Greens Senator Dorinda Cox Defects to Labor, Citing Loss of Confidence in Minor Party Leadership
Good morning! It's Tuesday, 3 June, and the FBI has announced that they've been monitoring a Colorado suspect for a year, and they've now charged him with a federal hate crime after he planned an antisemitic attack. Meanwhile, in Australian politics, Greens senator joins Labor.
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Today's reading time is 7 minutes. - Miko Santos
Australia Rebuffs US Push for Higher Defense Spending, Albanese Defends Current Investment Levels
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended Australia's defense spending Monday, rejecting implicit criticism that the nation should dramatically increase military expenditure following a US request for allied nations to boost defense budgets to 3.5% of GDP.
US Pushes Australia for Major Defence Spending Boost as Super Tax Controversy Deepens
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has called on Australia to increase defence spending to 3.5% of GDP, a significant jump from the current level of just over 2%, as the Albanese government simultaneously faces mounting opposition to superannuation tax changes that could eventually affect 1.2 million Australians.
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INSIDE AUSPOL
America demands Australia double defence spending as China-Tawisan war looms by 2027
Today is June 3 and here is your Inside Auspol
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Business & Markets
➡️ ASIC Sues Choosi for $61 Million Insurance Comparison Fraud, Alleging Misleading Claims About Multiple Insurer Options. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has filed Federal Court proceedings against insurance comparison website Choosi Pty Ltd, alleging the company misled over 13,700 customers by falsely claiming to compare multiple insurers when it only offered policies from a single provider, earning $61 million in commissions while potentially denying consumers genuine choice and better deals from other insurers.
➡️ Trump Doubles Steel Tariffs to 50%, Australia Faces Limited Direct Impact But Significant Global Economic Ripple Effects. While Trump's decision to double steel and aluminum tariffs from 25% to 50% will have minimal direct impact on Australia since only 10% of Australian steel exports go to the US, economists warn the policy could significantly affect Australians through higher prices on US imports, reduced global demand, supply chain disruptions, and ongoing trade uncertainty that may chill business investment including potential impacts on Australia's crucial iron ore exports.
➡️ Macquarie Warns ASX Bank Shares Face Earnings Downgrades After RBA Rate Cut, Maintains Underweight Position. Investment bank Macquarie maintains an underweight position on ASX bank shares despite strong 2024 performance from major banks like Commonwealth Bank (up 45%) and Westpac (up 21%), warning that markets have not fully factored in the negative impact of recent RBA rate cuts on bank earnings, with earnings per share downgrades likely approaching FY26 as business credit growth slows from 13% to 7% annually.
Politics & World Affairs
➡️ Boulder Attack: 12 Injured as Man Throws Molotov Cocktails at Israeli Hostage Demonstration, Charged with Federal Hate Crime. A 45-year-old man has been charged with federal hate crimes after injuring 12 people in a planned Molotov cocktail attack targeting a group demonstrating for Israeli hostages in Boulder, Colorado, with authorities saying he specifically targeted what he called a "Zionist group" and had been planning the antisemitic assault for over a year.
➡️ Ukraine-Russia Peace Talks in Istanbul End After One Hour, New Prisoner Exchange Agreed Despite Limited Progress. The second round of direct Ukraine-Russia peace negotiations since 2022 ended after barely one hour in Istanbul on Monday, though both sides agreed to a new prisoner exchange focusing on wounded and young soldiers while remaining far apart on ending the war, with talks occurring one day after Ukraine's major drone attack destroyed dozens of Russian warplanes in what Kyiv called "Operation Spiderweb."
➡️ Madeleine McCann Search Relaunched in Portugal 18 Years After 3-Year-Old's Disappearance, German Suspect Investigation Continues. Portuguese police have relaunched the search for Madeleine McCann, the British toddler who disappeared from a vacation apartment in Portugal's Algarve region in 2007, conducting a new investigation from June 2-6, 2025, at the request of German authorities who have identified Christian Brueckner as the primary suspect in one of Britain's most publicized missing person cases.
AI & Technology
➡️ Apple Tests 150 Billion Parameter AI Model That Rivals ChatGPT Quality, New Siri Architecture in Development. Apple is actively testing large language models including a 150 billion parameter AI system that approaches ChatGPT's quality while developing a completely new Siri architecture, though internal disagreements and hallucination concerns continue to delay implementation timelines ahead of WWDC 2025.
➡️ Meta Plans Full AI Ad Automation by 2026: Zuckerberg Envisions Complete Campaign Creation from Single Product Image. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to achieve full AI automation of advertising creation and targeting by late 2026, allowing businesses to provide only a product image and budget while AI handles complete campaign development, though the initiative faces significant industry skepticism over brand safety, creative control, and Meta's track record with previous automated advertising systems.
➡️ Samsung Eyes Major Perplexity AI Investment and Integration Deal for Galaxy Phones, Bixby Assistant Enhancement. Samsung is reportedly finalizing an investment in AI search startup Perplexity as part of a $500 million funding round at $14 billion valuation, with plans to pre-install Perplexity's app on Galaxy devices and integrate its search capabilities into Samsung's Bixby assistant and default browser, potentially challenging Google's dominance in mobile AI services.
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