Coles tells court its Down Down promotions were ‘fair dinkum’ and did not mislead shoppers

Coles has defended its promotional prices in a high-profile court case brought by the consumer watchdog, arguing that shoppers would understand the supermarket’s well-known “Down Down” promotion to be “fair dinkum”.The federal court battle between the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Coles began this week, testing allegations the supermarket breached the law by offering “illusory” discounts on many everyday products.The legal argument will turn, in part, on what consumers understand Coles’ “Down Down” promotion to be, with the supermarket arguing that an ordinary consumer would perceive the promotion as a general, long-term discount.Sign up: AU Breaking News emailJohn Sheahan KC, representing Coles, said on Tuesday that consumers would accept the promotion as a real drop in price.“What they would be concerned with when they’re walking down the aisle trying to work out what to buy today for their shopping is whether the claimed discount … was fair dinkum,” Sheahan said

Car dealership tycoon ousted from his Kent company in ‘coup’, high court hears

A multimillionaire used-car salesman was ousted from his £300m company as part of an orchestrated “coup” involving business rivals and private equity investors, the high court has heard.Peter Waddell, 59, claims he was forced out as the chief executive of the Kent-based dealership Big Motoring World by “conspirators” who designed a “plan” to ensure that an investigation into allegations of gross misconduct “reached the conclusion that one or more [sackable events] had occurred”.Waddell, who remains the majority shareholder in the business, is alleged to have made a series of racist and sexist remarks, including referring to a Hindu colleague as “Hyundai”, the court was told.The tycoon, whose backstory involves a childhood spent in care and then a spell of homelessness before finding success in business, either denies making the remarks or says they were taken out of context.He had created a company with 525 employees, revenues of £371m and profits of £6

TikTok creator ByteDance vows to curb AI video tool after Disney threat

ByteDance, the Chinese technology company behind TikTok, has said it will restrain its AI video-making tool, after threats of legal action from Disney and a backlash from other media businesses, according to reports.The AI video generator Seedance 2.0, released last week, has spooked Hollywood as users create realistic clips of movie stars and superheroes with just a short text prompt.Several big Hollywood studios have accused the tool of copyright infringement.On Friday, Walt Disney reportedly sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance which accused it of supplying Seedance with a “pirated library” of the studio’s characters, including those from Marvel and Star Wars, according to the US news outlet Axios

Google puts users at risk by downplaying health disclaimers under AI Overviews

Google is putting people at risk of harm by downplaying safety warnings that its AI-generated medical advice may be wrong.When answering queries about sensitive topics such as health, the company says its AI Overviews, which appear above search results, prompt users to seek professional help, rather than relying solely on its summaries. “AI Overviews will inform people when it’s important to seek out expert advice or to verify the information presented,” Google has said.But the Guardian found the company does not include any such disclaimers when users are first presented with medical advice.Google only issues a warning if users choose to request additional health information and click on a button called “Show more”

How did Australia – better known for its beaches than snow – become a consistent Winter Olympics performer? | Kieran Pender

In 1936, Kenneth Kennedy made history as Australia’s first Winter Olympian. It was a lonely enterprise; not only was Kennedy the nation’s sole representative at the Games in Germany, but the speed skater was entirely unsupported, with no staff or Australian Olympic officials in attendance.From those inauspicious beginnings, almost six decades would pass before Australia won its first Winter Olympic medal; bronze in the men’s 5000m speed skating relay (Steven Bradbury – later to become Australia’s most famous Winter Olympian – was a member of the team). But from famine, now a hearty Winter Olympics meal awaits Australians every four years – if perhaps not yet a medal feast.Australia has won medals at every Winter Games since that bronze in 1994

Winter Olympics 2026: Elana Meyers Taylor wins monobob gold for USA; Canada’s Oldham lands freeski big air crown – as it happened

That’s it from us for today. Lots happening tomorrow though: the qualifiers begin for the aerials, which is always spectacular, as will be the snowboard slopestyle final. There are medals in biathlon and in Nordic combined, for the fans of serrated skis. There’ll be team pursuit medals in the speed skating, the men’s big air final for skis, the short program for the women’s single figure skating, the two-man bobsleigh medals, and more curling than you can slide a rock at. See you there