Australia Breaking News

Exploration company Albion Resources (ASX:ALB) has commenced a maiden 7,000-metre drilling programme at its Gidgee Gold Project.

OneSteel Manufacturing will reduce its Whyalla steelworks workforce from 1,700 to 1,200 following the permanent shutdown of an unrepairable blast furnace.

Connected Minerals (ASX:CML) has commenced a 6,000m drilling programme at its Bailundo Carbonatite Project in Angola.

The Federal Reserve faces mounting pressure to hike interest rates this week to tame elevated inflation, putting Chairman Kevin Warsh on a collision course with US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly pressed the central bank to slash rates. Bloomberg MLIV's Mark Cranfield previews Wednesday's decision, and also what to expect from the Bank of England and Bank of Japan.

Rumble Resources (ASX:RTR) announced scheduled exploration programmes across three of its Western Australian gold and base metal projects.

UniCredit Chief Executive Officer Andrea Orcel and German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil are set to meet and "engage in a dialogue" to discuss a potential deal over Commerzbank. The talks mark a clear break from Berlin's previous effort to thwart a transaction that might end up being the largest across global banking in almost two decades. Bloomberg's Steven Arons breaks down the situation.

Oil pushed higher after Saudi Arabia shut a major crude pipeline following attacks, disrupting a route used to bypass the Strait of Hormuz during the US-Iran war. Meanwhile, a planned meeting between Iran and several Gulf nations on creating a temporary shipping lane through the Strait of Hormuz has been postponed. Hasan Alhasan, Senior Fellow for Middle East Policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies spoke to Bloomberg's Abeer Abu Omar on Horizons Middle East & Africa on the developments in the region.

DroneShield (ASX:DRO) has announced plans to combine its DroneSentry detection platform with AIM Defence's Fractl high-power laser technology.

Eastern Gas (ASX:EGA) completed drilling operations and demobilisation at its Venus-2H well site.

Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, is poised to make a $23 billion leap up the list of the world's wealthiest as he opens an initial public offering for his refinery. The tycoon's net worth is projected to reach as much as $58.2 billion with the IPO of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals Fze, according to Bloomberg calculations, surpassing US hedge fund tycoon Ken Griffin and tech billionaire Eric Schmidt. Bloomberg's Anthony Osae-Brown reports.

Oil pushed higher after Saudi Arabia shut its East-West crude pipeline, a key alternative to the Strait of Hormuz for its oil exports, following multiple attacks on Thursday. Meanwhile, a planned meeting for Monday between Iran and several Gulf nations on creating a temporary shipping lane through Hormuz has been postponed, according to Oman's foreign minister. Bloomberg's Stuart Livingstone-Wallace reports.

Entropy Neurodynamics (ASX:ENP) reported positive Phase 2 trial results for its intravenous psilocin drug TRP-8803.