Latest updates on Key Economic Indicators:

Australian Dollar: $0.7021 USD (down $0.0092 USD)

Iron Ore Sep Spot Price (SGX): $105.55 USD (down $3.90 USD)

Oil Price (WTI): $88.05 USD (down $4.04 USD)

Gold Price: $1,779.44 USD (down $36.06 USD)

Copper Price (CME): $3.6025 (down $0.0770 USD)

Bit-coin: $24,054.21 (down 1.11% in the last 24 hours)

Dow Jones: 33,912.44 (up 151.39 points on Friday's close)

All changes compared to 7am yesterday.

Alexei Navalny Placed in Solitary Confinement

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said Monday he had been placed in a punishment cell following his efforts to create a labor union in jail.

Navalny is serving a nine-year prison sentence in a strict regime penal colony near the Russian town of Vladimir on embezzlement charges that he and his allies say are politically motivated.

"Greetings from solitary confinement," Navalny wrote on his social media, saying that officially he was placed in an isolation cell for breaking the dress code and unbuttoning the top button of his prison robe.

Ukraine hits Russian Wagner mercenary HQ

Ukrainian artillery has struck a headquarters of Russia's shadowy Wagner paramilitary group of mercenaries in eastern Ukraine, reports say.

The extent of damage to the military base of the group - which has been linked to war crimes - is not clear.

Luhansk's governor claims its secret location was revealed after a Russian journalist shared its address.

Last week, pro-Kremlin correspondent Sergei Sreda posted a photo on Telegram of the base with its apparent address.

The image, shared on the social media site but since deleted, shows five people in military uniform with a street sign in Popasna, Luhansk visible in the top left corner.

Ukrainian recruits get UK training

A few weeks ago, Serhiy was a business analyst at an IT company. Zakhar was a civil engineer. Now they are soldiers, training to liberate Ukraine from Russia’s invasion — but doing it more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away in Britain.

They are among several hundred Ukrainian recruits pounding through an intense form of infantry training at an army base in southeast England.

One batch of the 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers that the British military has pledged to train within 120 days, they are spending several weeks learning skills including marksmanship, battlefield first aid and –- crucially for their country’s future — urban warfare.

Finland offers to rebuild the Chernihiv Region

Finland plans to take part in the reconstruction of the infrastructure destroyed during the hostilities in the Chernihiv region.

The deputy head of the President’s Office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, confirmed this on his Telegram channel after a meeting with the Ambassador of Finland Päivi Laine.

According to the Office of the President of Ukraine, the Chernihiv region needs to quickly restore 4,479 residential properties including 1,029 apartment buildings and 3,231 private houses.

Search for documents authorising Morrison's secret ministerial powers

The Age - Page Online : 16 August 2022 - Original article by James Massola, Katina Curtis - PortMac.News Summary

A spokesperson for Governor-General David Hurley has confirmed that former prime minister Scott Morrison was appointed to administer ministerial portfolios other than the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

The revelation that Morrison took joint control of at least three ministerial portfolios during the height of the pandemic has shocked some of his former colleagues, while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ordered a search for documents authorising the arrangements.

He has accused Morrison of running a 'Shadow government' and of having no confidence in his own government.

ScoMo accused of 'Bias' in decision on NSW gas field

The Age - Page Online : 16 August 2022 - Original article by Anne Hyland - PortMac.News Summary

Asset Energy is challenging a decision made by former Prime Minister Scott Morrison regarding Petroleum Exploration Permit 11, which covers an extensive area off the coast of NSW.

Morrison had announced in December that its application to have the permit extended had been refused, with Morrison making the decision while secretly sworn in as resources minister.

In its Federal Court application challenging Morrison's decision, Asset Energy has accused him of 'bias'. Asset Energy claims that PEP 11 has enough gas to supply NSW for 20 years, and that it could be delivering gas within two years of completing its well.

Assange lawyers sue Mike Pompeo for spying

The Sydney Morning Herald - Page Online : 16 August 2022 - Original article by Latika Bourke - PortMac.News Summary

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is currently being held in a UK prison while he fights efforts to have him extradited to the US.

His extradition hearings have heard claims the CIA hired a company called Undercover Global to secretly monitor Assange and people who visited him during the seven years that he was holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

His lawyers are suing Undercover Global, its boss David Morales, the CIA and its then director Mike Pompeo over the issue.

Pompeo is also a former US Secretary of State and is viewed as a possible presidential contender

Dutch court to deliver verdict in MH17 murder trial in November

The New Daily - Page Online : 16 August 2022 - PortMac.News Summary

The Dutch court hearing the trial of four men accused of murder over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014 will hand down its decision on 17 November.

The three Russians and one Ukrainian are accused of supplying the missile system that Russian-backed separatists used to fire a rocket at the plane.

All 298 people on MH17 were killed, including 38 Australians.

The four accused were charged in 2019 and their trial began in 2020; all four of the accused are at large.

Export alarm over China beef ban reports

The Australian Financial Review - Page 1 & 2 : 16 August 2022 - Original article by Michael Smith, Brad Thompson, Phillip Coorey - PortMac.News Summary

Australia exported 148,000 tonnes of beef to China in 2021, which is 24% lower than in 2020.

There are fears that this trade may further decline following reports that China intends to suspend beef imports from Australia and New Zealand due to concerns about foot and mouth disease.

Pastoralists & Graziers Association of Western Australia president Tony Seabrook says if the rumours are true it would mark a new low in trade relations between the two nations.

Other reports in China have suggested that the ban will apply to all meat imported from Australia, as well as grain, dairy and other agricultural products.

However, the Chinese Government is believed to have advised that it is not considering any such bans.

Australia's COVID case count close to 10m

The West Australian - Page Online : 16 August 2022 - PortMac.News Summary

A total of 14,623 new COVID-19 cases were recorded across Australia on Monday, and there have now been 9.8 million confirmed cases nationwide since the pandemic began.

The nation's COVID-19 tally is expected to reach the milestone of 10 million cases by the end of August.

An additional 27 deaths from or with COVID-19 were recorded nationwide on Monday, lifting Australia's death toll from the pandemic to 12,886.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews have signed an agreement for Moderna to establish an mRNA vaccine manufacturing plant at Monash University.

Moderna has also been granted approval to use its bivalent vaccine as a booster in the UK; the new vaccine targets both the original and Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Reform vital to jobs, skills agenda

The Australian Financial Review - Page 5 : 16 August 2022 - Original article by Ronald Mizen - PortMac.News Summary

Economists presenting at the Melbourne Economic Forum on 16 August will seek to convince the federal government of the merits of tax reform as it prepares for its upcoming jobs and skills summit.

Melbourne University Professor Miranda Stewart notes that tax and welfare reforms had played a huge role in the two decades of reform that had come after Bob Hawke's economic summit in 1983.

Stewart claims that tax and welfare reform could "Make or break" the federal government's jobs and skills agenda.

Unions push for increased local training over skilled migration

The Australian Financial Review - Page 6 : 16 August 2022 - Original article by Gus McCubbing, David Marin-Guzman - PortMac.News Summary

The Business Council of Australia is calling for Sydney's Aerotropolis and Melbourne's Fishermens Bend to be covered by a designated area migration agreement.

DAMAs represent a formal agreement between the federal government and a regional, state or territory authority that gives access to more overseas workers than the standard skilled migration program.

However, the BCA's call has been rejected by the Electrical Trades Union, with acting national secretary Michael Wright saying that Melbourne and western Sydney are hardly top of the list of areas with skill shortages.

Aerotropolis is linked to the building of Sydney's new airport, and Wright says major infrastructure projects are precisely where Australia should be training young trades people.

New job for ex-NDIA boss sends 'Shivers'

The Australian - Page 4 : 16 August 2022 - Original article by Alice Workman - PortMac.News Summary

Bridge SaaS has confirmed that former National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) CEO Martin Hoffman has joined its board as a non-executive director.

Bridge SaaS sells software to NDIS service providers, and Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John contends his appointment will allow him to continue his agenda of automation in the NDIS.

Steele-John has cerebral palsy, and he says that Hoffman's appointment to the Bridge SaaS board "Sends a shiver down my spine".

Hoffman quit as NDIA CEO in June, a week after Bill Shorten was sworn in as NDIS minister, with Shorten having previously been very critical of his leadership.

ATO agrees to lift its game in helping tax agents

The Australian Financial Review - Page 9 : 16 August 2022 - Original article by Tom McIlroy - PortMac.News Summary

Second commissioner of taxation Jeremy Hirschhorn says the Australian Taxation Office agrees with the recommendations of an Auditor-General's report into the service and support it provides to tax practitioners.

The Auditor-General found that this was generally effective, but that it could improve on how it monitors the effectiveness of answers to requests for assistance, including if requests were satisfactorily resolved.

The ATO will consult with business activity statement agents and accountants on how it can improve its industry help line.

Better late than never: Turnbull finds voice

The Australian - Page 5 : 16 August 2022 - Original article by Sarah Ison - PortMac.News Summary

Former PM Malcolm Turnbull says he will vote in favour of a voice to parliament at the upcoming referendum, even though he and his cabinet rejected the idea of a voice when he was prime minister.

Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney says she welcomes Turnbull's support for a voice, while Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition co-chair Danny Gilbert says the fact that Turnbull has been prepared to change his mind on the issue could be "Very influential".

Accused 'Planned NAB fraud' at lavish lunches

The Australian Financial Review - Page 3 : 16 August 2022 - Original article by Max Mason - PortMac.News Summary

Events company Human Group owner Helen Rosamond is facing trial over an alleged fraud of National Australia Bank in which Rosemary Rogers was also involved.

Rogers was a former chief of staff to NAB CEOs Andrew Thorburn and Cameron Clyne, and who pleaded guilty in 2019 to charges of being an agent corruptly receiving a benefit; she was sentenced to a total of eight years in jail in January 2021.

In opening the prosecution's case against Rosamond, Crown prosecutor Katrina Mackenzie outlined how Rosamond and Rogers met for lavish lunches every few weeks to plan their alleged fraud, which involved the issuance of falsified and inflated invoices to NAB over four years to the tune of around $15 million.

Bendigo rethinks community bank model

The Australian - Page 17 : 16 August 2022 - Original article by Cliona O'Dowd - PortMac.News Summary

Bendigo & Adelaide Bank has posted a record cash profit of $500.4m for 2021-22, which is 9.4% higher than previously.

Total income rose 0.4% to $1.7bn, while lending rose by 7.7% and customer deposits grew by 11%. CEO Marnie Baker says Bendigo & Adelaide Bank has delivered on what it promised in a challenging and competitive environment, but warns that the outlook for the economy and the housing remain uncertain.

Baker adds that the group will review its community banking model, and whether its branch-based focus is sustainable in the digital age.

Big trucks, big savings, big electric plans

The Age - Page Online : 16 August 2022 - Original article by Simon Johanson - PortMac.News Summary

NSW Central Coast-based Janus Electric is converting diesel-powered semi-trailer trucks to electric heavy-haulers, with the company having orders to convert 67 vehicles in 2022.

The company is also negotiating with service stations on the main highways between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane to establish a network of large battery-swap terminals, with co-founder Bevan Dooley saying it hopes to finance the network rollout by raising $100 million from investors within the next 12 months.

Customers of Janus Electric include mining company Oz Minerals and transport operator Qube

Father's Day gift spending impacted by cost of living challenges

Market Research Update - Page Online : 16 August 2022 - Original article by Roy Morgan - PortMac.News Summary

Research from the Australian Retailers Association in collaboration with Roy Morgan shows that 36% of Australians plan on buying a Father's Day gift in 2022, down 4% on last year.

Of those planning a gift purchase, 42% said the current cost of living challenges will impact how much they will spend.

Australians are forecast to spend $735 million on Father's Day gifts, which is down 7.7% on last year's projections; however, people are forecast to spend an average amount of $95, up marginally on last year.

Meanwhile, 55% of consumers plan on buying a gift that is environmentally friendly.

Alcohol/food (28%) top the most popular purchases ahead of clothing/footwear (18%) and gift cards/vouchers (14%).

More than a quarter (27%) of consumers say they plan to buy their gifts online.

The ARA-Roy Morgan Snap SMS survey was conducted with an Australian-wide cross-section of 2,299 Australians aged 18+ on Monday July 25 to Wednesday July 27, 2022.

Carsales zooms ahead after bumper year

The Australian Financial Review - Page 18 : 16 August 2022 - Original article by Carrie LaFrenz - PortMac.News Summary

Shares in online automotive classified advertising company Carsales.com rose by over 5% on 15 August after it reported record full-year results.

Net profit increased by 23% to $161 million in the year to 30 June, while full year adjusted revenue rose by 16% to $501 million.

Adjusted EBITDA increased by 7% to $272 million, while Carsales.com declared a final dividend of $0.245 per share.

It compares to the previous year's final dividend of $0.225, and will be paid on 17 September.

East Timor ultimatum to Woodside

The Australian Financial Review - Page 1 & 8 : 16 August 2022 - Original article by John Kehoe - PortMac.News Summary

East Timor petroleum minister Victor da Conceicao Soares has called on the federal government and Woodside Petroleum to be "Fair" and allow gas from the Sunrise project to be processed on East Timor's south coast.

Woodside CEO Meg O'Neill contends the Sunrise project will only be commercially viable if gas is processed at the established energy hub in Darwin.

Meanwhile national security experts warn that East Timor could run out of money if the Sunrise project does not go ahead, and that it could turn to China to develop it if Woodside does not agree to its terms.

ASX scores a big blockchain win at last

The Australian Financial Review - Page 19 : 16 August 2022 - Original article by Jessica Sier - PortMac.News Summary

The ASX has conducted a trial with digital custody provider Zerocap to demonstrate how companies listed on the ASX can store and trade all kinds of digital assets on the exchange.

The results of the trial are good news for the ASX, which has been struggling with the release of its blockchain settlement scheme.

The launch of the scheme has been delayed five times since it was first announced in 2015, and ASX CEO Helen Lofthouse said recently that it will probably not go live until late 2024.

ASX gain defies China's grim outlook

The Australian Financial Review - Page 26 : 16 August 2022 - Original article by Cecile Lefort - PortMac.News Summary

The Australian sharemarket posted a solid gain on 15 August, with the S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.5% to close at 7,064.3 points.

Fortescue Metals Group was up 1% at $19.13, BlueScope Steel added 3.9% to end the session at $17.55 and Carsales.com rose 5.8% to $22.99.

However, Beach Energy was down 11.1% at $1.65 and the Bendigo & Adelaide Bank shed 8.3% to finish at $9.88.