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☆ Kmart has all but disappeared from the US. But its Australian namesake is booming.
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-09 | by ( Nathan Rennolds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

AdvertisementThe closure of a Kmart store in Bridgehampton, New York, in October marked the end of an era for the iconic chain. Now, just one Kmart store remains in the mainland US, tucked away inside an At Home store in southwest Miami. "We see this in things such as Kmart hacks," where creators showcase how they use Kmart products in novel ways to help in their everyday lives, Lloyd-Wallis said. A race to the bottomSo far, Kmart Australia has weathered the e-commerce storm, in part thanks to the geographical challenges companies like Amazon face in Australia. It seems, then, that Kmart Australia could find itself in a price race to the bottom.

Persons: —, Gary Mortimer, Mortimer, They've, Ian Bailey, it's, Bailey, we've, Anastasia Lloyd, Wallis, news.com.au, Roy Morgan, Laura Demasi, Roy Morgan's Organizations: Kmart, Service, Walmart, Target, Kmart Group, Queensland University of Technology, National Retail Federation, Kmart Australia, Getty, Retail Doctor Group, Lloyd, Amazon Australia Locations: Australia, Bridgehampton , New York, Miami, Australian, Melbourne, New Zealand, Target Australia, Canada, Singapore, Philippines, Sydney, Kmart Australia

☆ Australia plans minimum age for social media use, angering digital rights advocates
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-10 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

SYDNEY, Australia — Australia plans to set a minimum age limit for children to use social media citing concerns about mental and physical health, drawing a backlash from digital rights advocates who warn the measure could drive dangerous online activity underground. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his center-left government would run an age verification trial before introducing age minimum laws for social media this year. The law would put Australia among the first countries in the world to impose an age restriction on social media. Representatives of Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, which has a self-imposed minimum age of 13, YouTube owner Alphabet and TikTok were not immediately available for comment. Australia has one of the world’s most online populations with more than four-fifths of its 26 million people on social media, according to government and tech industry figures.

Persons: Anthony Albanese, Albanese, “, ” Albanese, ”, Daniel Angus, Jordy Kaufman Organizations: Australian Broadcasting Corp, European Union, Meta, Facebook, Queensland University of Technology Digital Media Research, Swinburne University, University of Sydney Locations: SYDNEY, Australia

☆ Australia plans a minimum age limit for social media use
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-10 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Australia intends to set a minimum age limit for children to use social media, citing concerns about mental and physical health. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his center-left government would run an age verification trial before introducing age minimum laws for social media this year. The law would put Australia among the first countries in the world to impose an age restriction on social media. Australia has one of the world’s most online populations, with four-fifths of its 26 million people on social media, according to tech industry figures. But the inquiry has also heard concerns about whether an age limit would inadvertently harm younger people by encouraging them to hide their online activity.

Persons: Anthony Albanese, Albanese, “, ” Albanese, TikTok, ”, Daniel Angus, we’re Organizations: Australian Broadcasting Corp, European Union, Meta, Facebook, YouTube, University of Sydney, Queensland University of Technology Digital Media Research Locations: Australia

☆ NASA Perseverance rover’s rock find may show microbial life existed on Mars
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-26 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —The NASA Perseverance rover may have found a pivotal clue that’s central to its mission on Mars: geological evidence that could suggest life existed on the red planet billions of years ago. “These spots are a big surprise,” said David Flannery, member of the NASA Perseverance science team and an astrobiologist at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia, in a statement. But the arrowhead-shaped specimen could help the Perseverance team unlock whether Mars was once a planet hospitable to life. Perseverance rover captured a 360-degree panorama of a region on Mars called “Bright Angel,” where a river flowed billions of years ago. Exploring Mars’ pastSince landing on Mars, Perseverance has crossed Jezero Crater and explored an ancient river delta in search of microfossils of past life.

Persons: ”, David Flannery, haven’t, Mars, “ We’re, Briony Horgan, we’ve, —, Morgan Cable, MSSS “ We’ve, Ken Farley, it’s, Perseverance, Nicola Fox, Bill Nelson, ” Horgan, ” Farley Organizations: CNN, NASA, Queensland University of Technology, Purdue University, Chemicals, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL, Caltech, ASU, ” Cable, California Institute of Technology, MSSS Geologists, Science Locations: Australia, West Lafayette , Indiana, Mars, Pasadena , California, Cheyava, Pasadena, Neretva

☆ Scientists discovered 50,000-year-old viruses in Neanderthal DNA that could help explain their mysterious extinction
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-06 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Researchers studying ancient Neanderthal DNA found traces of three viruses that cause colds, cold sores, genital warts, and cancer. And ancient humans might have been the ones who started spreading these bugs, according to the scientists who recently published their work in the peer-reviewed journal "Viruses." This isn't the first time researchers have found inert (no longer infectious) ancient human viruses. That means tools used to study ancient human DNA might not work for viruses, Sally Wasef, a paleogenetics researcher at Queensland University of Technology, told New Scientist. Massilani also had some concerns with how the researchers were interpreting the ancient DNA.

Persons: —, Marcelo Briones, Chemnitz State Museum of Archaeology Hendrik Schmidt, papillomavirus, Briones, Sasha Tabachnikova, Epstein, Barr, wasn't, Sally Wasef, Massilani Organizations: Service, Business, Chemnitz State Museum of Archaeology, Getty, Yale School of Medicine, Yale, Queensland University of Technology, New Locations: Chemnitz, Chagyrskaya Cave, Southern Siberia, Briones, Siberia

☆ Cavendish bananas face extinction and not all experts agree on how to save it
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( Rupendra Brahambhatt | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Cavendish, the most commonly available banana variety, is facing the risk of extinction. A fungal disease threatens to wipe Cavendish bananas off the face of the Earth. Why Cavendish bananas dominate the global marketThere are over 1,000 varieties of bananas, but about 47% that humans eat are Cavendish bananas (Musa acuminata). Fajri Ramadhan / 500px / Getty ImagesPanama disease is a serial banana killerWhat's happening to Cavendish bananas has happened before to another popular banana variety called Gros Michel. How scientists are trying to save the CavendishSome plant pathologists don't believe that the Cavendish banana will meet the same fate as Gros Michel.

Persons: Cavendish, —, Dan Koeppel, Fajri, Gros, Gros Michel, James Dale, Robert Nickelsberg, Dale, Koeppel, COZZI, Price Organizations: Service, Queensland University of Technology, TR4, Gros, University of Cambridge, Taiwan Banana Research Institute, Apple, Cavendish Locations: Cavendish, Musa, Panama, Darwin, Australia, Queensland, India, China, East, Africa, South America, QCAV, freezers

[1/2] A ‘No’ sign sits in front of the Tent Embassy near the Old Australian Parliament House as voters arrive during The Voice referendum, in Canberra, Australia, October 14, 2023. An Australian referendum requires a majority vote in at least four of its six states, as well as nationally. Ultimately, no state supported the "Voice" and the national vote was 40% "Yes" to 60% "No", according to preliminary counting. After the votes were counted, Dutton said his party supported Indigenous reconciliation but he made no mention of an alternative measure. Albanese, asked on Saturday why the vote had failed, said no referendum had succeeded without bipartisan support.

Persons: Tracey Nearmy, Anthony Albanese, Kos Samaras, Matt Qvortrup, Peter Dutton, Dutton, Timothy Graham, Graham, Cate Blanchett, Russell Crowe, Chris Hemsworth, Jason Mamoa, Shaquille O'Neal, Samaras, Donald Trump, Paul Smith, Smith, Albanese, Qvortrup, Byron Kaye, Praveen Menon, Edmund Klamann Organizations: Tent Embassy, Old Australian, House, REUTERS, Rights, Labor, Redbridge Group, Australian National University, Liberal Party, Queensland University of Technology, Qantas, NBA, Labor Party, U.S, European Union, Liberal, Thomson Locations: Tent, Canberra, Australia

☆ Australia Voice referendum: Far from uniting the nation, the vote has revealed its priorities and prejudices
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-07 | by ( Hilary Whiteman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

There would be a referendum within his first term to recognize Indigenous Australians in the constitution and create a permanent body – a Voice to Parliament – to allow them to speak directly to government. Yes voters are much younger, live in the inner-city and voted for the Labor Party or Greens. Paul Smith, Director Government and Social Australia, at YouGov says the young-old divide in this referendum indicates a generational difference in world view. Daniel Morrison-Bird has been door-knocking for months in Perth, Western Australia to convince people to vote Yes. Gerber said far from dividing the country, the Voice is an invitation from Indigenous Australians to form a closer relationship.

Persons: Anthony Albanese, –, ” Albanese, “, ”, Paul Strangio, Bianca De Marchi, Strangio, they’re pigeonholed, ’ ”, Paul Smith, Smith, Axel Bruns, Bruns, Asanka Ratnayake, D’sa, D’Sa, Daniel Morrison, Bird, they’ve, Morrison, “ You’ll, I’ve, He’s, “ I’ve, it’s, Paula Gerber, ” “, Gerber, “ We’ve Organizations: Australia CNN —, Australian, Monash University, Qantas, Liberal, National Party coalition, Labor Party, Greens, Government, Social Australia, Torres Strait Islanders, Digital Media Research, Queensland University of Technology, Sky News, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, Voice Advisory Group, Corporation, Wungening Aboriginal Corporation, Indigenous Locations: Brisbane, Australia, United States, Britain, Sydney, Corporates, YouGov, Melbourne, United Kingdom, Portuguese, Australian, Perth, Western Australia

SYDNEY, Sept 29 (Reuters) - The blocking of three major deals by Australia's antitrust regulator in the past year was a coincidence, its chair told Reuters, pushing back against concerns among bankers that it has become deal-averse. "There happens to have been a sequence, frankly coincidentally as it turns out, of oppositions," ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said in an interview. There are some concerns that it could be blocked as Brookfield owns AusNet, a poles and wires asset in Victoria state. Cass-Gottlieb also said she doubted foreign investors have been dissuaded from pursuing deals in Australia which does not require companies to get formal clearance before proceeding with a takeover. "The recent stream of merger blockages will make foreign investors think twice."

Persons: Gina Cass, Gottlieb, Canada's Brookfield, Cass, Stephen Corones, Hannah Marshall, it's, Byron Kaye, Scott Murdoch, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: Australian Competition, Consumer Commission, Telstra, TPG, ANZ, Transurban, Origin Energy, Brookfield, FOCUS Cass, Investors, Queensland University of Technology, Cass, Marque Lawyers, Thomson Locations: Melbourne, AusNet, Victoria, Australia, Queensland

☆ Fed's Waller maintains skepticism on U.S. digital currency
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 10 (Reuters) - There is currently no credible case for the United States to develop an official digital version of the dollar, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursday, keeping to his long-held skeptical view amid debate at the U.S. central bank. "The case for adopting one is not yet convincing to me and many others," Waller said during an event at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. Fed policymakers remain divided on the need for a central bank digital currency, with Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard, second in command at the Fed, among those expressing support. Regardless, the Fed has indicated it would not launch one without clear support from the White House and lawmakers. Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Tomasz JanowskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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