Joe Biden has warned Australia about the risks of dealing with China and vowed to press ahead with the AUKUS pact on nuclear-powered submarines, in a press conference with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that emphasised America’s commitment to stability in Asia.
Biden said his administration would take on China and present the US as a more reliable partner in the region, but he made it clear that this “extreme competition” did not mean he wanted conflict.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President of the United States Joe Biden.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The president made the remarks while standing with Albanese at a press conference in the rose garden of the White House after a ceremonial welcome and a meeting in the Oval Office to project the strength of the Australian alliance with the US.
With Albanese due to visit Beijing within a fortnight to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the comments in Washington sent the message that Australia could trust the US more than China.
Read more on this here.
Trump ally elected new US House Speaker, ending weeks of wrangling
After 22 days of paralysis, four nominees and multiple backroom brawls, Congress finally has a new House Speaker, electing a Donald Trump ally who backed the attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Three weeks after Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the job, Republicans put aside their differences for long enough to appoint Louisiana lawyer Mike Johnson as his replacement.
Representative Mike Johnson speaks after he was chosen as the Republicans latest nominee for House speaker at a Republican caucus meeting at the Capitol in Washington.Credit: AP
The move ends an unprecedented period in Washington, in which Congress was unable to pass legislation, approve more funding for Israel or Ukraine, or provide Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a platform to give a joint address as part of his state visit this week.
But in a sign of more turmoil to come, the deeply divided House of Representatives now has only a few weeks to negotiate a deal to avoid a government shutdown that could force millions of Americans to lose pay or access to services when departments run out of money.
Here’s the full story from our North America correspondent.
This morning’s headlines at a glance
Good morning and thanks for joining us.
It’s Thursday, October 26. I’m Caroline Schelle, and I’ll be anchoring our live coverage for the first half of the day.
Here’s what you need to know before we get started:
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has backed the “moral clarity” of United States President Joe Biden in his response to the conflict in the Middle East.
- The Liberal Party sole Indigenous MP has questioned the courage of the authors of an anonymous letter censuring people who voted No at the referendum.
- A transnational crime syndicate is accused of laundering dirty funds and tainted crypto via a money moving business spruiked by an ex-Howard government minister.
- Households are taking on more financial risk by cutting back on insurance, running down savings and other measures as they grapple with inflation and higher interest rates.
- Foreign Minister Penny Wong has joined Western allies in calling for a pause to hostilities in Gaza so that food, water and supplies can be delivered to Palestinian civilians.
- Manufacturers campaigning to prevent a nationwide ban on the use of engineered stone have been accused of spreading misinformation by the NSW treasurer.
- Overseas, Donald Trump was fined $US10,000 ($15,000) after the judge overseeing his civil fraud trial found that the former US president violated a gag order in the case.
- In other overseas news, China’s defence minister Li Shangfu ousted after missing for weeks, without explanation.
Let’s get into it.
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