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The federal government expects to settle new energy and water rules for massive AI data centres at a national cabinet meeting on Wednesday - despite Queensland's opposition. Queensland's rejection of rules tying data centre construction to new renewables projects means the federal government will be forced to legislate to override the state. The Queensland and Northern Territory governments say they will not sign on to the new standard. An Australian man charged with murdering a Thai teenager says that he acted in self-defence. Thai police have accused Forty-five-year-old Simon Carman of picking up 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla along Pattaya's popular beach and then killing her in his apartment. Mr Carman has told the ABC that he hasn't "done anything wrong" and that he acted in self-defence after the teenager attacked him with a knife. Ms Donhomla's body was found inside a suitcase which was dumped next to railway tracks near Mr Carman's apartment. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected calls for a wartime election, in his first comments on the issue since former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for a poll last week. Mr Fedorov's dismissal last month sparked protests, but supporters later rejected his election call… which was the first such demand by a major Ukrainian political figure since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Ukraine has been under martial law since then, meaning elections are suspended. US President Donald Trump has hit back at Canada, accusing it of long targeting US farmers with "massive tariffs". Negotiations on a trade deal collapsed at the weekend with both countries set to impose tariffs on each others imports. In his first public comments since the talks broke down, Mr Trump accused Canada of wanting the benefits of being a US state, without being one. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says the American demands to reach an agreement were unacceptable and a bad deal. And, Sydney shark attack victim Leah Stewart has given a personal update on her recovery, saying she feels like she's been given a second chance at life. The 35-year-old mother and teacher was mauled by a white shark while swimming at Coogee beach in mid June.. She suffered extreme loss of blood and  life threatening injuries, requiring repeated surgeries including having an arm amputated. For the first time she's posted her own message on her Go Fund me page saying the love, support, prayers and encouragement she's received have played a huge role in her recovery. For more news at any time you can follow the ABC News Top Stories podcast.

Summary

The Australian federal government intends to legislate new energy and water efficiency standards for large-scale AI data centres to ensure infrastructure growth aligns with renewable energy targets. This move directly addresses the resource-intensive nature of frontier AI infrastructure and represents a significant federal intervention in Australian AI-related environmental policy. While focused on sustainability rather than direct catastrophic risk, the conflict between state and federal jurisdictions highlights the governance challenges in scaling the physical hardware necessary for advanced AI development. These standards are critical for managing the societal trade-offs involved in expanding Australia's sovereign AI capabilities.

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