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Speaker 1: You're listening to I'm Ama Mia podcast. Good afternoon. I'm

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Speaker 1: Talley Blackman with the latest from the Quickie Newsroom for Thursday,

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Speaker 1: March nineteen. Australia's competition watchdog has launched an urgent investigation

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Speaker 1: into the country's major fuel companies following claims of anti

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Speaker 1: competitive behavior. The a Triple C is looking into whether

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Speaker 1: giants like Ample, BP Mobile and Viva Energy are unfairly

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Speaker 1: restricting diesel supplies, specifically for independent sellers who supply regional

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Speaker 1: and rural areas. It's rare for the watchdog to go

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Speaker 1: public with a probe this early, but they say it's

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Speaker 1: necessary because of how much the Middle East conflict is

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Speaker 1: hurting farmers and local businesses. To help manage the crisis,

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Speaker 1: Prime Minister Anthony Albanesi has appointed Anthea Harris, a former

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Speaker 1: energy regulator, to lead a new fuel supply task force.

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Speaker 1: The PM also said he expects the war on Iran

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Speaker 1: to end soon, arguing them the main goal of stopping

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Speaker 1: Tehran's nuclear program has been met. This follows a social

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Speaker 1: media post from Donald Trump, who lashed out at Australia

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Speaker 1: and other allies for refusing to join the fighting. The

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Speaker 1: US National debt has officially hit a record of thirty

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Speaker 1: nine trillion dollars, a massive milestone that comes just weeks

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Speaker 1: after the start of the war in Iran. The debt

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Speaker 1: has been climbing fast under both parties, but this latest

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Speaker 1: jump is fueled by a mix of heavy defense spending,

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Speaker 1: tax cuts and the ongoing conflict, which has already cost

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Speaker 1: over twelve billion dollars. Experts warn this isn't just a

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Speaker 1: number on a page. It actually makes life more expensive

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Speaker 1: for everyone by pushing up interest rates on things like

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Speaker 1: carloans and mortgages. Tropical cyclone Norell has intensified into a

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Speaker 1: dangerous category four system and is forecast to reach category

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Speaker 1: five strength, the highest possible rating, before crossing the Queensland

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Speaker 1: coast within the next twenty four hours. Destructive Winds of

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Speaker 1: over two hundred and fifty kilometers per hour are forecast

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Speaker 1: to hit between Lockhart River and Cape Tribulation, with the

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Speaker 1: storm expected to stay powerful as it crosses the tip

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Speaker 1: of the state and heads towards the northern territory. Hundreds

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Speaker 1: of people are already being airlifted out of remote golf

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Speaker 1: communities in Darwin as authorities won this could be the

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Speaker 1: most damaging cyclone to hit the region. In Living Memory,

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Speaker 1: online shopping site Ali Barber has been caught hosting listings

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Speaker 1: for suicide drones and cruise missiles, which were being disguised

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Speaker 1: as simple farming tools like pesticide sprayers. An ABC investigation

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Speaker 1: found that for under fifty thousand dollars, anyone could buy

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Speaker 1: a long range drone nearly identical to the ones currently

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Speaker 1: being used to attack ships in the Middle East. While

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Speaker 1: Ali Barber has now removed the sellers, experts say it's

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Speaker 1: a massive problem because these weapons are being sold globally

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Speaker 1: under the radar as commercial equipment. Late Hollywood star Val

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Speaker 1: Kilma is set to appear in a new movie called

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Speaker 1: As Deep as the Grave, using generative AI to complete

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Speaker 1: a role he couldn't finish before he passed away last year.

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Speaker 1: Kilmer had originally been cast as the Catholic priest and spiritualist,

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Speaker 1: but after he died from complications of throat cancer in

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Speaker 1: April twenty twenty five, his family and the filmmakers decided

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Speaker 1: to use state of the art technology to honor his

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Speaker 1: deep connection to the character. It marks the first ever

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Speaker 1: performance fully enabled by this kind of AI in a

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Speaker 1: feature film. Allowing the top Gun and Batman star to

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Speaker 1: embody a role that meant a lot to him. That's

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Speaker 1: your evening news headlines. More from the Quikie tomorrow as

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Speaker 1: we chat with Matilda star Caitlin Torpy about the team's

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Speaker 1: preparations for the Women's Asia Cup Final. Listen to The

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Speaker 1: Quikie wherever you get your podcasts. Mumma Mea acknowledges the

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Speaker 1: traditional owners of land and waters that this podcast is

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Speaker 1: recorded on