Men almost twice as likely as women to earn high salaries in ‘reality check’ on Australia’s gender pay gap

Men are nearly twice as likely as women to be making $220,000 a year, with minimal progress made on closing Australia’s gender pay gap in the past 12 months.The federal government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) published its gender pay gap results for 10,500 employers on Tuesday. It revealed there was a slight increase in the number of women in highly paid roles, but men were still 1.8 times more likely to be in the upper quartile of earners on an average salary of $221,000.On the other hand, women were 1

Maritime insurers cancel war risk cover in Gulf as Iran conflict disrupts shipping

Leading maritime insurers have cancelled war risk cover for vessels operating in the Gulf as the escalating Iran conflict disrupted shipping and sent some freight costs surging.At least 150 vessels including oil and liquefied natural gas tankers have dropped anchor in the strait of Hormuz and surrounding waters, and at least three tankers were damaged and one seafarer killed over the weekend.The vital shipping route, through which about 20% of the world’s oil supplies and 20% of seaborne gas tankers pass, is effectively closed after the US and Israel began intense airstrikes on Iran on Saturday.Several leading mutual marine insurers, including Norway’s Gard and Skuld, the UK’s NorthStandard and the London P&I Club, and the New York-based American Club, said they were cancelling war risk cover for ships operating in the region.This is likely to further dissuade shipowners from traversing the Gulf

US military reportedly used Claude in Iran strikes despite Trump’s ban

The US military reportedly used Claude, Anthropic’s AI model, to inform its attack on Iran despite Donald Trump’s decision, announced hours earlier, to sever all ties with the company and its artificial intelligence tools.The use of Claude during the massive joint US-Israel bombardment of Iran that began on Saturday was reported by the Wall Street Journal and Axios. It underlines the complexity of the US military withdrawing powerful AI tools from its missions when the technology is already intricately embedded in operations.According to the Journal, US military command used the tools for intelligence purposes, as well as to help select targets and carry out battlefield simulations.On Friday, just hours before the Iran attack began, Trump ordered all federal agencies to stop using Claude immediately

Datacentre developers face calls to disclose effect on UK’s net emissions

Datacentre developers are facing pressure to reveal whether their projects will increase the UK’s net greenhouse gas emissions, amid concerns the sites could double national electricity demand.Campaign groups have written to the UK technology secretary, Liz Kendall, warning that the energy required by new AI infrastructure poses a “serious threat to efforts to decarbonise the electricity grid”.Developers should demonstrate that their projects will not cause an increase in the UK’s overall CO2 emissions or local water scarcity, as part of a forthcoming national policy statement (NPS) on datacentres, the letter says.“Without these commitments, such vast electricity use will inevitably generate vast climate emissions,” the campaigners write.The letter is signed by Foxglove, a group that campaigns against big tech dominance, and five other non-governmental organisations including the environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth

Lord Allen to become latest casualty of horse racing’s intractable politics

The wait continues for confirmation that Charles Allen’s brief, troubled – and ultimately ineffectual – tenure as chair of the British Horseracing Authority is over. In racing terms, however, he is nine-tenths out of the saddle, his backside inching towards the turf and gravity is about to take over.Even in the thankless and intractable world of racing politics, few stars have waned as rapidly as that of Lord Allen of Kensington, a former businessman and senior broadcasting executive who arrived in September at the BHA promising to restructure the sport’s governance and, in the words of his day-one mission statement, “develop British racing into a modern commercial and cultural powerhouse”.There were hints of the struggles ahead even before the new chair’s seat was warm. Allen’s appointment had been announced in November 2024, with an intended start date of 1 June, but his arrival was delayed as he delved deeper into the tangled web of factional interests he had been hired to unite, and sought assurances that his plan for a fully independent BHA board of directors would be implemented

AFL 2026 predicted ladder part two: history suggests Geelong may struggle

The Cats remain a flawed team and could find themselves among footy’s lower middle class after last year’s grand final maulingPart one: Collingwood on a cliff edge as time waits for no oneMelbourne recently released a membership video that leaned into the cliches and the disappointment – one of the better executed and coherent offerings from the club in recent years. They were eight wins off finals last year. But they beat Brisbane at the Gabba, nearly beat Collingwood twice and ran top-placed Adelaide close. They lost half a dozen games by eight points or less.The new coach Steven King wants them to make mistakes, take risks and play with freedom and flair