The first plane carrying Australians who have been stranded in the Middle East is on its way to Australia.

The news comes as thousands of Australians remain stranded in the region amid the ongoing conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran.

First Plane Carrying Stranded Australians on Its Way to Australia

According to Sky News, Flight EK414 departed shortly after 9 a.m. AEDT. It is the first commercial flight that has been able to bring Aussies back to Australia since the conflict began.

It is expected to arrive in Sydney later tonight.

The report notes that there are 24,000 Australians who have been stranded in the United Arab Emirates.115,000 have been stranded in the Middle East region.

The Australian government has received heavy criticism regarding its handling of stranded Australians as the conflict in the region rages on.

“Unfortunately, I continue to get reports from them about the government just being flat-footed,” Shadow foreign minister Ted O’Brien said to Sky News.

He added, “They are struggling to get the right responses from the government, which is indicative of the government’s overly quiet and slow response in the lead-up to the conflict.”

Australians Narrate Their Experience Escaping the Middle East

Some Australians who have managed to escape to safer ground have shared their experiences with ABC News.

An expat living in Dubai named Richard recounted how he had to book a limousine to guarantee a safe passage to Oman. However, it was denied entry at the border.

He and his partner had to board an overcrowded bus full of scared passengers just to get to Oman. When they got there, taxi rides were being quoted for as high as $8,000.

Another family shared their experience of having to pay thousands in dollars for alternative flights that were ultimately cancelled.

“The airlines were hiking prices, knowing they could double their profit from people desperate and in need,” Simon Cass told ABC News.

Thousands of Facebook users experienced unexpected service downtime on the afternoon of March 3, causing frustration and confusion across the platform.

Downdetector data showed reports of issues surged rapidly, peaking at over 10,000 complaints as users struggled to access their accounts.

Users Encounter Error Messages

During the outage, many users saw the message: “Your account is currently unavailable due to a site issue. We expect this to be resolved shortly. Please try again in a few minutes.”

While the alert indicated a temporary technical problem rather than account-specific issues, it offered little reassurance to those locked out, according to USA Today.

What Facebook Users Said About the Recent Outage

On Reddit, some users said that Facebook was undergoing extreme slowness when they loaded the page. Others thought that they were banned on the platform.

“I’m getting that same error, but my wife isn’t. It seems to only be impacting certain users. The site is very slow for her, but it does still work,” one user wrote.

“Can confirm, I am also facing this issue. Seems to be a PC only problem for me though, as I can use Facebook app on phone and using my phone’s browser just fine. Doesn’t seem to be an account problem on my end,” another concerned user said.

Downdetector Shows Rapid Spike and Recovery

Real-time tracking from Downdetector highlighted the disruption’s scale, with complaints climbing sharply before gradually declining later in the evening. By 8:30 p.m. ET, reports had dropped to roughly 150, signaling that most issues were resolved.

The quick drop in complaints suggests a backend fix implemented by Facebook’s technical team, although the company has not publicly explained the cause.

Outages of this magnitude are often caused by server misconfigurations, software deployment errors, or infrastructure-related issues.

Service Restored, But Reliance Remains

While Facebook’s services have largely returned to normal, the temporary blackout shows the platform’s importance for communication, business operations, and community engagement. Even brief outages can disrupt advertising campaigns, social interactions, and online workflows.

Meanwhile, TikTok faced an unexpected outage due to another Oracle outage. According to Tech Times, some content creators said that there were lags when they tried to post videos on their accounts.

Originally published on Tech Times

Andrew Wright has taken up the role from Dave Tansley

Professional advisory firm Deloitte has appointed Andrew Wright as its new practice senior partner for the South West and Wales. Mr Wright, who has close to 30 years of experience at the firm, will lead a combined team of 2,300 people, succeeding Dave Tansley.

He joined the firm 1996 and became a partner in 2012. He leads Deloitte’s audit business in Bristol and Cardiff and is also part of the national Deloitte Private leadership team and the global audit transformation group. In his new role Mr Wright will oversee the firm’s strategic direction across the South West and Wales.

READ MORE: Savills appointed to Swindon Designer OutletREAD MORE: Spring Statement 2026: Budget watchdog downgrades growth forecast for 2026 as Rachel Reeves defends Government’s plan

He takes over the role from Dave Tansley, who has led the firm in the South West and Wales for the past two years. Mr Tansley will continue his work as partner at Deloitte leading key initiatives until his retirement in May.

During his two year stint as practice senior partner, Mr Tansley spearheaded the firm’s move into its new Bristol headquarters in the Halo Building in Finzel’s Reach, which has consolidated its position as a leading employer in the region. He also accelerated the growth of the firm in Wales, including its Cardiff Delivery Centre.

Mr Wright said: “The South West and Wales stands on the cusp of a vibrant future, powered by innovation in advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and a thriving digital economy, offer unparalleled opportunities for sustainable economic growth.

“My career has been rooted in the south West and Wales, and I know first-hand the depth of talent, expertise and potential that we have here. I am committed to developing that talent, and ensuring that we continue to make a tangible impact to our clients, people and communities.

“I want to thank Dave for his exemplary leadership. He has fostered a real sense of collaboration across the firm, leaving a strong foundation for future growth.”

Mr Tansley, partner, Deloitte, said: “This role has provided an exciting last chapter as I close out my 32-year career with the firm. It has been immensely rewarding to support the growth of our people and witness the enthusiasm and expertise that they bring to sector-leading projects across the region.”

Ian Howse, senior partner, Wales, and Sam Hart, office senior partner for Bristol, will continue to lead their respective offices.

Programme aims to support under-represented founders

Ambitious firms from across the North have won backing from a venture capital project that helps under-represented founders to prepare for their first institutional investment round. GC Angels, the VC investment arm of The Growth Company, has announced the second cohort of its Venture Forward accelerator programme.

The scheme is delivered by GC Angels’ investment managers and aims to give founders the skills they need to win their first VC investment in the next 12 months. The first programme, which ran between October and December last year, saw five of the 30 participating founders win investment within two months of the project finishing.

The second cohort will see another 22 “high-potential businesses” from across the North take part in an eight-week programme in Leeds including one-to-one mentoring, practical fundraising guidance and direct access to investors. Once GC Angels has completed the programme, it will offer up to £500,000 to “standout founders” to help them scale up their businesses.

GC Angels says it has been “prioritising founder diversity in its recruitment” for the latest cohort. It says some 55% of founders in Cohort 2 are from an ethnic minority background while 55% are female founders – “significantly higher than industry averages and reflective of the programme’s mission to widen access to venture capital”.

Some 23% of founders involved are from Manchester, with 23% from Stockport and 14% from Leeds. They work in areas from construction and e-commerce to sports and agriculture technology.

Marc Shirman, GC head of equity investment, said: “The success of our first cohort demonstrated both the scale of underrepresented talent across the North and the clear need for targeted early-stage support. It was great to work with these founders and to invest in five of them, playing a critical role in their growth journey.

“The quality of applications for Cohort 2 was exceptionally strong, allowing us to continue building a cohort that reflects the diversity and ambition of the region. Venture Forward goes beyond just preparing founders to pitch, giving them insight into investor thinking, boosting confidence, and creating connections that result in real investment.”

The Northern businesses joining the latest cohort

• vox ANN: Founders Daniel Bottomley, David Bilsborough, Tom Crompton, Rob Tong
• Biosecure ID Limited: Founders Natalie Tyler, Yogesh Prasad
• Oaysa: Founder Mark Collier
• KitchenAI: Founder Gavin Mackay
• Sineco: Founder Ben Etches
• APIMS: Founders Simon Hall, Sarah Speake, Khalil Ibrahimi
• Liaura: Founder Hugh Shepherd
• Pathways Open: Founders Amanda MacCannell, Sandeep Sharda
• Cocoon Digital: Founders Emma Thornton, Nicolas Lagoutte
• Topic Hero Ltd: Founder Dr. Primal Rayan
• Laika Family: Founder Hanna Latif-Walmsley
• SportTrack.ai: Founders James Davies
• Xerogrid Ltd: Founders Alison Butterworth, Ian Emberton
• LetPlant Technology: Founder Tolu Salami
• ND Axon: Founder Michael Jakubiak
• The JADE App: Founders Kamila Malavia, Dhaval Malavia
• FLAG-Me: Founders Lisa Riste, Leigh Wharton
• GET RUDE: Founders Nancy Scotford, Peter Walker, Martin Gozdnik
• Classhoppa: Founders Olivia Cooley-Dawes, Siobhan Fox
• Clareo Health: Founders Leroy Tonge, Navya Sharma, Priya Mangat
• Building Impact Tech: Founder Renée Preston
• Gynomics: Founder Dora Marcec

By Christopher Puplava, CRPC

There is no shortage of commentary surrounding the current conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran. Rather than revisit the geopolitical details, this update will focus specifically on the potential economic and investment implications.

ET Intelligence Group: Sedemac Mechatronics, an auto components company, plans to raise Rs 1,087.5 crore through an offer for sale. The promoter group’s stake will fall a tad to 26.2% after the IPO from 26.4%. The company designs and manufactures control-intensive electronic control units (ECU) for leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Its revenue grew in double-digit while net profit more than doubled between FY23 and FY25. However, nearly 75% of the revenue comes from TVS Motor Company, reflecting customer concentration. Given these factors, investors with high-risk appetites may consider the IPO.

Business
Incorporated in 2007, Sedemac is a Pune-based company which designs and manufactures powertrain controllers, motor control products, and integrated starter-generator (ISG) solutions for automotive and industrial applications. The company provides patented sensor-less motor control technology, enabling precise performance without external sensors for both engine-powered and electric bicycles and three-wheelers. It has two manufacturing facilities in Pune with 94% and 81% capacity utilisation. It has two upcoming facilities, yet to be operational.

Financials
Between FY23 and FY25, revenue grew by 24.8% annually to ‘658.4 crore and net profit jumped 134.3% to ’47 crore. Operating profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) grew 51.8% to ‘125.1 crore while Ebitda margin expanded to 19% from 12.8% during the period. Around 91% revenue comes from the top three customers. Return on equity (ROE) grew to 22% in FY25 from 7.8% in FY23. For the nine months ended December 2025, revenue and net profit were Rs 770.7 crore and Rs 71.5 crore, respectively. Though research & Development (R&D) expenses increased to Rs 53.8 crore during the nine months ended December 2025 from Rs 43.5 crore in FY23, R&D spend as a percentage of revenue declined to 7% from 10.3%.

Valuation
Considering the post-IPO equity and annualised profit for FY26, the price-earnings (P/E) multiple is 62.7. While it may not have a direct peer in the strict sense, some of the auto ancillary companies, including ZF Commercial Vehicle Control Systems India and Sona BLW Precision Forgings trade at forward P/Es of 56 and 54 respectively.