Trump’s about-face on tariffs reveals chaos at the core of his presidency

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Time will tell how much damage has been inflicted on the credibility of Trump’s economic policy and administration

Donald Trump’s climbdown on Wednesday from the most draconian aspects of his tariff regime has uncovered a damning picture of chaos at the heart of his presidency without necessarily alleviating their most painful effects.

The president’s landmark “liberation day” unveiling of tariffs in the White House Rose Garden on 2 April was supposed to be symbolic gateway to his promised “golden age of American greatness”; instead, it triggered a cascade of global market crashes that prompted warnings of a recession, or even a 1930s-style depression, while Trump brushed it all off as temporary “disruption”.

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Trump administration cuts $4m to Princeton’s climate research funding

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White House claims university’s work exposed students to ‘climate anxiety’ and ‘exaggerated climate threats’

Almost $4m in federal funding has been stripped from an Ivy League university’s prestigious climate research department because the Trump administration has determined it exposed students and other young people to “climate anxiety”.

The government research grants to Princeton University have been cut off because the White House considers its work on topics including sea level rise, coastal flooding and global warming to be promoting “exaggerated and implausible climate threats”, according to the New York Times.

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Israeli army fired as close as 12m in Gaza medics killing, audio suggests – BBC

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  1. Israeli army fired as close as 12m in Gaza medics killing, audio suggests  BBC
  2. ‘Dad, help me… we were targeted by the Israelis’: Audio and video capture last moments of aid workers killed in Gaza  CNN
  3. Video footage appears to contradict Israeli account of Gaza medic killings  BBC
  4. In a break from U.S., British PM calls for probe into Israel's killing of emergency workers in Gaza  NBC News
  5. Know their Names: The Gaza Red Crescent paramedics Israel attacked  Al Jazeera
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China to restrict US film releases after Trump’s tariff hike

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After the US president imposed 125% duties on Chinese imports, Beijing says it will restrict American films opening in its lucrative market

Hours after Donald Trump imposed record 125% tariffs on Chinese products entering the US, China has announced it will further curb the number of US films allowed to screen in the country.

“The wrong action of the US government to abuse tariffs on China will inevitably further reduce the domestic audience’s favourability towards American films,” the China Film Administration said in a statement on Thursday. “We will follow the market rules, respect the audience’s choice, and moderately reduce the number of American films imported.”

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Couple who ran Swedish eco-resort say 158 barrels of human waste left behind was ‘very normal’

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Flemming Hansen and Mette Helbæk reject criticism of how they abandoned resort and fled to Guatemala

A Danish couple who fled their “forest resort” in Sweden for Guatemala and left behind a large tax debt and 158 barrels of human waste have hit back at criticism and claimed that their handling of the compost toilets was “very normal”.

Flemming Hansen and Mette Helbæk, both chefs, abandoned their purportedly eco-friendly retreat, Stedsans, in Halland, southern Sweden, last year. They owed large sums to Swedish and Danish tax authorities. They have since set up a business in Guatemala.

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Pope makes surprise visit to St. Peter’s to pray at tomb of St Pius X – Vatican News

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  1. Pope makes surprise visit to St. Peter’s to pray at tomb of St Pius X  Vatican News
  2. Watch: Pope seen without usual papal attire  BBC
  3. Pope Francis wears black pants, not papal attire, in surprise visit to St. Peter's  Reuters
  4. Vatican heads into a Holy Week of surprises with Pope Francis  National Catholic Reporter
  5. Pope Francis’ doctor weighs in on surprise appearance in St. Peter’s Square: ‘He decides. He is the pope.’  America Magazine
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Apple said to be flying iPhones from India to US to avoid Trump tariffs

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Tech firm has reportedly flown 600 tonnes of handsets from Indian factories as Chinese goods face huge tariffs

Apple is reportedly chartering cargo flights to ferry iPhones from its Indian manufacturing plants to the US in an attempt to beat Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The tech company has flown 600 tonnes of iPhones, or as many as 1.5m handsets, to the US from India since March after ramping up production at its plants in the country, according to Reuters.

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Coalition election win could cause loss of hundreds of jobs at agency scrutinising aged care mistreatment, modelling says

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Exclusive: Peter Dutton’s plan to reduce public service may see 26.5% jobs at Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission disappear, according to union

Hundreds of jobs could be lost at the government agency responsible for investigating allegations of serious wrongdoing and mistreatment in aged care homes if the Coalition wins the election, the public sector union has warned.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has hired more than 500 public servants since the 2022 election to deal with a backlog of complaints from residents and to resolve a “staggering” number of real, potential or perceived conflicts of interest involving consultants paid millions of dollars to conduct audits in homes.

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Australian comedian ditches US trip due to concern she could be denied entry over Trump jokes

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Alice Fraser thought she was being paranoid until her lawyer advised her jokes about Donald Trump and Elon Musk could be scrutinised at US airport

An award-winning Australian comedian has cancelled a planned trip to the US after receiving legal advice that she could be stopped at the border due to her previous jokes about the Trump administration.

Alice Fraser, who has appeared on Australia’s ABC and the BBC and toured internationally, was due to head to New York in the first week of May to promote her recently published book.

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NSW solar farm to supply almost half energy needs of major gas company

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Shift away from fossil fuels by BOC is expected to cut company’s Australian emissions 40% by 2035 and follows similar commitment by Rio Tinto

A major industrial gas company in Australia will shift its power use away from fossil fuels and instead meet nearly half its electricity needs across three states from solar.

BOC, owned by global gas and engineering company Linde, supplies speciality gases to large manufacturers, industry and oxygen to hospitals.

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‘Every year matters’: Queensland’s critically endangered ‘bum-breathing’ turtle battles the odds

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Guardian Australia is highlighting the plight of our endangered native species during an election campaign that is ignoring broken environment laws and rapidly declining ecosystems

A rare “bum-breathing” turtle found in a single river system in Queensland has suffered one of its worst breeding seasons on record due to flooding last December. It has prompted volunteers to question how many more “bad years” the species can survive.

A freshwater species that breathes by absorbing oxygen through gill-like structures in its tail, the Mary River turtle is endemic to south-east Queensland. Its population has fallen by more than 80% since the 1960s and its conservation status was upgraded from endangered to critically endangered last year.

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‘A time of great anxiety’: renters fear surge in no-grounds evictions before NSW ban comes into force

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Housing organisations welcome the new laws but are bracing for a spike in evictions before the change takes effect

Renters and advocates are worried there could be a surge in no-grounds evictions in New South Wales over the coming month as landlords act ahead of the law changing in mid-May.

The Tenants’ Union of NSW says it’s a “real risk” and the Minns government has dropped the ball by not putting interim measures in place to protect renters.

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Gender politics: will the 2025 election send more female MPs to Australia’s parliament?

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Labor has made great strides towards gender equality among its MPs and senators, but the number of female Coalition members remains stubbornly low

The 47th parliament was Australia’s most diverse to date. Both houses broke records for gender, ethnic and cultural diversity.

Across both houses in the outgoing parliament, the gender split was 55% to 45% in favour of men. Women made up 39% of the House of Representatives and 58% of the Senate.

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Thanks, Donald! Tourist travel to the US falls off a cliff – Boing Boing

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  1. Thanks, Donald! Tourist travel to the US falls off a cliff  Boing Boing
  2. ‘It’s like our friend started a fist fight with us’: These Europeans are skipping US travel  CNN
  3. International travel is declining, and it's costing the US: 'It's shaking everything up'  USA Today
  4. US expected a big travel year, but overseas visitors — angered by Trump — are heading elsewhere  AP News
  5. ‘Tumult and uncertainty’: Massport gets ready for potential slowdown at shipping terminals, Logan Airport  The Boston Globe
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