Latest news with #US3
Courier-Mail
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Courier-Mail
TV star abruptly ends interview: ‘Hanging up'
Don't miss out on the headlines from Reality. Followed categories will be added to My News. Teresa Giudice unceremoniously cut off an interview when asked about tax liens totalling over $US3 million ($4.6 million). In a clip shared via X Friday, the Real Housewives of New Jersey star, 53, fielded questions from local anchor Larry Potash at WGN9 in Chicago during a remote interview. 'How is it that a family doesn't pay their taxes for years?' Potash asked. 'Is that what the fraud charges were?' 'Um, who's – what family are you talking about?' the Bravo star asked, to which he replied, 'Your family.' Teresa Giudice abruptly ended a TV interview after she was asked a tax fraud question. 'OK,' Giudice said before attempting to end the video stream. 'Let's just hang up. That's it,' she said. Text reading 'Teresa's iPhone' could then be seen on the screen as the call ended. 'She didn't like that question,' marvelled Potash. 'Yeah. Well,' responded his co-anchor in the awkward clip. In an X re-post of the video, Potash quipped, 'In the words of one of our viewers, she evaded that question like …taxes.' Teresa, who was jailed for fraud charges in 2015, was not impressed with the question and immediately hung up. A black screen soon appeared, much to the shock of the hosts. Giudice owes $US303,889.20 ($470,000) in tax liens, according to documents obtained by Page Six back in March. Her husband, Louis 'Luis' Ruelas, whom she married in 2022, owes upwards of $US2.6 million ($4 million). The former Dancing With the Stars star was married to Joe Giudice for 20 years before their 2020 split. And prior to that, both served time in prison for mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud. Teresa was behind bars for 11 months in 2015. Joe, meanwhile, spent two years in prison before being released in 2019 and subsequently deported to his birthplace of Italy. Teresa served 11 months behind bars for mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud. Picture:/AFP Her now ex -husband husband Joe Giudice served two years in prison in the US before being deported to Italy in 2019. Picture: Getty Images Teresa (centre) has been a mainstay cast member on The Real Housewives of New Jersey since Season 1 in 2009. Picture: Tommy Garcia/Bravo The former couple shares daughters Gia, Gabriella, Milania and Audriana. Teresa's lookalike daughter Gia, 24, downplayed the family debt during a March episode of her Casual Chaos iHeart podcast. 'Let's start from the beginning,' she said. 'My mum has been the sole provider for my sisters and I since the minute my father [Joe] left for prison. The second my mum got home from jail, she has been working her arse off to make sure that my sisters and I live a stable life and that my family is financially stable.' Gia continued, saying she 'can't stress enough' how hard her 'mum has worked' and assured her listeners that 'everything will be resolved.' 'My mum has everything under control, and there's nothing to worry about,' she explained. This article originally appeared in Page Six and was reproduced with permission Originally published as Real Housewives star Teresa Giudice abruptly ends live TV interview when asked personal question
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Business
- Perth Now
Banks, miners drag ASX lower
Gains in the healthcare sector were offset by falls in the big four banks and major miners, with the local market falling for its fourth consecutive trading day on Friday. The ASX 200 dropped 18.20 points or 0.21 per cent to 8,505.50 on a quiet day of trading. The broader All Ordinaries slipped 17.90 points or 0.20 per cent to 8,723.50. Australia's dollar traded down against the US dollar and is now buying 64.83 US cents. Five of the 11 sectors rose but falls in banks and mining shares dragged the market lower. NewsWire / Jeremy Piper Credit: News Corp Australia On a mixed day for investors, strong gains out of the utilities and healthcare sectors were offset by falls from the big banks and miners. CSL shares jumped 0.63 per cent to $240.21, Pro Medicus gained 1 per cent to $276.81 and ResMed added 1.40 per cent to $39.16 on a strong day for the healthcare sector. Commonwealth Bank fell from a record high close on Thursday, down 0.2 per cent to $182.53. National Australia Bank slipped 0.5 per cent to $38.91, while Westpac came off 1.1 per cent to $33.21 and ANZ dropped to 2.5 per cent to $28.39. It was a mixed day for the big miners, with BHP eking out a small gain up 0.22 per cent to $36.21, while Rio Tinto fell 1.33 per cent to $102.17 and Fortescue dropped 0.54 per cent to $14.69. Overall five of the 11 sectors closed higher despite the market falling. On a reversal of trade in recent days, the price of oil and gold fell after the White House said US President Donald Trump would decide on strikes on Iran 'within the next two weeks' alleviating fears of an immediate escalation in the Middle East crisis. The price of crude oil futures fell 2.9 per cent to $US76.50 a barrel on the news, while gold futures also dropped 1.4 per cent to $US3,362 an ounce. Healthcare shares are on the rise on an overall weak day of trading: NewsWire / Christian Gilles Credit: News Corp Australia AMP head of investment strategy and chief economist Shane Oliver said stocks remained at 'high risk' of a pullback as markets grappled with multiple economic concerns. 'Global and Australian shares have seen a strong rebound from their April lows – but they remain at high risk of a sharp near term pull back as the risk of an oil supply disruption flowing from the war with Iran is high and Trump's tariff threat is far from resolved,' he said. 'On the tariff front it is notable that the 9th July tariff deadline is rapidly approaching and no deals have been struck beyond that with the UK, with indications that some countries may end up with tariffs well above 10 per cent.' In company news, Pointsbet Holdings announced a temporary pause in trading. It comes as rival sports wagering company Betr announced a renewed takeover bid in what it is calling a superior proposal for Pointsbet compared to Japanese gaming giant Mixi. Web Travel shares are in the red down 0.44 per cent to $4.50 after announcing former Virgin Australia chief executive Paul Scurrah and JB Hi Fi director Melanie Wilson would be joining the board as independent non-executive directors.
Perth Now
3 days ago
- Business
- Perth Now
Banks snap losing streak but market remains weak
Australia's share market is edging lower as investors await the next development in the Middle East conflict, but local banks are making a comeback after six weak sessions. The S&P/ASX200 is down 18.3 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 8,511.7, as the broader All Ordinaries fell 24.4 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 8,733.5. The weak start came after a similar session on Wall Street overnight, as White House officials mulled a potential attack on Iran and after the US Federal Reserve conceded stagflation risks were rising in the world's largest economy. Market participants remained edgy and uncertain about the Middle East conflict and potential US military involvement, market analyst Kyle Rodda said. "Such a scenario would raise the risk of a greater regional conflict, with implications for global energy supply and, probably, economic growth." Despite seven local sectors trading lower by lunchtime, financials staged a comeback with a 0.5 per cent gain after fading 1.5 per cent in the previous six sessions. Westpac was leading the charge, up 1.5 per cent to $33.50, while NAB and CBA pushed 0.7 per cent and 0.5 per cent higher respectively. The NAB rise came despite the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission fining the bank $750,000 over breaches to Consumer Data Right rules. Materials was the worst-performing sector with a 1.5 per cent slip, as weak iron ore prices continued to weigh on large caps BHP (-1.5 per cent), Rio Tinto (-1.7 per cent) and Fortescue (-1.3 per cent). Gold miners also traded lower as the safe haven's price continued to coil in a slight downward trajectory, with futures trading at $US3,396 ($A5,232) an ounce. Energy stocks fell 0.6 per cent, as oil and gas giants Woodside (-0.6 per cent) and Santos (-0.3 per cent), handed back some earlier gains as oil prices consolidated after their recent run-up. Futures in global benchmark Brent Crude were trading at $US74.74 a barrel, roughly on par with yesterday's ASX close. Australia's tech sector was down 0.9 per cent after hitting an intraday record on Wednesday, with WiseTech Global weighing heavily with a 1.6 per cent slip to $107.15 after announcing the departure of two board members. Directors Charles Gibbon and Michael Gregg had been long-time supporters of founder and executive chair Richard White, who has been at the centre of a number of scandals at the company. Utilities continued to sell off after Friday's 4.2 per cent surge. The sector has lost 3.5 per cent in value in the subsequent four sessions. The Australian dollar is buying 64.84 US cents, down from 65.07 on Wednesday at 5pm, and edging lower after Australia's unemployment rate held steady in May, offering no surprises in economic data ahead of a widely expected Reserve Bank rate cut in July.
West Australian
4 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Tech unicorn Canva picks up Sydney startup MagicBrief
Perth-founded tech unicorn Canva is buying an Australian AI-powered creative intelligence startup as it pushes deeper into the enterprise and marketing sector. Canva said the acquisition of Sydney-based MagicBrief would build out its Visual Suite offering for marketing and creative teams. MagicBrief was founded in 2022. Its creative analytics and research platform uses AI to help marketers better understand and respond to their advertising content strategies, formats, and messages that perform best with audiences. The tools are already being used by thousands of global brands, marketers and agencies to analyse and inform creative development and have to date analysed more than $6 billion in ad spending. The purchase price was not disclosed. Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht said the deal marked a major expansion of the company — which bills itself as 'the world's only all-in-one visual communication platform' — and introduces a 'powerful' new layer of creative intelligence to its recently upgraded Visual Suite. 'We've spent the last decade empowering millions of teams to create impactful and engaging visual content,' Mr Obrecht said. 'Now, with MagicBrief joining Canva, we're entering the next frontier by powering the entire content and marketing workflow, from ideation and creation to deployment, measurement, and now analysis and optimisation. 'In today's visual economy, winning brands are those that know exactly what creative works, where it works, and why. By combining MagicBrief's AI-powered insights with Canva's Visual Suite, we're giving every team the tools to not just create great content, but drive stronger results.' George Howes, co-founder and chief executive of MagicBrief, said the startup would continue to operate independently while its technology and team integrate into Canva. 'We started MagicBrief to give creative teams smarter tools to move faster and make better work,' Mr Howes said. 'Joining Canva takes that vision to the next level — helping us reach more marketers and turn great ideas into high performing creative.' Canva was launched from a Dianella loungeroom in 2013 by Mr Obrecht and now wife Melanie Perkins, who met while she was studying at the University of Western Australia. Now based in Sydney, the private company which has been backed by some of the world top tech investors, has enjoyed exponential growth to more than 240 million monthly users across 190 countries, with annualised revenue of $US3 billion ($4.6b). The company is now reportedly worth almost $49b — putting it ahead of the market capitalisation of big names such as Rio Tinto, Fortescue, Woolworths and Coles. But its founders has remained tight-lipped on a time frame for long-running rumours of a float in the US. A listing would likely bring in fresh capital that could be used for product development and further acquisitions. Mr Obrecht and Ms Perkins were recently placed sixth on the Australian Financial Review's annual list of Australia's richest people, with an estimated combine et worth of $14.1b.
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
The 28-year-old wunderkind Zuckerberg is betting $23 billion on
The business provides complex tech services – namely data labelling and AI evaluation – to other technology companies. Accessing vast amounts of high-quality data is increasingly seen as crucial to improving AI technology. Exploiting this niche made Wang the world's youngest billionaire in 2021, aged just 24. His net worth is currently estimated at more than $US3 billion. Scale AI has been so successful because it uses technology and people to help mark-up and review images, videos or text that are used by other AI labs to develop their latest algorithms. It also provides a type of 'training' for AI algorithms, known as 'reinforcement learning with human feedback', which it sells to other labs, where human workers help optimise responses from chatbots or other AI tools. Increasingly, Scale AI has turned to expert contractors who can help chatbots learn advanced coding, maths or chemistry. The business says it has access to 100,000 expert freelancers, to whom it has paid $US500 million in total. Simon Proffitt, at UK AI business faculty, says: 'To really make AI models useful you have to have some really high-quality human feedback on the outputs. 'Scale AI offers the platform and the people to systematically fine-tune these models.' 'Super-intelligence' team Wang was born in Los Alamos, New Mexico, in 1997 to highly educated parents who both worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the site of the Manhattan Project during the Second World War, where scientists under Robert Oppenheimer designed the atomic bomb. Loading According to his LinkedIn page, Wang was selected for the US Mathematics Olympiad programme and was a member of the national Physics Olympiad team in 2014. After briefly attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study maths and computer science, he dropped out, working in tech before founding Scale AI in 2016. His start-up has so far raised more than $US1.6 billion from investors, including Silicon Valley royalty such as Kevin Systrom, the Instagram co-founder, Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and OpenAI's Greg Brockman. Its last funding round included investors such as Amazon, Intel, Qualcomm and Meta. Now, Zuckerberg is tightening his hold on Scale AI as part of an effort to revive Meta's AI ambitions. Zuckerberg has made no secret of his goal to turn his social media empire into a company focused on so-called 'artificial general intelligence'. But while Meta has enjoyed some success with its Llama AI model, it has been playing catch-up to OpenAI. Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Meta had delayed the release of its 'Behemoth' AI model over concerns that its progress had stalled. A frustrated Zuckerberg has now turned to Wang to lead his new 'super-intelligence' team at Meta and shake up its efforts. In an unusual deal, Meta will take a 49 per cent stake in Scale AI, which will remain independent, but hand all voting control to Wang, giving the founder total authority over the start-up while he moonlights with Zuckerberg. The deal will be Meta's largest since it acquired WhatsApp for $US19 billion in 2014. Wang said the deal 'recognises Scale's accomplishments to date and reaffirms that our path forward – like that of AI – is limitless'. Zuckerberg has reportedly taken direct oversight of the company's AI programme, personally negotiating with top researchers to join his new team. He has even rearranged the desks at Meta's headquarters in Menlo Park to seat the company's top AI talent near him, Bloomberg reported. Meta's investment in Scale AI will almost certainly attract scrutiny, even if it falls short of a full takeover. Microsoft's $US13 billion investment in OpenAI, or Google's deal to hire senior executives from Character AI, have all faced questions as to whether they effectively amount to acquisitions by stealth. Since the start of the year, Wang has been an increasingly vocal supporter of the Trump White House. In particular, he has hammered home the message that the US is in a race to build advanced AI against China. Loading In an open letter in January, Wang wrote to Trump: 'You have the right team in place to take on this challenge and ensure we maintain our lead against adversaries. 'Scale stands ready to be a partner to you and the administration so that America wins the AI war.' With Wang onside, Zuckerberg will be hoping to keep Meta on the front line in the battle to reach super-intelligence.
