Albanese’s AI U-turn: tougher rules for data centres, jobs and copyright Anthony Albanese has pivoted to back a “world-leading” AI regulatory framework, with proposed standards that would bite on power-hungry data centres and clamp down on copyright theft used to train models. The shift signals Labor is moving from encouragement to enforcement on AI—raising big questions about investment, energy infrastructure and how Australia protects local creative industries while staying aligned with global tech rules. Covered by: The Australian, Australian Financial Review, Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian. Budget credibility fight: surplus maths ‘hinges’ on public service job cuts Jim Chalmers’ budget projections are under pressure amid claims they rely on assumed public service job cuts and other constraints that economists and the Parliamentary Budget Office warn may be difficult to deliver. The dispute goes to the heart of whether Labor can credibly promise a pathway bac

Verve Media has won the digital and creative mandate for Maple India, a premium retailer of pre-owned smartphones, tablets and laptops.  Under the mandate, the agency will handle Maple India's social media marketing, AI-SEO and GEO, performance marketing across Google Ads and Meta Ads, and creative design. The partnership aims to strengthen the brand's digital presence, enhance customer engagement and drive growth through an integrated strategy spanning content, design and paid media.

The non-profit behind the gender sensitivity movement Laadli, has announced that entries for the 16th edition of the Laadli Media & Advertising Awards for Gender Sensitivity (LMAAGS) will close on July 31, 2026.  The awards recognise gender-sensitive work across journalism, advertising, films, television, web series, books and other media. Open to entries from across India, the journalism category accepts submissions in 14 languages, with winners to be announced at both regional and national levels.  Entries must have been published, released or aired between January 1 and December 31, 2025. There is no entry fee.

You can't buy your way into an AI answer – you have to earn it. That's the logic behind the prediction currently preoccupying many in the PR industry: Gartner's forecast that by 2027, mass adoption of large language models as a replacement for traditional search will drive a two-fold increase in PR and earned media budgets. Gartner's analysis found that more than 95 per cent of the sources AI answer engines cite are non-paid and 27 per cent come directly from earned media. When ChatGPT or Gemini recommends a brand, it isn't reading the ad spend. It's reading what journalists wrote. The budget call is the headline act of Gartner's Predicts 2026: Top Predictions to Inform 2026 Comms Strategies, five forecasts for chief communications officers, spanning everything from chatbot-led internal comms to AI-powered misinformation defence. Behind the headline prediction sits stark usage data – Gartner cites ChatGPT traffic growing 608 per cent between the first halves of 2024 and 2

Wednesday, 15 July 2026 #1  ·  Times City  ·  In-depth feature A Month On, Noida Airport Waits For Wind In Its Sails By Saurabh Sinha   ·   The Times of India, New Delhi  ·  Page 9 One month after opening, Noida International Airport (NIA) is struggling with low passenger footfall, route withdrawals by Akasa Air and IndiGo, and the fundamental handicap of competing with the better-connected IGI Airport. The story uses week-by-week traffic data, airline-specific route changes, and comparisons with Navi Mumbai airport to analyse why India's first second-city international airport faces structural headwinds unlikely to ease before 2030. Rich with original traffic data broken down by week, passenger category, and airline, the piece goes beyond a launch-anniversary peg to diagnose systemic causes — Pakistani airspace closure, US-Iran oil shock, rupee weakness — that compound NIA's structural disad

Morgan G. joins Melbourne Social Co as senior account director Morgan G. has joined Melbourne Social Co as senior account director, returning to the industry after nine months of maternity leave. She announced the appointment on LinkedIn, describing it as an exciting new chapter. In the role, Morgan will lead client accounts and support the agency's continued growth. Morgan joins from Bastion, where she spent more than four years, most recently as senior client director. Earlier in her career, she held roles at TripADeal, Daylesford Apothecary & Roots Organic Providore and CHE Proximity, and completed internships with Fearless Brand Strategy, Cummins&Partners, Playbook Media and Publicis Groupe. Emily Gilbride joins Burson as account manager Emily Gilbride has joined Burson as an account manager, joining the agency's Corpsumer team after almost two years at Sling & Stone. Gilbride announced the appointment on LinkedIn, saying she was excited to begin the

AI-Generated Image   Every time a journalist trades a press card for a party ticket, it trends. When Sagarika Ghose was fielded by the Trinamool Congress for the Rajya Sabha in February 2024, it read online like a fresh phenomenon. It wasn't. Newslaundry, tracking the pattern the same month, pointed out she was joining a list that stretches back decades: M J Akbar, who moved from a Congress Lok Sabha seat in Bihar's Kishanganj to a minister of state role in the Modi cabinet before stepping down amid harassment allegations. Arun Shourie, nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the BJP in 1998 after editing The Indian Express and The Times of India, who later turned sharply critical of the party that gave him the seat. Chandan Mitra, nominated twice. Rajeev Shukla, who moved to the Congress after his own Rajya Sabha nomination. Shazia Ilmi, Ashutosh, and Ashish Khetan, who all joined the Aam Aadmi Party in the 2013 to 2015 window. Supriya Shrinate, who left the executive editor