The media titan arising from the merger of Southern Cross Austereo and Seven West Media is targeting at least $30 million in savings as it searches for a new boss.

Southern Cross Media completed the effective takeover of Seven West in January, while the former head of Seven moved across to take the reins at the new entity.

But Jeff Howard tapped out on Monday evening as CEO and managing director “with immediate effect”, the day before the company’s first-half results announcement on Tuesday.

Chairman Heith Mackay-Cruise, who took over from WA billionaire Kerry Stokes after he stepped down from the role on Friday, will become interim executive chairman.

All internal leaders will report to him as a global search begins for a new chief executive.

The Southern Cross entity is absorbing Network Seven and The West Australian print and digital assets to sit with its Triple M and Hit radio networks, Listnr app and podcast network, and regional radio stations.

Mr Mackay-Cruise said on Tuesday the new business was already securing merger benefits, particularly through cross-promotion as TV accelerated growth in audio and digital audiences.

“We have also identified an early opportunity in regional markets, where client overlap between television and audio represents new business growth across both platforms,” he said.

“We are targeting cost synergies of at least $30 million and expect to deliver these within fiscal 2027.”

Southern Cross’s audio business generated underlying earnings – before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation – of $40 million, up 28 per cent on the previous first half.

The TV and publishing assets generated underlying earnings of $67 million, down 27 per cent, as previously announced earlier in February by former majority owner, the Stokes-family controlled conglomerate SGH.

Southern Cross is targeting pro-forma group revenue of $1.91-$1.92 billion for the 2025/26 financial year and group underlying earnings of $200-$220 million.

“Together, we reach Australians at scale at a national, regional and local level across our key content platforms of audio, television, streaming, publishing and digital,” Mr Mackay-Cruise said.

Slovakia has escalated a dispute with Ukraine over oil deliveries by halting emergency electricity supplies to the country suffering from daily blackouts caused by Russia’s bombardment of power plants and transmission lines.

Russian oil shipments to Slovakia and Hungary have been interrupted since January 27 after what Ukrainian officials say were Russian drone attacks that damaged the Druzhba pipeline, which carries Russian crude across Ukrainian territory and into Central Europe.

The two most pro-Russian countries in the European Union blamed Ukraine for deliberately holding back the oil shipments. They received a temporary exemption from an EU policy prohibiting imports of Russian oil.

Populist Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said Monday’s decision was taken after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy declined to discuss the issue with him until after Wednesday.

“Given the seriousness of the situation and the declared state of oil emergency in Slovakia, we are forced to take the first reciprocal measure immediately. It will be lifted immediately after the resumption of oil transit to Slovakia,” Fico said in a statement on X.

“As of today, if the Ukrainian side turns to Slovakia with a request for assistance in stabilising the Ukrainian energy network, it will not receive such assistance,” he said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called on both countries “to engage in constructive co-operation and responsible behaviour” as he launched an international fundraising campaign to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people who are grappling with power outages in the depths of a freezing winter.

“This assistance is urgently needed. It will go toward purchasing equipment, electricity, power supplies, and all forms of energy directly for Ukrainians and the communities in need,” he said on X.

“A small piece of your warmth will save Ukrainian families and children.”

The Slovak opposition condemned the government’s decision.

Fico threatened to take further measures if the shipments don’t resume, including ending support for Ukraine’s aspiration to become an EU member.

Slovakia and Hungary have challenged Ukraine, claiming the Druzhba pipeline was ready to transport oil, without giving evidence.

“Our intelligence services report that the oil pipeline in Ukraine is functional,” Fico said. “Our ambassador to Kyiv has not yet been allowed to visit the part of the oil pipeline that the Ukrainian side claims is damaged.”

The Slovak leader asserted that stopping oil deliveries was “a purely political decision with the aim of blackmailing Slovakia” because its views of the Russian war against Ukraine differ from Europe’s mainstream.

UN Secretary General António Guterres issued a statement marking the grim anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

“This devastating war is a stain on our collective consciousness and remains a threat to regional and international peace and security,” Guterres said in a statement.

“The longer the war continues, the deadlier it becomes,” he continued. “Civilians bear the brunt of this conflict, with 2025 witnessing the largest number of civilians killed in Ukraine. This is simply unacceptable.”

Guterres further reiterated his call for “an immediate, full and unconditional ceasefire as a first step towards a just, lasting and comprehensive peace”.

A massive snowstorm is pummelling the northeast United States from Maryland to Maine, forcing millions of people to stay home amid strong wind and blizzard warnings, transportation shutdowns and school and business closures.

The storm dumped up to 60cm of snow in parts of the metropolitan northeast as accumulations from an earlier snowfall had just melted away – except for grey mountainous piles in parking lots and along the side of roads. 

Officials declared emergencies from Delaware to Massachusetts, and hundreds of thousands of people grappled with power failure from downed electrical lines.

Even as the snow moved northward and tapered off in other areas, the National Weather Service said it is tracking another storm that could bring more snow to the region later this week. 

The weather service referred to Monday’s storm as a “classic bomb cyclone/nor’easter off the Northeast coast”.

A bomb cyclone happens when a storm’s pressure falls by a certain amount within a 24-hour period, occurring mainly in the fall and winter when frigid Arctic air can reach the south and clash with warmer temperatures.

New York City and Boston cancelled public school classes for Monday, while Philadelphia switched to online learning. 

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani called it the “first old-school snow day since 2019”. But class would be back in person on Tuesday, he said. 

He went on X to encourage people to sign up for emergency snow shovelling work “as we get through this historic storm”.

In Lower Manhattan, snow shovellers appeared to outnumber commuting office workers, and pedestrians walked freely in streets normally blocked by morning traffic.

“It’s very quiet, except for the howling winds,” said Luis Valez, a concierge at a residential tower just off Wall Street, as he cleared the footpath.

Karen Smith and Adele Bawden are tourists visiting New York from the United Kingdom.

“We’ve been dancing in Times Square this morning in the middle of the road in rush hour,” Bawden said. 

New York, Philadelphia and other cities, as well as several states, declared emergencies. 

More than 5000 flights in and out of the United States were cancelled for Monday, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.

Most were cancelled in New York, New Jersey and Boston. Rhode Island’s T.F. Green International Airport announced Monday that it was temporarily ending all airport operations.

Public transit ground to a halt in some areas, while DoorDash suspended deliveries in New York City overnight.

Storm-related power outages plunged more than 500,000 customers into darkness along the East Coast early on Monday, including over 212,000 customers in Massachusetts and 128,000 customers in New Jersey, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide.

About 10,000 customers were without power Monday morning on suburban Long Island. New York Governor Kathy Hochul said utility crews would restore power as soon as possible, but winds of 80km/h or higher could delay action.

In New York City, several subway lines reported severe delays, while the Long Island Rail Road was fully suspended until further notice. 

Some Metro-North commuter trains between New York City and its suburbs were delayed by up to an hour. New Jersey Transit suspended bus and rail services “until further notice.”

The weather service said strong wind gusts could cause whiteout conditions and warned of a “Potentially Historic/Destructive Storm” southeast of the Boston-Providence corridor.

“Winds like that, combined with heavy, wet snow, are a recipe for damaged trees and prolonged power outages,” said Bryce Williams, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Boston office.

“That’s what we’re most concerned with, is the combination of those extreme snow amounts with that wind.”

Outreach workers meanwhile tried to coax homeless New Yorkers into shelters and warming centres.

Various landmarks and cultural institutions were closed Monday, including New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC Broadway shows were cancelled.

Frustrated European officials have pushed for clarification on how US President Donald Trump’s declaration of a 15 per cent global tax on imports would affect the trade deal they struck with Trump as EU MPs hit pause on the deal’s ratification until they get clarity. 

The European Parliament’s trade committee postponed a committee vote on ratification after Trump said he would impose the new tariff, following the US Supreme Court striking down his use of an emergency powers law to set new import taxes. 

Trump then turned to another section of trade law to justify his imposition of the 15 per cent global rate, which takes effect Tuesday. 

The EU position is expressed in five words: “A deal is a deal,” said commission spokesman Olof Gill. 

“So now we are simply saying to the US, it is up to you to clearly show to us what path you are taking to honour the agreement,” Gill said.

The US-EU deal called for a 15 per cent cap on tariffs on most European goods imports, while tariffs on US industrial goods would be lowered to zero. 

While the deal burdened consumers and businesses with a tariff increase from the previous average of 4.8 per cent, it also gave businesses certainty so they could plan – a factor credited with helping Europe avoid a recession last year. 

Since the new 15 per cent rate announced Saturday would be applied on top of the previous tariffs, it would break the agreed ceiling on tariffs, said Bernd Lange, chair of the parliament’s trade committee. 

MPs postponed a committee vote on the agreement scheduled for Tuesday.

Questions surrounded other trade deals done with individual countries, including Brazil, India and Britain. 

For instance, Britain agreed a 10 per cent maximum tariff with the US, while India settled on 18 per cent and Vietnam accepted 20 per cent. 

Although the Supreme Court decision did not directly affect bilateral deals, they were negotiated using threats of imposing the now-invalidated tariffs as leverage. 

However, re-opening those deals could backfire because Trump has made clear he will pursue tariffs under other laws than the one the Supreme Court said he could not apply. 

US Trade Representative Jamison Greer said Sunday on US network CBS’ that the administration had made clear to negotiating partners that Trump was intent on tariffs whether the Supreme Court ruled against him or not, that “whether we won or lost, there were going to be tariffs”.

He said that the bilateral deals “are good deals, we expect to stand by them, we expect our partners to stand by them.”

Moving from country-specific tariffs to the flat 15 per cent global tariff “will have considerable implications elsewhere,” said Atakan Bakiskan, US economist at Berenberg Bank. 

The new tariff means a reduced rate for some countries, for example Brazil, which faces a reduction of nearly 15 percentage points and China, which sees a reduction of nearly 10 percentage points. 

Under the law Trump relied on, these latest tariffs are in effect for only 150 days unless Congress votes to extend them. 

Trump could use that time to search for other legal provisions that would support his actions. 

While uncertainty hits European companies, it puts pressure on the US economy as well, where consumers and companies pay the tariffs on goods purchased from abroad. 

“Uncertainty around trade policy appears here to stay – putting continued pressure on the US economy,” Bakiskan said.

Patchwork laws between states, including those that ban single-use plastics, are driving up costs for shoppers.

It’s a claim Australia’s peak retail body makes in a new report that argues the “regulatory fragmentation” costs households about $900 million a year.

Single-use coffee cups are legal in some states but can’t be used in others, meaning retailers are spending more to comply with laws while being forced to run separate, jurisdiction-specific supply chains.

The Australian Retail Council says coffee cups are an example of the contrasting laws hurting retailers and driving up prices.

“Right now, a truck carrying a legal load in Sydney can be forced to stop at the border and transfer that load onto a different vehicle simply to continue to Brisbane,” the council’s chief policy officer Glenn Fahey said.

“Delivery schedules are dictated by mismatched local rules and different council curfews … this friction ultimately ends up in the price on the shelf that every Australian pays.”

Differing heavy vehicle standards and driver rules including curfews are another source of frustration for retailers.

The retail council said it could take as long as two years to obtain permits for some freight routes, with retailers requiring approval from each state and council area through which goods travelled.

The report’s financial modelling was conducted by consulting firm Mandala, which found jurisdictional fragmentation costs Australia $2.6 billion a year.

Without conceding law variation was natural within Australia’s federation, the retail council called for the establishment of a national harmonisation council to drive universal decision-making and ease fragmentation.

It also wants $260 million from the national productivity fund spent on a harmonisation incentive scheme.

A one per cent lift in retail productivity would save a household $115 a year, retail council chief executive Chris Rodwell said.

“Businesses are spending more time and money navigating different rules when they could be investing in jobs, innovation and growth,” he said.

“The good news is there are obvious solutions and significant financial upside for all Australians if we seize the moment and tackle the problem.”

Retail is Australia’s second-largest employing sector, with more than 1.5 million workers.

Federal spending on a long-sought high-speed rail project is on track to reach almost $700 million before the first shovel hits the ground.

A two-year development phase of a high-speed rail line between Sydney and Newcastle has begun, which will ensure work on the long-awaited transport project can begin.

The development phase will be responsible for the approvals process of the route, awarding contracts and finalising the design.

It’s estimated a high-speed rail line would mean travel time of only one hour between Sydney and Newcastle and 30 minutes from Sydney to the Central Coast.

The federal government will pump an extra $229 million into the project, bringing the total spent by the Commonwealth on the development to almost $660 million.

Transport Minister Catherine King said the development phase would be the ground work for construction to finally begin on the rail link.

“Carefully planned, costed and detailed preparation takes time, but it means when construction starts, it is built to last,” she said.

A business case for the Newcastle to Sydney stage will also be released on Tuesday.

The case projects a boost of $250 billion to the economy over the next 50 years, with the first stage set to produce about 99,000 jobs.

High-speed rail has been long been touted as a future transport option in Australia, but successive governments over multiple decades have failed to see the thought bubble leave the station.

There’s been several proposals for a high-speed rail route linking Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

Nationals leader David Littleproud is among those who have cast doubt over the viability of the latest attempt, saying it risks becoming a white elephant without Australia having more baseload power at its disposal.

“I am not opposed to examining these types of projects. There have been proposals from Toowoomba to Brisbane as well,” he said last week.

“But if you are going to build this infrastructure, you need to be able to power it. It is pointless laying track if you cannot run the trains.

“Unless the energy system is fixed, this will not work.”

Australia’s largest childcare operator will face further scrutiny over the safety of its centres as its boss fronts a public inquiry.

G8 Education chief executive Pejman Okhovat will give evidence on Tuesday to a Senate inquiry examining the quality and safety of Australia’s early childhood education and care system.

He is expected to face questioning over child safety after former educator Joshua Dale Brown was charged with more than 70 sex offences against eight alleged victims aged under two between April 2022 and January 2023. 

It has been revealed that G8 Education investigated Brown twice while he was employed at the company and while both incidents were substantiated, his working with children check was not revoked.

The inquiry was sparked by calls for reform after a series of high-profile scandals, including claims of sexual abuse, unnecessary restraints and low-quality meals in the sector.

Public hearings held in Brisbane on Monday heard that parents, faced with declining childcare safety standards and falling quality, needed alternative childcare options.

“One in four Australian children live in so-called childcare deserts,” advocacy group For Parents co-founder Cecilia Cobb said. 

“This means one in four children live in an area where there are three children for every available childcare place.

“The reality is that access to a childcare centre, let alone a high-quality centre, depends on your postcode.” 

Parents living in isolated regional areas were among the hardest impacted, Ms Cobbs said. 

The lack of supply means thousands of Australian parents travelled “significant and unreasonable distances” to access childcare.

Others pay for unsubsidised care out of pocket, or are forced to decline work shifts until a place becomes available.

The group highlighted a family in regional Victoria where grandparents drove a six-hour round trip, twice a week, to care for their grandchild so the mother could work.

“I live in a childcare desert – I have no choice of centre,” mother Elly wrote in her submission to the inquiry. 

“My daughter is on three waitlists and has been since before she was even born.”

While For Parents welcomed the crackdown on poor-quality services, Ms Cobbs said subsidised support should be available for registered carers, including nannies, au pairs and grandparents. 

“Too many families are effectively locked into the traditional long day-care model, even when it doesn’t suit their circumstances,” she said. 

“Shift workers, regional families, parents on 18-month waitlists, parents who have pulled their children out due to safety concerns – these families get zero government support because the only subsidised option doesn’t work for them.” 

The inquiry is due to report back by the end of March.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028

Lifeline 13 11 14

Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)

Ukraine’s economy is enduring its toughest period since the early months of Russia’s invasion after sustained air strikes left its power system in tatters as the war enters a fifth year, forcing firms to cut output and shrinking state revenues.

From steel mills to miners, cement makers ‌and food producers, Ukrainian industry is being forced to cut output and absorb rising costs as it struggles to shift work schedules and save equipment from emergency shutdowns, executives at eight companies said.

Sergii Pylypenko, CEO of Kovalska Group, Ukraine’s largest producer of concrete and building materials, said ‌the diesel generators it had bought could not power the entire output of its large factories:

“For more than two months now, we have been working under emergency power cuts without any predictable schedule,” Pylypenko said.

“In certain periods, the lack of a stable power supply can reduce production volumes by ‌up to 50 per cent.”

Ukraine’s economy shrank by nearly a third in the first year of the war and, despite modest growth during subsequent years, it remains far smaller than before the invasion and heavily reliant on government spending. 

Nearly six million people have left Ukraine and more than three million are displaced within its borders, accounting for over a fifth of the pre-war population. 

In February, the monthly business activity recovery index of the Institute for Economic Research in Kyiv – which compares the number of companies reporting that business is worse or better than last year – turned negative for the first time since 2023.

Ukraine’s economy is vital not only to provide tax revenues to finance the war and fund debt, and to produce armaments, but also to provide jobs and economic prospects ‌for soldiers and returning refugees when ‌peace finally returns.

Oleksandr Myronenko, chief operating ⁠officer at Metinvest, a mining and metals group with annual revenues of around $US7 billion ($A9.9 billion), said the long power outages made it difficult to restart production after Russian strikes.

Metinvest – controlled by ​Rinat Akhmetov, one of Ukraine’s richest men – has been a major generator of tax revenues and steel for the war effort.

It has forecast growth this year in Ukraine, but failed to achieve that in the first two months owing to the impact of Russian bombardment, Myronenko said.

“This included damage to generating capacities and also to the transport infrastructure, which affects not only steel makers but all producers in Ukraine: they have to decrease volumes,” he said.

Nataliia Kolesnichenko, economist at the Centre for Economic Studies in Kyiv, estimated energy demand had exceeded supply by 30 per cent in January and February. 

“The energy situation has deteriorated dramatically in recent months,” she said.

Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal said that even though temperatures were warming, peak demand stood at 16.4 gigawatts, still well above the 12.3 gigawatts Ukraine was able to produce, ⁠and that it was importing almost two gigawatts at peak times.

Businesses are having to contend with lower output, rising costs, disruption of supply chains and ‌longer delivery times. These all affect competitiveness ​and will increase inflation, already running at around 7 per cent, three economists said.

The power crisis has already prompted Ukraine’s central bank to cut its forecast for economic growth this year to 1.8 per cent from 2.0 per cent – in line with the 1.8 per cent growth expected to be announced ​for last year.

A plan for people who help Islamic State-linked families to be thrown in jail is a reckless thought bubble, aid agencies warn, arguing it could set a dangerous precedent.

The federal opposition plans to introduce legislation when parliament sits in March that would punish anyone who helps the so-called “ISIS brides” travel to Australia with up to 10 years jail.

Save the Children Australia chief executive Mat Tinkler, who has advocated for the Australian partners and children of Islamic State fighters, said while the proposal lacked detail, it was a slippery slope.

“I think it’s pretty reckless, to be honest,” he told ABC TV on Monday.

“It feels like a thought bubble to me and it’s potentially setting a very dangerous precedent where advocacy and humanitarian assistance from organisations like Save the Children … is suddenly called into question.”

Mr Tinkler said he did not know whether his organisation would be caught up in the coalition’s policy and has offered to brief the party on Save the Children’s work in Syria.

A group of 34 Australian women and children has been trying to return home from a Syrian refugee camp.

They travelled to the Middle East with men who wanted to fight for Islamic State before the terror organisation was defeated in 2019.

The group has been issued with Australian passports but were unable to travel to the Syrian capital Damascus for a flight home.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said he would make it illegal to assist in the repatriation of people who had travelled to declared terrorist hotspots or committed a terrorist offence.

“We need to shut the door to people who are going to bring hate and violence to our shores from another part of the world,” he told reporters on Monday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the proposal should be ignored.

“They don’t have serious plans,” he told reporters earlier on Monday.

“If they did, they wouldn’t have allowed more than 40 people to come, including fighters, on their watch when they were in government.”

That claim was disputed by former prime minister Scott Morrison, who told News Corp Australia that only orphaned minors were allowed back under his government.

Anti-Semitism in Australia and how it contributed to the Bondi Beach terrorist attack are set to go under the royal commission microscope.

The first public hearing of the royal commission will start on Tuesday, with commissioner and former High Court judge Virginia Bell to reveal how she will approach the inquiry.

Called about a month after 15 innocent people were killed in the terror attack on December 14, the inquiry will probe the nature, prevalence and key drivers of anti-Semitism in Australia’s society and institutions.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also tasked the royal commission with making recommendations that strengthen wider social cohesion and counter the spread of ideological and religious extremism.

Ms Bell and senior counsel assisting Richard Lancaster will give opening statements on Tuesday, but no evidence will be presented.

Findings and recommendations are due to be handed down by December 14, the first anniversary of the attack.

“I acknowledge the importance of addressing anti-Semitism within the Australian community … I plan to conduct the inquiry as expeditiously as possible,” Ms Bell said.

Jewish advocacy groups have widely welcomed the royal commission, including the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which described it as “the only way that Australia’s time-honoured standards of decency and fairness can be upheld”.

Other groups have urged the commission to include the voices of other affected communities to explore wider social cohesion.

NSW announced a royal commission soon after the attack and the federal government came under intense political pressure to call its own as the prime minister steadfastly refused to do so.

But he relented in January, with the NSW commission cancelled and a separate inquiry, headed by former ASIO boss Dennis Richardson, to be folded in.

Mr Richardson’s inquiry will scope how potential intelligence failures contributed to the attack.

Federal parliament has passed laws aimed at restricting the ability of hardline radical groups to incite violence against people based on their faith, while also making it easier to deport extremists and deny them entry to Australia.