An up-and-coming actor is set to testify in her defamation battle against Hollywood star Rebel Wilson over social media posts she claims painted her as a liar.

Charlotte MacInnes is suing the Pitch Perfect actor over social media posts claiming MacInnes had complained about feeling uncomfortable after bathing with the film’s co-producer Amanda Ghost.

MacInnes alleges the posts – which could be seen by Wilson’s 11 million followers for 24 hours – suggested she had withdrawn the alleged complaint in exchange for plum acting and music opportunities.

She denies making the complaint to the Bridesmaids actor and says her reputation has been seriously damaged before she could enjoy the benefits of starring in her first feature film.

The 26-year-old is expected to testify in the Federal Court in Sydney on Wednesday afternoon.

MacInnes stars in Wilson’s film The Deb, a musical comedy set in rural NSW.

She was hailed by The Deb’s co-writer Hannah Reilly as a talented, enthusiastic, and bubbly actor who has been irrevocably “hardened” by the social media posts.

In an affidavit tendered to the Federal Court, Ms Reilly wrote that MacInnes confided the posts had taken away some of her innocence and trust in the world.

The young actor said she was experiencing vivid nightmares, panic attacks, and stopped eating for days at a time.

“She has expressed to me that it has been an all-consuming nightmarish force in her life,” Ms Reilly wrote.

She felt MacInnes had needed to become more armoured as a result of Wilson’s social media posts, which she reported left her with a constant sense of vigilance and anxiety.

Prior to September 2024, the young actor had a reputation as a “bright star in the making”, Ms Reilly wrote in her sworn statement.

She thought Wilson’s subsequent social media posts suggested MacInnes was a liar who traded sexual favours to secure a role and a record deal.

Wilson maintains the young actor made the complaint before retracting it in order to ensure her future as a performer by appeasing Ms Ghost.

But MacInnes’s friend and fellow actor Katelin Koprivec slammed the claim as “untrue” in her own affidavit tendered to the court.

“I knew how hard Charlotte had had to work to get the role, auditioning multiple times and proving herself to (a) panel of creatives,” she wrote.

MacInnes felt Wilson was “bullying her in subtle ways” on the set of The Deb after the incident with Ms Ghost in September 2023, Koprivec said in her statement.

MacInnes had been devastated by the subsequent social media posts, her friend wrote.

MacInnes claims her professional reputation has been ruined by suggestions she is untrustworthy and prioritised her own career over those of the 300 cast and crew who worked on The Deb.

But Wilson’s barrister Dauid Sibtain SC said in his opening statement MacInnes hadn’t suffered any harm to her career at all since the social media posts.

The Deb was released in Australia earlier in April after legal issues prevented its widespread release following its 2024 film festival premiere.

Federal Reserve chief nominee Kevin Warsh has called for “regime change” at the US central bank that would include a new “framework” for controlling inflation and a possible overhaul of how it communicates with the public about ‌monetary policy.

In a confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee that quickly hinted at major changes to come at a Warsh-led Fed, the 56-year-old lawyer and financier blamed the central bank for an inflation surge following the COVID-19 pandemic that continues to hurt US households.

“The fatal ‌policy errors going back four or five years” are a legacy that families are still working through, Warsh said, arguing the Fed needed “a regime change in the conduct of policy. It means a new and different inflation framework.”

That shake-up includes Fed communications that “compounded” the problem, the former Fed governor argued, in a ‌signal he may want to change things like the central bank’s current use of quarterly economic and interest rate projections.

Warsh was asked about comments US President Donald Trump made shortly before the start of the hearing that he would be disappointed if Warsh did not get quick approval for rate cuts.

“Presidents tend to be for cutting rates,” Warsh said.

“President Trump expresses it quite publicly.”

“Monetary policy independence is essential,” Warsh had said in ‌a public statement delivered to ‌members of the committee, who will recommend whether ⁠to confirm him to a seat on the Fed’s Board of Governors as well as a four-year term as head of the central bank.

“I do not believe the operational independence of ​monetary policy is particularly threatened when elected officials – presidents, senators, or members of the House (of Representatives) – state their views on interest rates,” Warsh said.

“Congress tasked the Fed with the mission to ensure price stability, without excuse or equivocation, argument or anguish. Inflation is a choice, and the Fed must take responsibility for it. Low inflation is the Fed’s plot armour.”

Warsh has said rate cuts are warranted because technological changes unleashed by artificial intelligence will raise productivity, a view other central bankers say may be true over time but will not necessarily make lowering rates appropriate in the short term.

The Fed has missed its two per cent goal for more than five years, first due to the shock of the pandemic but more recently due to the influence of tariffs from Trump’s administration and the high oil prices linked to the war in the Middle East.

Trump has repeatedly clashed with Powell over monetary policy since naming him Fed chief in his first term in the White House.

Powell’s tenure ‌as head of the central bank formally ​ends on May 15 but he could conceivably remain longer in the office if Warsh’s confirmation is delayed.

At this point the timing of a committee recommendation or full Senate vote is uncertain.

The Fed has a Washington DC-based board and staff but also includes a dozen regional banks, tens of thousands of system-wide employees and duties that range from setting interest rates for the United States to managing the payments system, supervising and regulating banks, administering swap lines with foreign central banks and conducting research on anything from cryptocurrencies to rural health.

Warsh, who served as a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011, has been deeply critical of Powell’s leadership and the hearing provided an opportunity to explain in more detail what he plans to do differently.

“The Fed must stay in its lane,” Warsh ​said in his opening statement to the committee, echoing a standing conservative critique that the central bank’s work on issues like climate change or economic equity, or comments about fiscal spending, were out of bounds.

South Korean police ‌have requested an arrest warrant for Bang Si-hyuk, the chairman of K-pop agency HYBE, over ‌alleged illegal trading tied to the company’s initial public offering.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police ‌Agency on Tuesday said Bang is suspected of violating capital market laws by misleading early investors ahead of HYBE’s listing and steering them to sell shares to a private equity fund linked to his associates.

Police allege that after HYBE went ‌public the fund ‌sold ⁠its stake and Bang received about 30 per cent of the ​profits under a prior shareholder agreement, earning around 190 billion won ($A179.9 million) in illicit gains.

Bang has previously denied any wrongdoing.

HYBE did not have an immediate comment when contacted by Reuters.

Bang is also the founder of HYBE, the music powerhouse behind global ⁠K-pop supergroup BTS.

The National Police Agency confirmed the US ​embassy in Seoul recently sent a letter asking authorities to allow Bang to travel to the United States, despite a travel ban imposed during ​the ​investigation.

According to police, the ​letter sought a temporary suspension of the ban, ‌citing plans for Bang and other senior executives to attend an event to mark US Independence Day and hold talks related to the ongoing BTS global tour.

The US embassy in Seoul said it did not have anything to ​add on that matter.

Bang has been barred from leaving South Korea ​since August.

Stocks rebounded in early trading in Asia on Tuesday as markets ‌took heart from reports Iran is considering attending peace talks with the United States in Pakistan, with renewed bets on AI underpinning demand.

Investors were also keeping their ‌eyes on a Senate confirmation hearing later for Kevin Warsh, US President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Reserve, which Trump has repeatedly criticised for failing to cut ‌rates sooner and more aggressively.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.9 per cent, as South Korea’s Kospi rose 2.1 per cent to hit a record high for the first time since the Iran war began. 

S&P 500 e-mini futures were up 0.1 per cent, while Brent crude slipped 0.4 per cent to $US95.09 ($A132.47) a barrel.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 tacked on 1.2 per cent, while Australian shares bucked the trend, slipping 0.3 per cent.

An uneasy ceasefire between the United States and Iran frayed after the US announced the seizure of an Iranian ‌cargo ship, drawing vows of ‌retaliation from Tehran. Iran ⁠said over the weekend it would skip a second round of negotiations, though a senior official later told ​Reuters the country may yet send delegates to talks expected in Islamabad.

Adding to the uncertainty, Vice President JD Vance remained in the United States on Monday, a separate source told Reuters, denying reports he was already on his way to Pakistan for talks.

The renewed tensions had reignited a surge in oil prices overnight as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained largely paralysed.

“While potential talks in Islamabad remain likely, rhetoric from Washington and Tehran continued to point to fragile and strained negotiations,” analysts from ⁠Westpac wrote in a research report.

Overnight, the S&P 500 was down 0.2 per cent on worries ‌over whether the US-Iran ​ceasefire would hold, while the Nasdaq Composite snapped a 13-day winning streak, its longest in more than three decades.

Warsh’s confirmation hearing before the Senate panel is scheduled to ​begin on Tuesday, with his independence from the Trump White House expected to be a key focus. 

Warsh will say he is “committed to ​ensuring that the conduct of monetary policy remains strictly independent,” according to his prepared remarks, while economists say his attitudes towards the central bank’s quantitative easing program will also be critical.

“In the past, Warsh was a vocal critic of the Fed’s ‘bloated’ balance sheet, as he called it, and ​argued ​that it creates a distortionary impact on asset prices,” said Bansi Madhavani, ​senior economist at ANZ in London. 

“His preference for a smaller balance sheet is quite ‌clear, but any guidance around what he thinks will be the optimal size, we think that will be relevant,” she said on a podcast.

The US dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, held steady at 98.08, firmly in the middle of the range it has sat in during the past week.

The euro was fetching $US1.1782 ($A1.6414) and sterling traded at $US1.3522 ($A1.8838)5, both down a touch on the day. The risk-sensitive Australian dollar also eased 0.1 per cent to $US0.7171 ($A0.9990) in early ​trading.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury bond was up 0.8 basis point at 4.256 per cent.

Bets on so-called dollar debasement languished. Gold was up 0.1 per cent at $US4,824.83 ($A6,721.60) ​after a month of moving sideways.

Cryptocurrencies fluctuated ⁠in the trading channel they have wallowed in since early February, with bitcoin down 0.3 per cent at $US76,072.61 ($A105,978.78) and ether ​slipping 0.8 per cent to $US2,320.92 ($A3,233.34). 

Japan is earning more public revenue on its gas imports than the Australian government is raising taxing exports of the valuable resource, parliamentarians have heard in a blockbuster hearing.

With momentum building behind a push for a 25 per cent tax on gas export profits, The Australia Institute has released analysis of government revenue earned by one of the nation’s top liquefied natural gas customers.

Over the past five years, the Japanese government had raised an average $1.8 billion annually from gas imports for its public coffers, the left-leaning think tank said.

That was more than the $1.4 billion raised annually, on average, by the Australian government’s existing gas profits regime, the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax.

About 40 per cent of Japan’s LNG imports are sourced from Australia.

Collecting more tax on export profits would not push up prices paid by Japan, The Australia Institute’s co-chief, Richard Denniss, told the hearing on Tuesday, but would instead clip the profits made by gas exporters.

Peak body Australian Energy Producers, which points out the oil and gas industry paid almost $22 billion in taxes and royalties in 2024/25, argues raising taxes would discourage investment in Australia, pushing companies to explore projects elsewhere.

Opposition resources spokeswoman Susan McDonald said major investments in gas exploration projects were supporting regional towns and local jobs.

She asked Mr Denniss what would happen if gas producers took their business to other countries.

“They are playing us for fools,” he replied.

“When they say, ‘if you don’t give me free gas, I’ll take my bat and ball, but not your gas, and go somewhere else’.”

A broad array of crossbenchers, Liberal industry spokesman Andrew Hastie, Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn and Labor backbencher Ed Husic have supported raising taxes on gas exporters in the May budget.

Gas multinationals had enjoyed a “sweet deal” for too long, Mr Husic told ABC radio on Tuesday.

The former industry minister said it would be a missed opportunity if a tax on gas exports wasn’t imposed in the budget.

Greg Bourne, a former president of BP Australasia and an energy adviser to then-British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, will tell the Senate inquiry that governments have failed to deliver the Australian people a fair share of gas resources.

Mr Bourne, now a member of the Climate Council, said governments had made a “Faustian bargain” with the gas industry and the average Australian had little to show for it.

“You become beholden to the companies and very little money actually comes to the Australian people,” he told AAP.

The government should ignore the industry’s threats that it would walk away, Mr Bourne added.

Viable gas projects were becoming increasingly scarce and demand for fossil fuels was set to decrease in coming decades as the world transitioned to renewables and battery storage, he said.

Shell will send their most senior executive in Australia to front the inquiry, but other firms will send lower-ranking executives or policy staff.

The ongoing global fuel crisis will again be discussed in a meeting between the prime minister and state and territory leaders.

But Anthony Albanese insists the national cabinet meeting won’t be used to increase the country’s fuel security level.

It will be the third meeting with premiers and chief ministers since the US and Israel began bombing Iran in late February, which led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and a spike in global oil prices.

Mr Albanese said the conflict in the Middle East would continue to impact Australians for some time, even if a resolution was found quickly.

“This will have a long tail, this impact,” he told ABC’s 7.30 program on Monday.

“I’ll be convening national cabinet again in coming days, not to make any changes to the levels we’re on, but once again talk with state and territory colleagues about where we’re at.”

The prime minister said working closely with jurisdictions would be crucial for navigating the country through the fuel crisis.

The meeting follows a fire on late Wednesday at one of Australia’s two remaining refineries.

The fire led to fears Australia’s fuel security level would be raised after almost half of petrol production was wiped out, although the facility’s owner Viva Energy says the Geelong refinery will be back to 90 per cent capacity in coming weeks.

Mr Albanese said the government was exploring options to boost fuel capacity in Australia.

“We will look at the full range of opportunities which are there. We’re very open to pursuing those,” he said.

“We’re engaging with the private sector in particular, and we’ll engage, of course, with state and territory colleagues as well.”

It comes after the workplace watchdog ordered large companies that use transport firms to conduct reviews every two weeks on the cost of fuel to ensure drivers had enough to cover costs while on the road.

The Fair Work Commission ordered for transport clients, such as retailers, manufacturers and mining companies, to review fuel costs as long as diesel on average was above $2 a litre.

The order comes into effect on Tuesday, which the Transport Workers’ Union touted as a major win.

“This is a historic order from the Fair Work Commission that, for the first time, puts obligations on the wealthy clients at the top of our supply chains to pay their fair share to the transport industry,” the union’s national secretary Michael Kaine said.

Apple has ‌named insider John Ternus as its next chief executive, tasking the ‌long-time hardware chief to steer the company after Tim Cook, ‌as the iPhone maker gears up for an industry change spurred by artificial intelligence.

Ternus, who joined Apple in 2001, has recently overseen the company’s hardware engineering efforts and ‌has played ‌a ⁠key role in reigniting sales of products ​such as Apple’s Mac computers, which have gained market share in recent years.

Cook, who has led Apple since 2011, will become the company’s executive chairman, the company said in ⁠a statement on Monday.

At 50, Ternus is the same age Cook was when he took over CEO duties from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. He most recently showed the company’s iPhone Air last autumn, the biggest revamp of the iPhone since ‌2017 and a ‌key proving ⁠ground for several new chips.

Ternus, who helped bring about now-ubiquitous products such as ​iPads and AirPods, will be tasked with helping Apple navigate a technology landscape upended by AI, after losing its crown as the world’s most valuable company to Nvidia.

Ternus will have to fend off Nvidia, which has announced its own personal computer and is working on chips that can power laptops, as well as rivals such as ⁠Meta Platforms, whose augmented-reality glasses have become a surprise hit ‌with just a ​fraction of the capabilities – and price tag – of Apple’s Vision Pro headset.

“The promotion of Mr. Ternus indicates ​the company will focus ‌on new hardware devices such as folding phones, glasses, VR devices and AI pins,” said Gil ​Luria, managing director of D.A. Davidson & Co.

Cook, who ​presented ​a custom golden plaque to US President Donald ​Trump, would also continue to engage with policymakers, the company ‌said.

In naming Ternus chief executive, Apple is shifting from a supply-chain guru who helped turn Apple into a global brand that churns out hundreds of millions of units per year, to a leader who has long focused on design and products.

Ben Bajarin, CEO of technology consulting firm Creative Strategies, said Ternus is well-liked within ​Apple “and will bring fresh energy.”

Separately, Apple said that Johny Srouji, who has overseen Apple’s custom chip and ​sensor designs, has been named ⁠chief hardware officer.

Heat-safe rentals and tougher workplace safety rules for outdoor workers on scorching hot days have been proposed by a state climate policy advisory body.

Identifying extreme heat as an under-recognised and preventable killer, the NSW Net Zero Commission has called for urgent policy action on planning, housing and workplace protections.

“Unlike floods or bushfires, heat leaves very little visible destruction but it is quietly taking lives,” Net Zero Commissioner professor Andy Pitman said.

“Our current responses to heat stress don’t match the scale of the risk.”

In recommendations to the state government, the commission calls for heat-resilient urban planning to ensure new development has enough cooling greenery and thermally comfortable buildings.

It also recognises existing housing stock will accommodate the majority of the population for decades to come, and that rental, social and Aboriginal housing tenants are the most likely to be living in poorly-insulated, badly-maintained homes. 

A damning Better Renting study of summer conditions experienced by 50 NSW renters revealed indoor temperatures climbing above 40C and reports of hospitalisations due to prolonged heat exposure.

Landlords presently have no obligation to provide homes that maintain safe indoor temperatures and the commission recommends phasing in mandatory thermal safety rules so that rentals have ceiling insulation and airconditioning, as appropriate. 

Landlords should first be made to disclose energy performance ratings at the point of lease.

The commission further calls for tougher SafeWork NSW regulation to protect workers from heat stress, including installing industry-specific thresholds for safe heat working conditions.

Extreme heat is already an underestimated cause of deaths and hospitalisations and human-driven climate change is pushing average global temperatures even higher. 

NSW can expect 23 extra days above 35C by 2050 under a high emissions scenario, according to government modelling. 

Hot weather seasons are lasting longer, with a University of British Columbia study finding Sydney’s summers have become nearly 50 days longer since 1990.

Cities are also vulnerable to extreme heat due to the urban heat island effect, with Sydney’s Western suburbs experiencing temperatures 10C higher than the coastal suburbs during heat waves.

US officials met recently with their Cuban counterparts ‌in Havana, an official in the Cuban foreign ministry has confirmed in ‌an interview to state-run outlet Granma.

Axios reported on ‌Friday that a senior US delegation visited the island the week before, saying Cuban officials have a small window to adopt US-backed reforms before conditions worsen.

Alejandro Garcia del Toro, who handles ‌US affairs ‌in ⁠the Cuban foreign ministry, said neither party set ​deadlines or made threatening statements in the meeting, which he called “respectful”.

“Eliminating the energy embargo against the country was a top priority for our delegation,” Garcia del Toro said.

The US officials ⁠urged the Cuban government ‌to ​follow longstanding US policy to lift the Cuban embargo, Axios reported, including ​compensation for ‌assets and properties confiscated after the 1959 revolution, the release ​of political prisoners and ensuring greater political freedoms.

The US delegation also offered to set up Starlink satellite services ​in ​the country, Axios ​reported.

Garcia del Toro said that the ‌US was represented by deputy State Department officials and Cuba was represented “at the level of deputy foreign minister.”

Axios had reported that talks involved Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, the grandson ​of former Cuban President Raul Castro, who is 94 and ​still wields great ⁠influence.

Supermarket giant Woolworths will defend its discounting regime in court against consumer watchdog claims it used fake discounts to mislead customers despite higher prices.

Woolworths will present its case to the Federal Court after Coles made its defence in February, with the court withholding judgment until both grocery juggernauts have offered their arguments.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission launched the joint action in 2024, alleging the pair broke consumer law by hiking prices on everyday items for brief periods before reducing them as part of their separate “Prices Dropped” and “Down Down” promotions.

The discounted prices were often the same or higher than the original shelf prices and therefore deliberately misled consumers, the ACCC claims.

The watchdog alleges the conduct involved 266 products for Woolworths at different times across 20 months between late 2021 and mid-2023, impacting tens of millions of sales by itself and Coles.

The product list was pared down to 12 agreed items to be scrutinised in court, including a Tim Tams Family pack, Carman’s classic fruit and nut muesli bars and Sakata rice crackers.

“We allege these misleading claims about illusory discounts diminished the ability of consumers to make informed choices about what products to buy, and where,” ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.

The watchdog is not alleging Coles and Woolworths have colluded or engaged in anti-competitive behaviour.

In a statement to AAP, Woolworths said it fundamentally disagreed with the claims and at no stage misled or deceived its customers.

“Following COVID, there was a period of extraordinary inflation, and we were acutely aware that customers expected Woolworths to provide value wherever possible,” the spokesman said.

“Inflation also put pressure on our suppliers’ costs, and we worked with them to reduce the inflationary impact on customers through our Prices Dropped program.”

The supermarket giant said it respected the ACCC’s role and took the allegations seriously.

The case resumes as a new wave of inflation is set to hit Australian consumers due to soaring oil prices sparked by the US-led war on Iran.

Australia’s supermarket sector has come under heavy scrutiny after cost pressures borne by the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting multiple inquiries.

One such probe found Australian supermarkets to be some of the world’s most profitable, with margins expanding in the years after the pandemic.

It found no evidence of price gouging, but the watchdog has flagged potential future legal action through new excessive pricing laws set to come into effect in 2026.

Coles and Woolworths account for roughly two-thirds of the Australian supermarket industry.