Today's news landscape is increasingly defined by paywalls, which prevent readers who cannot - or do not wish to - subscribe from accessing information.
The accessibility of fact-based journalism has been eroded by the closure of international broadsheets as well as niche policy outlets charging monthly fees for critical reporting.
It is no longer as simple as clicking a headline to stay informed, whether you are a casual reader or on a tight budget.
There are many people who are left to seek out scraps of coverage or to turn to dubious alternatives as a result of news becoming a commodity rather than a public resource.
At the same time, even what is accessible shifts.
Digital news sites are increasingly dominated by columns, hot takes, clickbait and ideological soundbites designed more to provoke than to inform.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between journalism and rhetoric, with carefully sourced reporting drowned out by louder and more polarising voices.
Commentary fills the void left by inaccessible reporting, shaping public perception less by facts than by passion. This is a dangerous trend for democracies built on informed citizens.
Azzet gives you the news straight and lets you - the reader - decide.
BOARDROOM BEHAVIOUR
News filtered through this week that NVIDIA's (NASDAQ: NVDA) founder and CEO Jensen Huang had sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock, worth nearly US$15 million.
On Thursday AEST, Wall Street continued its remarkable recovery, with NVIDIA leading the charge, as the semiconductor business secured a record closing price of US$147.90, marking a sizeable 4% gain that helped propel broader markets higher. NVIDIA's closing price saw the tech giant again replacing Microsoft as the world's most valuable company.
The woman who served as inspiration for the main character in the film The Devil Wears Prada, Anna Wintour, 75, is handing her pen over, with the decision to step down as editor of Vogue magazine and move to a new more senior role.
Logistics giant FedEx fell 5% in after-hours trading on Tuesday, after the logistics giant issued profit guidance that came in slightly below market expectations. This also followed news that Fred Smith, the company's trailblazing founder and a transformative force in global logistics, had died at 80.
The founder of Pinnacle Investment Management reduced his stake in the investment management firm but committed to remaining a shareholder for many years.
Meanwhile, former United States House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul Pelosi reportedly earned between US$7.8 million and $42.5 million in 2024, potentially pushing their total net worth to US$413 million (A$637.5 million). News Corporation extended Chief Executive Robert Thomson's contract to 30 June 2030. Telegram messenger founder, Pavel Durov revealed that the more than 100 children he has fathered will share in his estimated US$13.9 billion. And OpenAI removed all mention of its partnership with iPhone designer Jony Ive thanks to an IYO lawsuit.
Last but not least, Meta is on a multibillion-dollar spree of hiring AI giants and purchasing their companies.
COMPANY CAPERS
Western Australia's Pilbara region is set for a $2.5 billion revival under a new joint-venture deal between Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) and a Hancock unlisted counterpart.
Australia's Treasurer Jim Chalmers took landmark legal action against a Chinese-linked investor in ASX-linked rare earth miner Northern Minerals (ASX: NTU) for allegedly ignoring a Commonwealth order requiring it to divest its holdings in the stock due to national interest concerns.
Cruise operator Carnival Corporation’s second quarter earnings and revenue beat estimates, with the company lifting its full-year guidance. And Accenture’s bookings dropped last quarter while earnings per share climbed, with shares falling after the release.
Shares in airline Virgin Australia Holdings (ASX: VGN) traded at an 8% premium to the offer price when they relisted on the ASX on Tuesday.
Telecommunications company Singtel Optus declined to comment on a report it would sell the rights to broadcast the English Premier League (EPL) football competition in Australia to Nine Entertainment for its Stan streaming service.
Greatland Resources (ASX: GGP) stormed onto the ASX like a thunderbolt on Tuesday, rocketing 13% to $7.46 after raising $490 million at $6.60 per share in a debut that validates its ambitious expansion plans.
And software company Xero announced a US$2.5 billion (A$3.9 billion) acquisition in the U.S. (Melio Limited and its associated entities) and an A$1.85 billion (US$1.2 billion) capital raise to partly fund it.
U.S. tech hardware maker Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) smashed expectations in its third-quarter report.
Shares in Bumble (NASDAQ: BMBL) were up 25% after the dating app company revealed plans to dump 30% of its workforce.
H&M’s net sales and gross profit slumped last quarter as retail locations closed, though shares rose as June sales showed signs of recovery.
Nike reported an extended sales slump in its Q4 results.
And Walgreens Boots Alliance surpassed estimates on earnings per share and revenue last quarter, in one of the company’s final reports as it prepares to go private.
Meanwhile, Shell denied a media report that it plans to buy its smaller rival BP in a deal that would be worth about US$80 billion (A$122.9 billion).
On the trading floor, senior business writer Mark Story explored the ups and downs of the markets for these companies:
- Cogstate (ASX: CSG) | Collins Foods (ASX: CKF) | Brookside Energy (ASX: BRK)
- Adairs (ASX: ADH) | Metcash (ASX: MTS) | PointsBet (ASX: PBH) | Betr Entertainment (ASX: BBT)
- Droneshield (ASX: DRO) | Xero (ASX: XRO) | SRG Global (ASX: SRG)
- Patriot Battery Metals (ASX: PMT) | Neuren Pharmaceuticals (ASX: NEU) | Beetaloo Energy Australia (ASX: BTL)
- Sunrise Energy Metals (ASX: SRL) | Larvotto Resources (ASX: LRV) | Reece (ASX: REH)
NOT GIVING AWAY THE FARM
China is tightening its grip on arable land as it walks a fine line between food security and rural revitalisation.
North Korea in the meantime is set to open a new coastal resort to attract international tourism.
Meanwhile, Dominica is making a bold play to position itself as a Caribbean leader in medicinal cannabis.
A dramatic shift in land use across the Scottish Highlands is triggering alarm bells in the agricultural sector, as more than 50,000 breeding ewes have vanished from 51 estates over the past decade. Must have passed their ewes-by date.
And Ireland’s family farm incomes surged 87% in 2024 to just under €36,000 (A$64,356), according to Teagasc’s National Farm Survey — a dramatic rebound after a bruising 2023. But the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) urged caution.
In Australia, inflation eased in May, with the monthly consumer price index (CPI) rising 2.1% over the year, down from 2.4% in April, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Job vacancies across Australia increased in the three months to May 2025, rising by 2.9% to a seasonally adjusted total of 339,400, according to the latest ABS figures. Finance journalist Oliver Gray gave us the details, along with his daily reporting on the ASX, U.S. and APAC markets.
Reporter Frankie Reid delivered Azzet's 2025-26 budget round-up.
Global wealth increased by 4.6% in 2024 with the Americas accounting for most of the increase, according to the UBS Global Wealth Report.
The U.S. economy contracted more sharply than previously estimated in the first quarter of 2025, marking the first economic shrinkage in three years.
Copper breached US$10,000 per tonne for the first time since March. Senior business writer Cameron Drummond had that report, as well as one on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) doubling down on its market intervention strategy, extending its cobalt export suspension for an additional three months through September.
Canada's Senate passed controversial legislation designed to accelerate approval of major resource projects, setting up a potential constitutional showdown as Prime Minister Mark Carney attempts to shield the economy from United States tariffs.
The clean energy transition is creating an unprecedented demand surge for critical minerals, however the traditional "take-make-dispose" model is hitting buffers. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation's latest analysis suggests it's time to employ what's called a ‘circular economy’ strategy.
And Amazon announced it would invest UK£40 billion (A$83.5 billion) into the United Kingdom over the next three years, which would see the company build a number of new sites and add thousands of jobs.
MIDDLE EAST MOVEMENTS
United States strikes on Iranian nuclear sites have likely only set Iran’s nuclear program back by a few months, according to a Pentagon report, which upset U.S. President Donald Trump.
This followed Trump announcing that a ceasefire was agreed between Iran and Israel through his social media platform Truth Social, dubbing it the “official end to the 12-day war”.
Iran’s parliament had voted to close the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow corridor through which roughly 20% of the world’s daily oil supply flows — in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes on its nuclear facilities.
Meanwhile, Australian peace advocacy group IPAN urged the Australian Government to review the AUKUS pact after news that the Pentagon is conducting an investigation into the defence agreement.
Ukraine and the United Kingdom deepened their defence alliance by jointly agreeing to produce long-range drones. And Japan's defence forces conducted their first missile test on home soil.
Lastly, Trump threatened tough trade deals with Spain and said the U.S. may send Ukraine more air-defence missiles to defend itself from Russia at the NATO summit in the Netherlands. Reporter Chloe Jaenicke covered that.
TECH WATCH
Meta’s use of a group of authors’ books to train its artificial intelligence models without permission did not violate the law, a U.S. federal judge ruled. Reporter Harlan Ockey covered this one.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says artificial intelligence accounts for up to 50% of operations at the software giant, as the "digital labour revolution" accelerates across Silicon Valley.
To capitalise on growing demand for yield-bearing investments, following a series of deposit-rate cuts by Chinese lenders that began in late 2022, money managers are drawing up strategies to invest in China’s fledgling tech-related bond market. Story has the latest there.
And there’s a sobering picture emerging from within the electric vehicle value chain - a supply glut of batteries that makes the 1980s oil oversupply a rounding error at the supermarket that's set to crush Chinese manufacturing. Drummond has that report.
A LITTLE FROM COLUMN A
In senior business writer Garry West's latest Super Nation column, one of the many drivers of growth in the Australian superannuation sector is set to be removed once the mandatory rate increases on 1 July.
The proposed super tax also sparked capital gains reform talk.
Australia’s largest super fund, AustralianSuper (AusSuper), which claims to be committed to reaching net zero emissions, is about to become the single biggest shareholder in Whitehaven Coal (ASX: WHC). Story brought us the latest on that in his ‘Have your coke and eat it’ report.
West explains why some fund managers struggle to succeed. While Australian investors have cautiously rotated back into equities, and managed funds appear to be among the biggest beneficiaries.
Would-be homebuyers in the U.S. may end up being able to use cryptocurrency assets to help get their mortgage applications over the line.
And Story cautions: Beware the S-word and its impact on investment markets.
Azzet's Story also provided some guardrails to help you select the financial advice firm and adviser that’s right for you.
