This morning’s headlines at a glanceBy Clare SibthorpeGood morning and welcome to our live national news coverage for Wednesday, July 15. I’m Clare Sibthorpe. Here’s what’s making headlines today.Albanese in charge of AI revolution as experts release dire warning: Anthony Albanese will stamp his prime ministerial authority on Australia’s response to the AI revolution amid fears of mass layoffs and energy-guzzling data centres, creating an office within his own department to deal with the technology as he assures US firms Australia is open for business.Hundreds of thousands more students to be slugged with high fees: Education Minister Jason Clare has categorised the Job-ready Graduates scheme as “Unfair” and “failed”. He described it as an unsuccessful attempt by Scott Morrison’s government to steer students away from the humanities through lowering the costs of degrees such as nursing and teaching and sending law, commerce and arts costs skyrocketing. After more than four years in power, Anthony Albanese’s government has yet to commit to undoing the fee hikes.NSW Police investigate source of dirt sheet linking ALP figures to ICAC inquiry: The youngest councillor ever elected to Bayside Council has emphatically denied emailing a dirt sheet about his ALP colleagues to Labor MPs and media.Trump abandons plan to toll the Strait of Hormuz after ‘calls from emirs’: Donald Trump has abandoned his plan to charge ships a fee to use the Strait of Hormuz, but says the United States will still protect the waterway in exchange for additional investment from its Gulf partners.Latest Posts6.53am‘The eagle has landed’: Writer paid $8m in Trump sex abuse, defamation caseBy The writer E. Jean Carroll has collected more than $US5.6 million ($8 million) that a jury awarded in her sexual abuse and defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump, court records and her lawyers said.E Jean Carroll exits the New York Federal Court in 2024.AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz AlvarezThe payment – representing the $US5 million jury award, plus interest – was made on Monday from an account where it had been held in escrow since the 2023 verdict, according to court records. Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, confirmed the payment.“We are pleased to report that she has received the damages payment,” Kaplan said in a statement. Carroll herself later wrote on Substack that “the eagle has landed”.Trump’s lawyers have vowed to continue appealing.6.35amWith a massive price to pay, coal plants would cut power costs by 2050By Mike Foley and Nick ToscanoInvesting in more fossil fuels and limiting the rollout of wind and solar farms could cut 5 per cent from Australia’s electricity costs by 2050, the CSIRO says, but the strategy would require the nation to abandon all climate commitments and allow a massive surge in atmospheric pollution.The trade-off, which has been modelled for the first time in the national science agency’s latest electricity generation cost scorecard to be released on Wednesday, is set to inflame Australia’s decades-long climate wars.The rise of One Nation in federal polls is creating a new dynamic in Australia’s climate wars, as conservatives back new coal plants and bipartisan support for renewable energy crumbles.APAccording to the CSIRO, new coal-fired power plants and more gas use could generate electricity at $124 per megawatt hour by 2050, measured in today’s dollars. By contrast, electricity would cost $131 a megawatt hour under the current plan for a net-zero-compliant grid powered mostly by renewable energy and backed up by batteries, transmission lines and gas.The price gap has been mapped out as conservative political parties clash over renewables and emissions targets with the Albanese government, which has set a legally binding target for net zero by 2050 and an ambitious goal for renewables to reach 82 per cent of the grid by 2030 and more than 90 per cent by 2050.Experts including the Grattan Institute and analyst Rystad have said the renewables rollout will fall significantly short of its 2030 target.Mike Foley and Nick Toscano explain more here.6.28amThe $3.6b water and road fix that could unlock 130,000 homes in NSWBy Max MaddisonThe Minns government has been urged to take up billions of dollars worth of Commonwealth-backed funds to build essential infrastructure, which advocates say would support more than 133,000 homes across NSW.The Labor government announced $10 billion in grants and concessional loans under the 100,000 Homes for First Home Buyers program ahead of the 2025 federal election. The scheme was designed to support the construction of “new, well-located housing” by funding infrastructure – such as roads or water piping – necessary to support these communities.A development site in Appin.Brook MitchellDespite broad planning reforms, NSW housing supply has remained anaemic since the 2023 state election, with just 44,500 new dwellings completed in the year to the March quarter, lower than the year prior, and languishing behind the state’s commitment to build 377,000 homes by mid-2029.The program requires a dollar-for-dollar commitment from states to match the Commonwealth’s funding contribution. So far, five states and territories have signed up to packages worth around $4.1 billion, with Queensland and Western Australia negotiating $2.4 billion and $1 billion deals, respectively. Around $5.9 billion of the $10 billion housing program remains unallocated.6.25amTrump administration orders ICE to suspend most vehicle stops after deadly shootingsBy Trump administration officials told Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to suspend most vehicle stops after two deadly shootings within a week, people familiar with the decision said.The order came after an ICE officer shot and killed a Colombian driver Monday in Maine and a week after one shot and killed a motorist in Texas, renewing criticism of the agency’s tactics during enforcement operations.ICE agents.APThe suspension is not absolute and there’s room for exceptions when executing a criminal warrant or working with partner agencies, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity.Hundreds of people in Maine protested Tuesday over an ICE officer’s fatal shooting Monday of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian national.DHS said on Monday that the officer, “fearing for public safety”, shot and killed Durán Guerrero while officers were watching the home of someone they believed was in the US illegally and had a final order of removal from the country.Pinned post from 6.18amThis morning’s headlines at a glanceBy Clare SibthorpeGood morning and welcome to our live national news coverage for Wednesday, July 15. I’m Clare Sibthorpe. Here’s what’s making headlines today.Albanese in charge of AI revolution as experts release dire warning: Anthony Albanese will stamp his prime ministerial authority on Australia’s response to the AI revolution amid fears of mass layoffs and energy-guzzling data centres, creating an office within his own department to deal with the technology as he assures US firms Australia is open for business.Hundreds of thousands more students to be slugged with high fees: Education Minister Jason Clare has categorised the Job-ready Graduates scheme as “Unfair” and “failed”. He described it as an unsuccessful attempt by Scott Morrison’s government to steer students away from the humanities through lowering the costs of degrees such as nursing and teaching and sending law, commerce and arts costs skyrocketing. After more than four years in power, Anthony Albanese’s government has yet to commit to undoing the fee hikes.NSW Police investigate source of dirt sheet linking ALP figures to ICAC inquiry: The youngest councillor ever elected to Bayside Council has emphatically denied emailing a dirt sheet about his ALP colleagues to Labor MPs and media.Trump abandons plan to toll the Strait of Hormuz after ‘calls from emirs’: Donald Trump has abandoned his plan to charge ships a fee to use the Strait of Hormuz, but says the United States will still protect the waterway in exchange for additional investment from its Gulf partners.1 of 1