Rick Koenig

Technology

Anthropic just paid authors $1.5 billion for pirated books — days after Albo called it theft

A US judge has approved Anthropic's $1.5 billion payout to authors whose books it pirated to train Claude, giving Albanese's "anything less is theft" line a price tag as the company courts Australia.

National

Hanson didn't back down — she said it louder, then refused to apologise for the trip

Hanson used a London conference and a primetime interview to repeat her migration and transgender comments, and insists no taxpayer money funded her European trip.

world

The Tate brothers spent years untouchable — now the manosphere's kings are in a Miami cell

US federal agents have arrested Andrew and Tristan Tate in Miami on a UK extradition request, with prosecutors adding rape and child-abuse image charges.

National

The government agrees Islamophobia is close to being normalised but won't check whether its own laws are part of the reason

The government accepted 35 of 54 recommendations from its own Islamophobia envoy, but not the independent review of counterterrorism laws he has pushed from the start.

National

The cost of six lives in Laos: a food charge and a maximum of four years

The distillery owner faces a minimum of three months, nearly two years after six tourists died in Vang Vieng, including two teenagers from Melbourne.

world

Trump demands Canada pay for smoke as its forests burn

More than 900 fires are burning across Canada, and the president says the cost of the smoke will be added to Canadian tariffs.

Politics

Alex Jones, chemtrails, and the man Hanson won't sack

The One Nation senator's Alex Jones appearance and antisemitic mural post have resurfaced, but the record goes back to a sovereign citizen letter in 2011.

National

Pauline Hanson wants to run the country. She spent her holiday with a convicted criminal and a billionaire.

The One Nation leader spent her European summer with a billionaire donor and a man Australia has refused a visa, while claiming to speak for battlers.

National

Smoking is down, vaping is down, and Australia is consuming more nicotine than ever

Nicotine pouches enter the national drug survey for the first time, used by 8.4 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds, while overall nicotine consumption climbs.

Technology

Nobody wrote the post you just liked

More than 40 per cent of LinkedIn's long-form posts are written by AI, and the platform's own pledge to crack down on it flagged as AI-generated.

culture

The eviction notice says the protests are the reason. That's the whole trick.

The breach notice that closed Divine Playhouse cites the protests against it as grounds, and warns more protests are almost certain to come.

National

The state that leads on opioids has no rule against turning up high

Amphetamine-type stimulants now make up 60 per cent of positive workplace drug tests, and Victoria has told WorkSafe it won't write an enforceable rule about it.