The Australian Business Summit Council Inc. held its inaugural Annual Gala Dinner to mark the first anniversary of the Council’s establishment at The Waterview in Bicentennial Park, Homebush on Wednesday 27 November 2019. Studded with almost 300 eminent business leaders, ambassadorial and consular officials, academics, political leaders, community leaders and representative members of the press, this sensational function celebrated the ...

Police in Vietnam have taken hair and blood samples to get DNA from relatives of people feared to be among the 39 who died in the back of a truck near London last week, their family members said. The bodies were found on Wednesday in a truck container in Grays, about 32km east of central London, and British police are ...

Tens of thousands of people have formed a human chain across Lebanon in a show of national unity as part of a historic civil disobedience campaign. Amid a sea of Lebanese flags and music blaring from loudspeakers, people joined hands along coastal roads aiming to span 171 kilometres from the south to the north. Nationwide protests, ignited in part by ...

Here’s what you need to know this morning. NSW economy falls behind Tasmania NSW’s economy has dropped behind Tasmania, while Victoria remains the best performing economy in the country, according to CommSec’s State of the States report. The quarterly report shows NSW was a solid performer in construction but fell on relative population growth and dwelling starts. CommSec said Victoria ...

US President Donald Trump announced that Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi “blew himself up” after being cornered by United States forces in northern Syria. “Last night, the United States brought the world’s number one terrorist leader to justice,” Mr Trump said. He went on to provide graphic details of Baghdadi’s final moments, giving an insight into the covert ...

Why the long faces, everyone? For years, Australian consumers have been twitchy. With good reason. A lethal combination of soaring household debt, overpriced real estate and painfully weak wages have seen households slam the brakes on spending. Now, the pessimism is spreading to the business world and to financial markets. A survey of corporate leaders last week — almost 1,500 ...

The Lebanese Civil Defense Directorate said that 104 fires have erupted in Lebanon since Monday night. Civil Defense Director General Gen. Raymond Khattar said “Lebanon has not seen anything similar for dozens of years, with fires reaching houses and institutions and burning forests home to natural biodiversity.” The Syrian coastal regions endured similar fires. The disaster was caused by dry ...

The US Government has imposed tariffs on Turkish steel and sanctions on three Turkish ministers and two government departments over Ankara’s attack in Syria against Kurdish forces it views as a terrorist threat. The move comes as US President Donald Trump scrambles to limit the damage from his much-criticised decision to clear US troops from Turkey’s path. Treasury Secretary Steven ...

Latitude Financial’s eagerly awaited debut on the ASX has been pulled for the second time in just over a year. It was meant to be the biggest Australian initial public offering (IPO) of the year, but those plans have been shelved by Latitude’s owners — US private equity firm KKR, Deutche Bank and Varde Partners. The KKR consortium decided to ...

Five siblings and a man believed to be their father are receiving medical treatment after Dutch police discovered them locked away in a secret room at an isolated farm, officials in the Netherlands say. The five siblings, estimated at 18 to 25 years of age, and a man they identified as their ailing father were found near Ruinerwold, a village ...