News In Brief

Welcome to our ‘News In Brief’ column in which we digest all the news releases for you in no more than five paragraphs.
Below are snippets of all the media releases we received from Aug 10 till the end of the week.
This article updates throughout the week.

Experts Split on Living Crisis

Perth, Aug 10: More than one-third of Australian economists and experts say the country is no longer experiencing a cost-of-living crisis, despite household financial pressure remaining at extreme levels.
Finder’s August RBA Cash Rate Survey found 35% of panellists believe Australia is not in a cost-of-living crisis. However, three in five expect cost-of-living conditions to worsen over the next six months.
Finder’s Cost of Living Pressure Gauge was at 81% in June, remaining in the “extreme” range, while 43% of Australians reportedly have less than $1,000 in savings.
The survey also found 72% of experts who responded to Finder’s Economic Sentiment Tracker were negative about the cost-of-living outlook, while none were positive about either cost of living or employment. Housing affordability was the exception, with 38% positive about the outlook.
Meanwhile, 92% of the 38 experts surveyed expect the RBA to leave the cash rate unchanged at 4.35% at its Tuesday meeting.
Finder money and home loans expert Richard Whitten said Macroeconomic indicators might be cooling on paper, but millions of people are still confronted with very high housing costs and expensive everyday bills.
Experts themselves were divided over whether current conditions warrant the term “crisis”.
Saul Eslake from Corinna Economic Advisory Pty Ltd said While I absolutely recognize that some households – including in particular those on low wages, and those with big mortgages – are “doing it tough”, I think the word “crisis” exaggerates the circumstances confronting a majority of Australian households.
University of Tasmania economist Mala Raghavan disagreed Australia is still experiencing a cost-of-living crisis, with housing and services inflation remaining persistently high. As these categories constitute a significant proportion of household spending, continued price pressures are reducing affordability, weakening real household incomes, and constraining living standards.
AMP’s Shane Oliver said Since 2021 prices are up around 25% and wages are only up about 19%, so real wages have fallen.

Dell Targets Huddle Room Conferencing

Perth, Aug 10: Dell has launched the Dell Pro P 43 4K Huddle Conferencing Monitor (P4326QEB) in Australia and New Zealand, offering an all-in-one video conferencing setup for small meeting rooms accommodating up to six people.
The 43-inch 4K IPS monitor combines a Sony STARVIS 8MP 4K HDR camera with a 120-degree field of view, AI group framing and 3D noise reduction. It also features four beamforming microphones with AI noise cancellation, two front-firing 8W speakers and a mechanical camera privacy shutter.
A single USB-C connection handles video, audio and data while delivering up to 100W of power to a connected laptop. Dell includes a three-metre USB-C cable, while additional connectivity includes HDMI 2.1, USB-A, USB-B and Gigabit Ethernet.
The Zoom Rooms-certified monitor supports tilt, swivel and height adjustment and is VESA compatible. It also carries EPEAT Gold, EPEAT Climate+, Energy Star 8.0 and TCO Edge certifications.
The Dell Pro P 43 4K Huddle Conferencing Monitor is available now in Australia and New Zealand through Dell.

HOYTS Expands Cloud Cinema Operations

Perth, Aug 10: HOYTS has signed a six-year agreement with Vista Group to move its Australian and New Zealand cinema operations to Vista Cloud Operational Excellence, extending a technology partnership spanning almost 20 years.
The cloud migration will cover HOYTS’ network of more than 60 cinemas and 500 screens, with the platform designed to improve scalability, reliability, security and performance while simplifying cinema operations.
The agreement comes as Spider-Man: Brand New Day continues to lead the Australian box office, earning $17.1 million in its second weekend and taking its total to $55.5 million, according to figures supplied by HOYTS.
The Odyssey remained second with $5.21 million for the weekend and $47.2 million overall, followed by Toy Story 5 with $433,000, Moana with $349,000 and newcomer Holy Days with $329,000.
The top 10 films accounted for 96% of the national weekend box office, with action the leading genre as Spider-Man: Brand New Day maintained the top spot.

Census Night Reveals Who We Are

Perth, Aug 10: As the ABS conducts its 2026 Census this Tuesday, new data from comparison site Finder shows the financial strain many households are quietly carrying.
According to Finder’s Consumer Sentiment Tracker, 75% of Australians are stressed about money — women more than men (82% vs 69%). The average Australian has $43,462 in savings, but this varies sharply by generation: boomers ($54,390) and gen X ($53,130) hold far more than millennials ($45,732) and gen Z ($21,581). Meanwhile, 43% have less than $1,000 saved.
Housing pressure is widespread too, with 47% of renters struggling to pay rent and 38% of homeowners struggling with mortgage repayments. Yet despite the stress, 77% of Australians still say they’re happy overall — though happiness climbs with homeownership and household income.
Finder’s Taylor Blackburn says the gap between the Census’s demographic snapshot and the financial reality is stark: households are struggling behind closed doors, often dipping into savings just to get by. He notes the disconnect between widespread stress and reported happiness suggests people are absorbing pressure quietly rather than letting it define them — and points to savings gaps across generations and genders as evidence that this strain isn’t shared equally.
His advice: check for “money leaks” in home loans, energy plans, and insurance, where costs often creep up unnoticed.

Alibaba Launches Wan3.0

Perth, Aug 10: Alibaba has entered beta testing for Wan3.0, its latest AI video generation model, which extends maximum clip length to 30 seconds — double the 15-second cap of its predecessor, Wan2.7-Video, and well beyond the few-second clips typical of most AI video generators. Users can now apply for testing access through Alibaba Cloud’s Model Studio and Qwen Cloud platforms.
The longer runtime enables more complex camera movements and continuous shots, and the model includes an intelligent duration feature that recommends optimal clip length based on the prompt, plus tools to extend narrative timelines.
Wan3.0’s standout feature is its multimodal input range: it can process text, image, video, and audio simultaneously, as well as web pages, PDFs, and PowerPoint files — effectively letting users turn static, text-heavy documents into dynamic video.
To reduce the visual drift and distortion common in AI-generated media, the model focuses on visual continuity: realistic faces with synced micro-expressions, natural multilingual voice output, and stable rendering of software interfaces and motion graphics. It also aims for precise replication of reference inputs — keeping characters, products, spatial layouts, and voices consistent rather than approximate.
Alibaba is positioning Wan3.0 for use across filmmaking, short-form drama, social media content, marketing and educational videos, and simulation training for self-driving cars and robotics. The Wan series launched in July 2023 and has been updated regularly since.

RBA Holds Cash Rate at 4.35%

Perth, Aug 11: The Reserve Bank of Australia’s Monetary Policy Board left the cash rate target unchanged at 4.35 per cent at its meeting today, a decision that was unanimous.
The Board noted that headline and trimmed mean inflation remain elevated, partly due to capacity pressures and higher oil and commodity prices linked to the Middle East conflict. Financial conditions have tightened following three rate increases earlier this year, with consumer spending slowing, housing market momentum easing, and labour market conditions softening slightly more than expected.
The RBA said inflation is not expected to return to the midpoint of its target range until late 2027, with risks skewed to the upside. It reiterated it would raise rates further if needed to bring inflation sustainably back to target, while continuing to monitor incoming data and economic conditions.

Digital Skills Boost Aussie Wages

Perth, Aug 11: Australian workers with digital skills are earning substantially more, with advanced capabilities attracting a wage premium of about 26%, according to new research from Indeed and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The Skills That Pay 2026 Report, based on more than six million job postings across Asia-Pacific, found basic digital skills attract a 4% wage premium, rising to 11% for intermediate skills and 26% for advanced capabilities. Nearly nine in 10 job ads analysed require some level of digital competency.
Demand is also spreading beyond traditional technology roles, with retail, customer service, education and healthcare increasingly requiring data analysis, digital platform and AI skills. In Australia, 5.8% of job postings referenced AI skills by the end of 2025, double the level a year earlier. AI usage skills can add a further 4% wage premium, while AI development skills can add around 6%.
Callam Pickering, Senior APAC Economist at Indeed, said: “Digital skills are no longer a nice-to-have—they’ve become a baseline requirement for career progression and higher earnings.”
Silvia Garcia Mandico, Economist at the Asian Development Bank, said: “This underscores the importance of expanding opportunities for workers to acquire and continuously upgrade their digital skills, so they can adapt to technological change and share in its benefits.”

Korean Air, Asiana Approve Merger

Perth, Aug 11: Korean Air and Asiana Airlines have secured board and shareholder approvals for their merger, clearing a major milestone ahead of the launch of an integrated airline on December 17, 2026.
Korean Air’s board ratified the merger agreement on August 12, while Asiana Airlines received overwhelming shareholder backing at an extraordinary general meeting. Of the 81.86% of shareholders represented, 99.3%, or more than 167 million shares, voted in favour of the merger.
The approvals formally ratify the merger agreement executed by the airlines’ boards in May. Following creditor protection procedures and remaining administrative requirements, the corporate merger registration is expected to be completed on December 17.
Preparations for the combined airline are also progressing under Korean Air’s Post-Merger Integration roadmap. The carrier received conditional merger approval from South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on June 25, followed by clearance of its merger registration statement on July 24.
Korean Air said it is now working with relevant authorities on amendments to its Air Operator Certificate and international operational permits.
The airlines are also accelerating preparations for integration, including combining systems, conducting joint training and increasing engagement between teams ahead of the December launch.
Korean Air currently operates a fleet of 166 aircraft and serves 116 cities across 39 countries from its hub at Incheon International Airport. The airline carried more than 25 million passengers in 2025.

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