| Billionaire Jack Cowin built a fast-food empire by bringing fried chicken to 1960s Australia. Now, at 83, he’s back to attempt a turnaround of the biggest Domino’s Pizza franchisee outside the US. Domino’s stock has plunged 88% from its peak four years ago as rising costs and heightened competition eroded its market share. When Kogan.com founder and Chief Executive Officer Ruslan Kogan presented the online retailer’s results at its briefing on Monday, he decided to use an AI-generated version of his voice. Using AI-generated voices for delivering the presentation meant the two executives could spend that half-hour working on something else, he said. Australia's central bank is rebuilding its Sydney headquarters after discovering the 1960s-era building is riddled with asbestos. The project is being plagued by delays and cost blow outs due to the nation’s complex construction regulations, mirroring dysfunction in the wider housing industry. The US, UK and Australia’s trilateral defense partnership is at an “inflection point,” and all three must redouble efforts to ensure its success, a Washington-based think tank said. The Center for Strategic & International Studies called the Aukus pact a bold “strategic declaration,” but concerns about its viability have grown.  Australia’s surging stock market keeps breaking record after record — but it’s proving ruthless toward any missteps. On Bloomberg TV's Australia Ahead we take a look at Australia’s earnings season so far with Elfreda Jonker, client portfolio manager at Alphinity Investment Management. Click the image to watch. Australia has severed diplomatic ties with Iran following credible intelligence that Tehran directed at least two antisemitic attacks in the country. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government gave Iranian Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi seven days to leave Australia in the first such expulsion since World War II. Australia’s central bank board expects to lower interest rates further over the coming year to meet its policy objectives, with the pace of decline likely to hinge on economic data, minutes of its Aug. 11-12 meeting showed. The Reserve Bank lowered its key rate to 3.6% at the meeting — a level it described as “still somewhat restrictive.” Australia’s corporate regulator said it will boost surveillance of private markets as it targets areas of financial services that present the greatest risks. Ongoing key areas of focus include insider trading and systemic compliance failures by large financial institutions, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. | 
