Beyond Meat is dropping “meat” from its name as it moves beyond the struggling market for plant-based burgers, sausages and tenders and expands into new categories such as protein drinks.

The company, rebranded as Beyond The Plant Protein Co — or simply Beyond on its packaging — changed its website and social media channels this week.

Beyond introduced its first beverage, a sparkling protein drink called Beyond Immerse, in January and plans to release a protein bar this summer.

The refresh could be critical for the brand. US sales of plant-based alternatives to meat are flagging and have dragged Beyond down with them.

The company’s net revenue dropped 14 per cent in the first nine months of 2025. Its shares have been trading below $US1 ($A1.40) since the start of 2026.

“For me, it is an opportunity to reshape the company around very real food that is directly from plants,” said Beyond president and CEO Ethan Brown, who founded the company in 2009.

“It’s about delivering all those benefits of the plant kingdom to the consumer in ways that they’re going to be able to easily integrate it into their lives.”

Beyond is not the only vegan food company making a pivot. Consumer demand for protein is skyrocketing, and several companies are scrambling to serve up more plant-based options.

Chris Costagli, a food thought leader at NIQ, said plant-based brands had struggled as customers scrutinised labels and found unfamiliar ingredients, added sugars or high sodium content.

After peaking in 2020, US retail sales of plant-based meat have plummeted, falling 26 per cent over the past two years, according to NIQ.

“There’s a lot of fillers and gums and texturisers and things that give those products a more familiar feel,” Costagli said.

“I think as people have been paying closer and closer attention to what they’re actually ingesting, it’s causing some products to stumble.”

Costagli said reformulating products to make them simpler and healthier has helped some brands in the plant-based dairy market. He thinks new products and recipes could also boost plant-based meats.

That’s what Beyond is betting. In 2024, it revamped its flagship burger to make it healthier. It introduced Beyond Ground, which contains just four ingredients – faba bean protein, potato protein, psyllium husk and water – and doesn’t have the word “meat” on its packaging.

California-based Beyond would continue to make plant-based burgers, chicken and other products designed to mimic meat, Brown said.

They remain popular in Europe, where Beyond’s burgers and nuggets are found on McDonald’s menus.

Brown still believes plant-based meat will be a “much more dominant choice” over the next decade or two, but the company has to navigate what he calls “a period of confusion.”

“It’s just not the moment for plant-based meat right now,” he said.

Australia has banned controversial Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir under laws introduced after the Bondi massacre, but terrorism experts warn the move could drive members underground.

The organisation was listed as a prohibited hate group late on Thursday in the first use of the tough powers, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announced.

“There’s a general acceptance from Australians that there is a level of hatred and dehumanising language that does provide a pathway for violence, even if it’s not using the word violence,” he told ABC radio on Friday.

It is now a crime to be a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, to recruit for it, or to provide training, funds or support to the group.

The hate crime laws were pushed through after the December 14 terrorist attack on a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach, which killed 15 people and left more than 40 wounded.

Other countries that have banned Hizb ut-Tahrir include a number of Muslim-majority nations such as Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The group rejects democracy and secularism and calls for the establishment of an “Islamic state”.

Terrorism researcher Levi West said Hizb ut-Tahrir’s listing could drive members underground.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” he told AAP.

“The upside is the listing constrains the group’s behaviour, but it comes at a cost as well.”

Dr West, a research fellow at the Australian National University, said the listing did not address concerns there were a number of people who believed in the ideas that Hizb ut-Tahrir advocated.

“Responding to extremism is a difficult, complex challenge,” he said.

Opposition home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam accused Labor of “inaction” in its response to extremism.

“Hizb ut-Tahrir have advocated some of the most appalling and disgusting approaches to how society should work, and have done this in our suburbs with impunity,” he said.

“They should have been shut down a long time ago.”

Australia’s gun rules were also tightened under the government’s response to tackling anti-Semitism.

When the powers were legislated, the Albanese government indicated it planned to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir and neo-Nazis that were part of the National Socialist Network.

The National Socialist Network disbanded the day before the laws came into effect to avoid falling foul of them.

Welcoming the decision, the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council said the listing “is an important and necessary step in confronting the spread of extremist ideology that threatens social cohesion, public safety and the fundamental values of Australian society”.

Mr Burke said Australia had only previously been able to ban groups if they went all the way in calling for violence and satisfied the definition of being a terrorist organisation.

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess previously said the two groups were falling just short of the definitions, but believed they were a real risk in providing a pathway to violence.

Australia’s only manganese alloy smelter could be shut down by the corporate regulator, after it filed legal action over the company’s failure to lodge annual financial reports. 

Liberty Bell Bay, in Tasmania’s north, has been sitting idle since May when it paused operations due to ore supply issues and global price volatility.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission on Friday announced it had filed an application with the NSW Supreme Court to wind up the smelter.

It says Liberty Bell Bay, which has roughly 250 workers on its books, failed to lodge annual reports with ASIC for the financial years ending in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. 

ASIC says Liberty Bell Bay, owned by GFG Alliance which is headed by British businessman Sanjeev Gupta, failed to comply with a court order to lodge reports for 2024/25. 

“ASIC has now applied to wind up Liberty Bell Bay on just and equitable grounds,” it said in a statement. 

“It is important that annual reports are lodged in a timely manner to assist creditors and other users of the annual reports in making informed decisions when dealing with large companies.”

GFG Alliance and the federal government have been contacted for comment. 

In August, Tasmania’s government loaned Liberty Bell Bay $20 million to purchase ore with the goal of resuming operations.

When operations didn’t restart, the government in January appointed receivers and managers to protect the ore stockpile, accusing the company of breaching loan arrangements.

Business, Industry and Resources Minister Felix Ellis said the ASIC news would be challenging for workers, their families and the wider community.

“GFG has failed to deliver on its promises to Tasmanians and to its workers to restart operations,” he said.

“To the workers and their families: we are in your corner.

“We will continue to work closely with the receivers, workforce and the community throughout this process.”

GFG Alliance in November said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with a Georgian company, Steel International Trading Company, to operate the smelter for up to five years. 

Gupta has faced troubles elsewhere in Australia. He previously ran the Whyalla steelworks in South Australia and Tahmoor Coal in NSW, which are both under administration. 

Crowdfunded political campaigns should not be subject to donation caps in order to level the playing field and stop the “financial gerrymandering” of elections, a major teal independent backer has urged.

Appearing before a parliamentary inquiry into the 2025 federal election, Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes a Court criticised political donation reforms that he said entrenched the status of major parties.

Under the reforms, which passed in 2025, donations are capped at $50,000 per donor to a party branch or candidate.

However, major parties are able to access $450,000 because parties are able to access $50,000 donations from the eight state and territory branches and the federal division.

Mr Holmes a Court said this put independent campaigns at a significant disadvantage compared with the major parties.

“This new financial gerrymander may throw a much-needed lifeline to the duopoly, but it’s bad news for our cherished democracy,” he told the inquiry on Friday.

“This is not reform. It is the preservation of incumbency, pulling up the drawbridge so that the political class can continue to underwhelm voters.”

The Climate 200 founder said the donation laws should not go into effect until a looming High Court challenge was resolved.

The laws include an $800,000 spending cap per electorate, but registered political parties are able to access a $90 million war chest for general advertising.

“If parties can spend up to $3 million a seat, then independents should be able to spend $3 million a seat, and right now you’re able to do that, whereas an independent is only allowed to spend $800,000,” Mr Holmes a Court said.

Caps should be removed for campaigns not involving major parties, he said.

“We’re not opposed to caps,” Mr Holmes a Court said.

“One of the things we’ve asked for is that crowdfunding campaigns that aggregate small donations shouldn’t themselves be subject to the caps.

“If the money has come in a controlled manner, then the organisation that aggregates those should be able to allocate them around the country, just as other political actors can.”

The latest political donation disclosure figures from the Australian Electoral Commission said Climate 200 spent $5 million during the 2024/25 financial year.

Labor national secretary Paul Erickson also gave evidence at the inquiry, saying the donation laws had been able to level the playing field.

Mr Erickson, who helped mastermind Labor’s 2025 campaign that won the party 94 seats in the lower house, said the reforms helped reduce the influence of larger donors.

“One of the most attractive aspects of the new funding and disclosure regime … is that it takes off the table the arms race dynamic in those local contests,” he said.

“The system was beginning to advantage high net-wealth individuals, networks and organisations, and in some cases, was creating environments where one or two actors were crowding out every other voice in the campaign.”

Mr Erickson said the reforms would limit forces in election campaigns such as those by mining magnate Clive Palmer.

Mr Palmer was the single largest donor in the past election campaign, spending $53 million and pumping in more money than the Labor and Liberal parties combined.

Asia stocks fell on Friday and were headed for their sharpest weekly drop in six years while oil prices were poised for their ‌biggest jump in three in a turbulent week for global markets as the conflict in the Middle East showed few signs of easing.

Investors sought the safety of cash as they sobered up ‌to the fact the US-Israel war on Iran could drag on longer than initially anticipated.

They also moved to price in more hawkish rate expectations from major central banks, spooked by the prospect ‌of a resurgence in inflation if the spike in energy prices persists.

Yields on US Treasuries have shot up some 18 basis points this week, their most in nearly a year, while the dollar was set for its largest weekly gain in 16 months.

“The range of plausible outcomes (of the war) has expanded to include both the possibility of an exceptionally constructive resolution and a highly destructive one,” said Daleep Singh, chief global economist at PGIM Fixed Income.

“Markets are being asked to price a much fatter set of tails with very little reliable information about the likelihood of each, ‌or the path in ‌between.”

The war has thus far ⁠had the biggest impact on oil prices, with Brent crude futures now trading around $US83 ($A119) per barrel, having been as low as $US69 ($A99) ​just about a week ago. US crude shot up to a 20-month high earlier this week.

Both are set to clock a rise of more than 15 per cent for the week, their largest since February 2022.

“The most market-relevant risk lies in severe escalation or direct infrastructure damage across key Gulf producers, which would likely produce sustained upward pressure on oil, feed into higher headline inflation, tighten global liquidity, and materially raise recession risks,” said Klay Group’s senior investment team.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan last traded 0.4 per cent lower and was set to fall 6.6 per cent for the week, ⁠which would mark its steepest weekly drop since March 2020.

Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.5 per cent and on track ‌for a 6.5 per cent weekly loss, ​while South Korea’s Kospi was also headed for its largest weekly fall in six years with a 10.5 per cent slide.

The market rout this week sent even high-flying technology stocks and indexes ​such as the ‌Kospi tumbling, as investors scrambled to book profits to cover losses elsewhere.

“When the dollar rallies and US yields rise, funding conditions are tightening, which will often exacerbate broader moves particularly if ​there’s leverage involved,” said Ben Bennett, head of Asia investment strategy at L&G Asset Management.

US stock futures were steady in Asia on Friday, while EUROSTOXX 50 futures rose 0.6 per cent and DAX futures added 0.5 per cent.

The dollar has emerged as one of few winners this week in volatile sessions that have dragged stocks, bonds and, at times, even ​safe-haven ​precious metals lower.

The rally in the dollar hit pause on Friday, but ​it was still on track for a 1.4 per cent weekly gain, bolstered by safe-haven demand and reduced ‌US rate-easing expectations.

The euro, which remains vulnerable to a spike in energy prices, was set to fall 1.7 per cent for the week, while sterling was similarly headed for a 0.95 per cent weekly drop.

Investors are now pricing in about 40 basis points worth of easing from the Federal Reserve this year, down from 56 bps a week ago, while odds for a rate cut from the Bank of England this month have fallen to 23 per cent from a near certainty just last week.

The European Central Bank is seen hiking rates by year-end.

The shifting rate expectations have, in turn, pushed ​up global bond yields, and in Asia on Friday, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury was steady at 4.1421 per cent, having risen some 18 bps this week.

The two-year yield ​has jumped 20 bps for the week.

Elsewhere, spot gold ⁠was steady at $US5,078.88 ($A7,269.61) an ounce, though it was headed for a 3.7 per cent weekly fall as rising yields and a stronger dollar eclipsed ​the yellow metal’s safe-haven appeal. 

Australians with travel plans are being urged not to “panic cancel” their flights amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Another flight from Dubai is expected to land in Sydney on Friday, allowing previously-stranded Australians to reunite with their loved ones.

The first commercial flight to leave the region for Australia since the outbreak of the US and Israeli conflict with Iran arrived late on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday said he hoped another two flights from Dubai scheduled to leave on the same day would go ahead.

Australian Travel Industry Association chief executive Dean Long said the aviation sector was adapting, with Etihad, Emirates and some Asian carriers operating normally.

“We have flights coming out of the Middle East,” Mr Long said.

“There will be some delays and a bit more disruption than what we’re used to but no one in the travel industry is going to put you in a place where it’s unsafe.”

He urged Australians planning to travel in the coming weeks and months not to cancel their flights.

“If you’re booked to travel shortly via the Middle East, it is critical that you do not panic-cancel but rather wait for your airline to cancel as otherwise you are erasing all of your rights of a refund or rebook,” Mr Long said.

Aviation expert Steven Leib said airlines conducted careful risk assessments before allowing aircraft to operate in contested airspace.

“The carriers that are based there will be very eager to restart operations because of the intense impact to them, whereas foreign carriers might be much more hesitant,” he said.

It could take several weeks to bring Australians home, Dr Leib said.

“If we see more stability and more repatriation flights added, that could accelerate things significantly,” he said.

There are 24,000 Australians in the UAE, made up of travellers and residents, while about 115,000 are across the broader Middle East.

The federal government has deployed military assets to assist stranded Australian citizens and permanent residents.

A Royal Australian Air Force C17A Globemaster heavy transport aircraft and KC-30A multi-role tanker transport have been deployed as a precautionary measure.

Mr Albanese came under fire from the opposition after he urged Australians to heed travel advice and take up commercial options to return home.

“The government is failing to respond adequately,” Liberal defence spokesman James Paterson told reporters.

“Every other nation of comparable size and civilians is either chartering aircraft or sending their military planes.”

On Thursday, the New Zealand government announced it would send two defence force aircraft to repatriate its citizens.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Ted O’Brien said military planes were used at short notice to evacuate Australians from Israel in 2025, New Caledonia in 2024 and Afghanistan in 2021.

China has set its economic growth target for 2026 at 4.5-5 per cent, a slight downgrade ‌from the 5.0 per cent pace Australia’s major trading partner achieved in 2025.

The target leaves room for greater, albeit not decisive, efforts to curb industrial overcapacity and rebalance the economy.

China also released its 15th five-year plan, and as ‌widely expected, pledged investments in innovation, high-tech industries, scientific research and a “notable” – but unspecified – increase in household consumption as a share of economic output.

The pledges show Beijing is concerned weak domestic demand makes the ‌world’s second-largest economy too reliant on exports for growth, but that it also does not want to abandon efforts to upgrade its vast industrial complex, which gives it supply chain leverage over Washington and its allies at a time when the rivalry is intensifying.

The growth target appeared in an official government report seen by Reuters and due to be presented in parliament, which opened its annual session on Thursday with a speech by Premier Li Qiang.

Economists have said a lower target gives Beijing more flexibility to implement reforms, such as reducing industrial overcapacity, but cautioned this ‌shift does not mean ‌a departure from its production-focused ⁠growth model.

Analysts at the Mercator Institute for China Studies describe promises to consumers as “hollow”, saying the leadership believes expansive support ​to key industries serves national interests best at a time of great power competition.

“Precariously balanced as it is, China’s economic policy will continue to systematically favour companies over households,” MERICS analysts wrote in a note before the parliament meeting.

“Beijing will persist in slow-rolling measures to expand social welfare, while using generous subsidies and tax incentives to drive industrial growth and upgrading.”

In terms of stimulus, China plans a budget deficit of 4.0 per cent of gross domestic product, similar to 2025. 

It set unchanged special debt issuance quotas for the central government of 1.3 trillion yuan ($A266 billion) and ⁠for local governments at 4.4 trillion yuan ($A900.73 billion).

China pledged to raise minimum monthly pensions by 20 yuan ($A4.10) per ‌person and basic medical ​insurance subsidies for rural, non-working people by 24 yuan ($A4.90). 

It said it wants to increase education spending, subsidise childcare and reform public hospitals.

Larry Hu, chief China economist at Macquarie, expects fiscal levers ​to be adjusted ‌flexibly, based on how the economy performs in coming months.

“If exports remain strong, they may tolerate weak domestic consumption. Conversely, if exports falter, they will step up domestic stimulus to ​defend the GDP target,” said Hu.

Former central bank adviser Liu Shinjin warned at a financial forum in January that China’s record $1.2 trillion ($A245.64 billion) trade surplus in 2025 – a key factor behind reaching the 2025 economic growth target – reflects not only rising manufacturing competitiveness but also weak domestic consumption.

He said China must shift from its long-standing reliance ​on investment ​and exports towards a model primarily driven by innovation and consumption, adding that ​while manufacturing could be further upgraded, this doesn’t mean its share in the economy shouldn’t fall.

“China’s ‌current insufficient consumption is deeply tied to a series of institutional and structural factors, making it unrealistic to fully resolve these issues in the short term,” Liu said.

“However, leaving them unaddressed is not an option either.”

The former head of casino operator Star breached his company duties by overseeing a “dysfunctional and unethical” culture in which key information about potential criminal risks was withheld, a court has found.

In a major ruling on Thursday, the Federal Court declared former Star chief executive Matthias Bekier failed to pass on details of suspicious conduct committed by Chinese junket operator staff in 2018 and 2019.

That included money being delivered to the service desk in blue cooler bags and junket staff hiding under blankets to stay out of the view of CCTV cameras.

Mr Bekier should have suggested that Suncity’s contract be terminated but he did not, Justice Michael Lee wrote in a 501-page decision published on Thursday.

“The warning signals were flashing, the alarm bells were ringing,” the judge wrote.

“Mr Bekier ought to have ensured that the board was apprised of all the matters relating to Suncity.”

The then-boss also “well knew” Star had provided false or misleading answers to lender National Australia Bank in 2020 about concerns gamblers were using their China UnionPay cards for gambling, which was prohibited by the foreign card scheme.

A Star email to NAB and China UnionPay falsely claimed the cards were being used for “non-gambling purposes” only.

“The ‘culture’ that prevailed (at Star) was so dysfunctional and unethical that senior management was tardy in preventing junket operators from behaving inappropriately and lied to its bankers to secure an ongoing commercial advantage,” Justice Lee said.

Both Mr Bekier and Star’s former company secretary and general counsel Paula Martin breached corporation law by failing to disclose the Suncity and China UnionPay risks to the board, the judge found.

The decision marks a partial win for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, which brought the lawsuit against Mr Bekier, Ms Martin and nine other executive and non-executive directors in 2022.

Former chief casino officer Greg Hawkins settled the case in February 2025, agreeing that he failed to pass on information about Suncity’s conduct.

He paid $180,000 in penalties, $65,000 in ASIC’s legal costs and was banned from managing corporations for 18 months.

At the same time, former chief financial officer Harry Theodore agreed to pay a penalty of $60,000 and was banned from managing corporations for nine months.

He did not prevent the casino from falsely emailing NAB and CUP about the use of its credit cards by Chinese gamblers.

On Thursday, Justice Lee dismissed ASIC’s case against ex-Star board members John O’Neill, Wallace Sheppard, Kathleen Lahey, Gerard Bradley, Sally Pitkin, Benjamin Heap and Zlatko Todorcevski.

The law did not require board members to have omniscience in knowing everything management was doing, the judge said.

A hearing on penalties and banning orders for Mr Bekier and Ms Martin will occur on a later date.

A spokesperson for Star declined to comment.

US President Donald Trump has invited technology companies to the White House to commit to developing their own power generation as he tries to ease tensions over the cost of electricity used by data centres to develop artificial intelligence.

“They need some PR help because people think that if a data centre goes in there, electricity prices are going to go up,” Trump said. “It’s not going to happen”.

The “ratepayer protection” pledge touted by the president comes as affordability has become a top concern for an American public wary of the possibility that the AI build-out could lead to higher utility bills. 

Communities across the nation have seen a backlash against data centres over fears about rising electricity prices and concerns about pollution and water consumption. 

Electricity prices have climbed 6.3 per cent over the past year, according to the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index.

The president stressed that he understands that demand for energy will triple by 2035 largely because of AI, meaning the US needs to dramatically increase its construction of power plants. 

Trump has also sought to cancel wind power projects while elevating coal – which contributes to climate change – as a source of energy.

The companies committing to the pledge included Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, OpenAI and Amazon.

Under the terms of the pledge, the companies agree to build or buy new sources of power generation for their data centres and cover the expense of infrastructure upgrades. 

The companies could also sell excess power generation to utilities for public consumption, in addition to negotiating separate rate structures with public utilities and states, ensuring expenses are not passed on to consumers. 

They also commit to making backup generation available to prevent blackouts in times of emergency, and to hire locally for their data centre build-out.

While Trump said the pledge would force tech companies to produce their own electricity, the deal is likely not enforceable at the federal level, experts said. 

The voluntary agreement has no enforcement mechanisms and ratepayers have no way to verify whether tech companies keep their promises, said Lena Moffitt, executive director of Evergreen Action, an environmental group.

“Now that energy prices have skyrocketed due to his corporate polluter-first policies, Trump is trying to cover up his mistakes with a photo op,” she said.

But the Edison Electric Institute, a top lobbying group for the power industry, said the ratepayer pledge would help ensure data centres pay their fair share even as they use enormous amounts of electricity.

“We appreciate President Trump’s focus on ensuring that our nation can drive innovation while also protecting Americans who need affordable, reliable energy,” said Drew Maloney, the group’s president and chief executive.

Canada’s prime minister will deliver a closely watched address to Australia’s parliament as he warns the global rules-based order is undergoing a “rupture”.

Mark Carney is expected to discuss trade, investment and security during meetings with his counterpart Anthony Albanese in Canberra on Thursday, with the war in the Middle East likely to dominate the conversation.

In a speech to the Lowy Institute in Sydney on Wednesday evening, the Canadian prime minister said the old norms underpinning the post-war international system were being “erased” and replaced by a new order.

He argued that middle powers, including Australia, Europe, Japan and Canada, collectively wielded enormous economic and cultural influence.

If co-ordinated effectively, Mr Carney said, they could shape new institutions and trade deals to replace what was being lost.

“Recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons: tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion and supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited,” he said.

“We can build something better – more prosperous, more just – than what came before.”

Mr Carney came to global attention in January with a blistering speech on similar themes at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

In his Lowy Institute speech on Wednesday, he called for “rapid de-escalation” in the Middle East after US and Israeli strikes on Iran were met with retaliatory attacks.

Diverting from his initial steadfast support of American and Israeli actions killing Ayatollah Ali Khameini, he said the nations needed to respect the rules of engagement.

“We take this position with some regret, because the current conflict is another example of the failure of the international order,” he said.

Australian National University international relations professor Wesley Widmaier said the conflict was a vexed issue for both Mr Carney and Mr Albanese. 

“On the one hand, the United States has, outside of international law, arguably violated the sovereignty of a nation state,” Prof Widmaier told AAP. 

“On the other hand, (the US and Israel) toppled a regime that was persecuting its own people and may have killed up to 30,000 people just in the last month.

“So how do you reconcile those things? Liberty and equality are sometimes at odds.”