Forecast

The Bureau of Meteorology says a blend of fine days and showers expected for most capital cities over the coming daysFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMany Australians can expect mild temperatures and a chance of showers over the Easter weekend, while meteorologists predict a cyclone will form in the Coral Sea on Sunday.The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast a blend of fine days and showers for most capital cities over the coming days. Continue reading...

Meteorologists issue yellow weather warning, with gusts of up to 90mph expected in some areasThe northern half of the UK is expected to face gale force winds over the Easter weekend, with forecasters warning of possible travel disruption and power cuts, stemming from a “significant cold plunge from Canada into the North Atlantic”.The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for very strong winds in Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of north Wales and northern England from 6pm on Saturday until midday on Sunday. Continue reading...

Consumers brace for ‘awful April’ and Iran war cost hikes, which have pushed UK’s gas market past three-year highs Households in Great Britain could see their energy bills increase by about £290 a year to almost £2,000 from this summer in a “tough pill to swallow” for consumers already braced for a volley of “awful April” cost hikes from Wednesday.A typical gas and electricity bill is now forecast to reach £1,929 a year from July under the industry regulator Ofgem’s quarterly price cap, according to analysis by the energy consultancy Cornwall Insight. Continue reading...

• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced expectations of at least $1 trillion in demand for its Blackwell and Rubin AI systems through 2027, doubling from $500 billion projected through 2026. • This projection signals over 100% annual sales growth for Nvidia amid booming data center demand. • The forecast underscores AI's role in driving U.S. tech sector expansion and GDP growth, with analysts citing non-inflationary productivity gains.

OECD says the Middle East war will test the world’s resilience with Australia expected to suffer from higher rates and inflationGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe world economy is on the brink of a major inflationary spike as soaring fuel prices threaten growth in European and Asian nations, the OECD has warned, and local economists are slashing Australia’s growth prospects for this year and the next amid the ongoing US-Israel attack on Iran.The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s latest interim outlook said the US-Israel war on Iran will “test the resilience of the global economy”, and warned of the “significant downside risk” to their forecasts should the oil supply disruptions prove more persistent and push energy prices even higher. Continue reading...

• CompTIA's State of the Tech Workforce 2026 report, released March 24, predicts net U.S. tech employment growth of 1.9%, creating 185,499 new jobs to reach nearly 9.8 million workers. • Texas leads with 32,238 jobs added, followed by California (16,949), Florida (14,453), and New York (13,566); all states expect gains. • High-growth roles include data scientists (420% over 10 years), cybersecurity analysts (346%), and software developers (188%), driven by AI impact.

• AI is expected to drive data center power consumption up 175% by 2030, creating unprecedented grid shortages that have pushed electricity prices higher across the country and compelled tech companies to seek alternative power sources. • Google's deal to power a new Minnesota data center blends wind and solar with a 30 gigawatt-hour battery from Form Energy, while the U.S. is expected to have nearly 65 gigawatts of battery storage capacity by year-end. • Dozens of startups including Amperesand, DG Matrix, Heron Power, Camus, GridBeyond, and Texture are developing power conversion and grid management technologies to address the critical energy shortage.

• NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang announced at GTC in San Jose a forecast of $1 trillion in sales from Blackwell and Rubin chips by late 2027, doubling the prior $500 billion estimate through 2026. • The company unveiled a new inference system generating 700 million tokens per second, 350 times faster than the Hopper generation, to counter custom chips from competitors like Google. • NVIDIA's DRIVE platform for robotaxis, valued at $1.2 trillion by Morgan Stanley, is adopted by Uber and BYD, with Uber's fleet launching in 2028; data center revenue hit $192 billion last year, up 66%.

• Apple is projected to generate more than $1 billion in AI-related revenue this year, even as it trails rivals in generative AI product launches, according to The Wall Street Journal. • Wall Street analysts focus on Apple's monetization strategy leveraging its services ecosystem and premium hardware rather than first-to-market demos. • This approach highlights how distribution and installed base can drive consumer AI profitability over raw model capabilities.

• Research firm IDC significantly lowered its 2026 PC shipment forecast to an 11.3% decline, compared to the previous projection of a 2.4% drop, driven by ongoing memory shortages, rising component costs, and supply chain disruptions expected to persist into 2027. • Tablet shipments are also expected to fall 7.6% in 2026, though the overall market value is projected to increase slightly as higher component costs drive up per-unit prices for computers and devices. • IDC predicts that truly inexpensive computers will become rarer as the industry adapts to a new normal with elevated component pricing, fundamentally changing the affordable computing landscape.