Calls for an artificial intelligence slowdown; the 11-nation BRICS group of countries calls for calm in the Middle East; and in sport, Spanish rider Mikel Landa wins his first Grand Tour stage in nine years at the Vuelta a España.
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TRANSCRIPT
- Calls for an artificial intelligence slowdown
- The 11-nation BRICS group of countries calls for calm in the Middle East
- Spanish rider Mikel Landa wins his first Grand Tour stage in nine years at the Vuelta a España
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is calling on artificial intelligence companies to moderate the rate at which they advance the capabilities of their models, amid mounting fears of misuse.
In an essay posted on social media, he has outlined a three-step framework intended to pace development and create more time to manage risks.
There have been incidents where AI agents from developers such as Anthropic's rival OpenAI have hacked or attempted to access external systems.
That has heightened concerns over the increasing capacity of AI models and developers' ability to contain them.
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US President Donald Trump says he'd love to see a unified Ireland, during a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in Dublin.
Ireland became a self-governing Catholic-majority country a century ago.
Northern Ireland was split between two main communities: mostly Catholic nationalists who desired union with the rest of Ireland, and largely Protestant unionists who wanted to stay British.
Tensions eventually exploded in the Troubles involving paramilitary groups on both sides and British troops, with the United States instrumental in negotiating a 1998 peace accord that largely ended the violence but left Northern Ireland’s ultimate status unresolved.
That agreement allows for a vote on unification if it appears likely a majority of people would vote for it.
Donald Trump says he thinks unification is inevitable.
"Well, I don't want to cause any problems, but I will tell you, I'd love to see it unified. I have friends on both sides, great people. They're Irish people. How can they be bad, right? I'd love to see it unified. I think it would be a great feather in everybody's cap if that happened. It's going to happen eventually."
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Members of the 11-nation BRICS group including China, Russia, Iran and India are calling for calm in the Middle East.
The countries unanimously adopted the joint declaration at a summit in New Delhi.
It calls for maximum restraint in the Middle East, warning against deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure and on nuclear facilities.
It also calls for an end to Israeli violence in Gaza, support for the UN agency that delivers aid to Palestinian refugees, and full United Nations membership for Palestine.
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The Coalition says the tax changes introduced in the federal budget are pushing small businesses into serious financial hardship.
Nearly half of more than 1,000 small businesses surveyed by the the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry say they are experiencing high stress.
Rising expenses for utilities and supply costs were identified as the biggest concern, with one in three say they have considered closing in the past year.
Opposition Treasurer Tim Wilson says the challenges facing small businesses are a result of the government's tax reforms.
"Nearly 40% of Australian small businesses are paying themselves $40,000 to nothing every year in wages. We have 40,000 Australian small business owners who will be at risk of being pushed below the poverty line under the Albanese government because they cannot kick their spending addiction, and they continue to increase taxes, specifically hitting and targeting small business."
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Around 30,000 people are gathering for Oz Comicon this weekend.
The pop culture convention, which takes place annually in cities across Australia, is a celebration of comics, anime, film and video games.
Along with the classic, colourful cosplay - where fans dress up as their favourite characters - this year's event in Sydney has sparked conversations around respect and community.
Cosplayer Justine Gaudreau-Fewster says the gathering of thousands of young people offers a chance to highlight the importance of consent.
"You're sort of getting people to ask that question of, oh, how would I behave? Oh, I didn't know that was innapropriate, now I know. They'll tell somebody else when they see them do something wrong, and it's sort of gradually expanding that without making it really obvious sometimes."
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And to sport, in cycling,
Spanish rider Mikel Landa has won stage 20 of the Vuelta a España to claim his first Grand Tour stage win in nine years.
He powered away from the breakaway group up the Collado del Alguacil to take the stage.
The 36-year-old says he put his all into the win.
"I feel very happy. Something that I have been looking for a long time and finally, I win again. It is really emotional. It has been a really hard season, really hard work for me and today was the last chance."
Enric Mas remains the overall race leader since favourite Tadej Pogacar crashed out on stage eight - and he is poised to win his first Grand Tour after being a Vuelta runner-up three times.
The final stage is a 112-kilometre route around Granada, and ending in the Paseo del Salon.
