Category Archives: Donald Trump

Major-power conflict ‘no longer unimaginable’, Australian intelligence review finds

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Independent assessment, which was handed to government before US election, warns of ‘global geopolitical and economic fragmentation’

Australia faces a world more volatile and dangerous than it has known for more than four decades, and “major-power conflict is no longer unimaginable”, a review of the country’s intelligence agencies has found.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, commissioned the review of the work of the 10 agencies that make up Australia’s national intelligence community in September 2023.

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There have been shifts in relative global power balances, accompanied by a sharp contest between nation-states for power and influence. This contest is at once diplomatic, military, economic and technological, and is pursued within Australia’s borders as much as beyond them, including through cyber-attacks and foreign interference.

New technologies are being used to amplify some old threats while creating entirely new ones.

There are a range of transnational challenges, including climate change, pandemics, irregular migration, terrorism, and polarisation and fraying social cohesion in many democracies. In a globalised world, the ripples from even geographically distant conflicts inevitably reach Australia, with significant, often grave, consequences.

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Judge bars Trump administration from deporting Indian academic over political views

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Badar Khan Suri, who teaches at Georgetown University, being held incommunicado in Louisiana ‘staging center’

A US district judge has barred Donald Trump’s administration from deporting an Indian academic from Georgetown University after the Department of Homeland Security accused him of having ties to Hamas.

On Thursday, US district judge Patricia Giles in Alexandria, Virginia, prohibited federal officials from deporting Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at the university, in an order that is to remain in effect until it is lifted by the court, Reuters reports.

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Dismantling of education department casts US student loans into uncertainty

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Doubts that whatever remains of department can govern student debt as one in four US adults under 40 has loans

Donald Trump ordered the dismantling of the US Department of Education on Thursday, prompting uncertainty for those holding student debt and questions about what happens next.

Trump’s press secretary told reporters earlier on Thursday what remained of the department would continue to govern student debt.

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US women’s justice group launches campaign to get Andrew Tate extradited

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UltraViolet attacks Trump administration for reportedly influencing Romanian officials to allow him to fly to Florida

A prominent women’s justice organization launched a campaign on Thursday to have the accused rapist and human trafficker Andrew Tate extradited from the US.

The group, UltraViolet, also attacked the Trump administration for reportedly influencing Romanian officials to allow Tate to fly to Florida last month.

This story was updated on 20 March 2025 to correct that the women’s justice group is attempting to have Andrew Tate extradited, not deported; Tate is a US citizen and cannot be deported.

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Trump’s demand that US could take over Ukraine’s reactors is not credible

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US president’s plan for American firms to run power plants is unrealistic and is opposed by Putin and Zelenskyy

As a demand, it is Donald Trump at his most confusing. The American president appears, at least according to Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, to have told Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday that “American ownership” of Ukraine’s four nuclear power plants would be their best protection in future – although the Ukrainian president said on Thursday that “the issue of property, we did not discuss”.

Of the four, the most significant, and the one that Trump has repeatedly referred to in the past week, is the vast, six-reactor Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. It is Europe’s biggest nuclear generator, located on the southern bank of the Dnipro River. Before the full-scale Russian invasion it produced about 20% of the country’s electricity but it is now on the frontline of Europe’s largest war since 1945.

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Trump to dramatically downsize education department but it will still handle student loans, says White House – live

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Press secretary Karoline Leavitt says DoE will be ‘much smaller’ due to executive order Trump will sign as critics say it is ‘dark day’ for US children

Another, perhaps more worrying sign, of the Trump administration’s approach to economic policy was revealed yesterday, when commerce secretary Howard Lutnick recommended in a Fox News interview that people buy Tesla stock.

That’s the electric car company led by Elon Musk, who is busy right now cutting down the US government at the behest of Lutnick’s boss, Donald Trump.

I think if you want to learn something on this show tonight, buy Tesla. It’s unbelievable that this guy’s stock is this cheap. It’ll never be this cheap again. When people understand the things he’s building, the robots he’s building, the technology he’s building, people are going to be dreaming of today, and … thinking gosh, I should have bought Elon Musk’s stock.

The Fed would be MUCH better off CUTTING RATES as U.S.Tariffs start to transition (ease!) their way into the economy. Do the right thing. April 2nd is Liberation Day in America!!!

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White House says Trump is right to call for impeachment of ‘partisan judges’

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Chief justice issued rebuke after Trump called for removal of Judge James Boasberg over immigrant deportation case

Donald Trump is right to call for the impeachment and removal of a federal judge who ruled against his hardline immigration policy, a deputy White House chief of staff said, amid predictions of a constitutional crisis should the administration continue to defy the courts.

“I think the president is right we should impeach activist partisan judges,” James Blair told Politico. “The question is, will that happen. I think that remains to be seen. We’ll see.”

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‘Not for sale’: USPS workers hold day of action to warn of Trump’s ‘illegal takeover’

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Employees brace for president to transfer or privatize Postal Service, which they say will slash jobs and boost prices

US Postal Service workers and advocates are holding a day of action today in more than 150 cities as they brace for the Trump administration to launch an “illegal hostile takeover” which they warn will slash jobs, boost prices and shut down post offices.

Donald Trump’s officials are weighing plans to transfer the USPS to the Department of Commerce, stripping it of its independence. The president and his allies have also signaled they are willing to privatize the service.

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US man released after being held by Taliban for more than two years

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George Glezmann was abducted more than two years ago while traveling through Afghanistan as a tourist

A US man who was abducted more than two years ago while traveling through Afghanistan as a tourist has been released by the Taliban in a deal brokered by Donald Trump’s hostage envoy, Adam Boehler, and Qatari negotiators.

George Glezmann, an airline mechanic from Atlanta, is the third American detainee to be released by the Taliban since January. He was seized by the Taliban’s intelligence services in December 2022 and was designated by the US government as wrongfully detained the following year.

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Trump and Zelenskyy share ‘frank’ but ‘very good’ call as Ukraine accepts partial ceasefire

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Ukraine’s president says his country is ready to implement pause in strikes on energy and infrastructure

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a “very good telephone call” on Wednesday, according to Trump, in the first conversation between the US president and his Ukrainian counterpart since their disastrous showdown in the White House three weeks ago.

Zelenskyy described the call as “positive, very substantive and frank”, and said he had signed up to a partial ceasefire that Trump agreed with Vladimir Putin a day earlier. The White House said Trump had promised to help with a Ukrainian request to source more air defence batteries for Kyiv.

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Value of Elon Musk’s X ‘rebounds to $44bn purchase price’

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Dramatic reversal of fortune for platform since billionaire owner became key ally of Donald Trump

The value of Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has reportedly soared back to the $44bn he paid for it, in a dramatic reversal of fortunes since the billionaire became a key ally of Donald Trump.

Investors valued the site formerly known as Twitter at $44bn (£33.9bn) in a secondary deal earlier this month, in which they exchange existing stakes in the company, according to a Financial Times report.

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Pentagon reportedly planning to cut workforce by at least 50,000 – US politics live

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Cuts are expected to come from hire freezes, dismissing some probationary workers and by people taking up an offer to resign

The Washington Post reports that the Trump administration is planning additional tariffs on imports to the US running into “trillions” of dollars.

Speaking anonymously to the paper, a person described as familiar with the planning confirmed the sum involved would be in the “trillions” of dollars.

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Europe’s leaders react with scepticism to partial Ukraine ceasefire

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German defence minister says Putin ‘is playing a game here’ and calls Russian president’s demands ‘unacceptable’

European leaders have reacted sceptically to the limited ceasefire in Ukraine agreed by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, saying it has made it abundantly clear that the Russian president is not serious about seeking a peaceful end to the three-year-old conflict.

During a call with the US president, Putin agreed to a partial ceasefire that would stop his forces targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, but declined to commit to the 30-day full ceasefire plan pitched by Trump last week and agreed to by Ukraine.

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So bold are Putin’s ceasefire demands, it’s hard to believe he is entirely serious

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The extraordinary demands of the Russian leader to weaken Ukraine would make a mockery of any peace deal

Donald Trump began his conversation with Vladimir Putin with a simple demand: a 30-day ceasefire on land, sea and air which Ukraine has already signed up to, as an initial measure on which to build towards a peace.

Instead, what the US president got from Putin were questions, half-offers and limited concessions – and, above all, an extraordinary demand from the Russian leader to weaken Ukraine that would make a mockery of any peace agreement.

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Tesla stake is no longer Elon Musk’s most valuable asset amid stock market sell-off

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SpaceX, Musk’s private rockets and satellites business, is now largest asset for the first time in five years

Elon Musk’s vast stake in Tesla is no longer his most valuable asset as the electric car company continues to endure a sharp stock market sell-off.

Musk’s stake in SpaceX, his private rockets and satellites business, is now the billionaire tycoon’s largest asset for the first time in five years, according to Forbes, which still pegs his net worth at $323bn – more than anyone else in the world.

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‘Cataclysmic’: environmentalists fear effects of Trump cuts on Great Lakes

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Advocates warn firings and funding freezes already risk poisoning drinking water and decimating fish population

Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s attacks on federal agencies and funding freezes will be “cataclysmic” for the environment of the sensitive Great Lakes region if not reversed, industry and environmental advocates in the region warn.

Initial actions taken since Trump returned to the White House in January – and put Musk in charge of slashing the federal government – already risk poisoning drinking water, decimating fish populations, and risking the jobs and health of tens of millions of people who rely on the lake system, they add.

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Chinese state media celebrates Trump’s cuts to Voice of America and Radio Free Asia

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Global Times hails US president’s order to strip back government funding to news organisations he deems ‘radical’

Chinese state media has reacted gleefully to the Trump administration’s decision to slash government funding to media organisations such as Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Voice of America (VOA).

The Global Times, a daily English-language tabloid and Chinese Communist party mouthpiece, celebrated the cuts to the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees broadcasters such as VOA and RFA.

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Pentagon restores webpage for Black Medal of Honor winner but defends DEI purge

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Error message previously shown on Maj Gen Rogers’s site as officials argue that it’s wrong to call diversity a strength

The US defense department webpage celebrating a Black Medal of Honor recipient that was removed and had the letters “DEI” added to the site’s address has been restored – and the letters scrubbed – after an outcry. But defense department officials have continued to argue publicly that it is wrong to say that diversity is a strength, and that it’s essential to dismantle all “diversity, equity and inclusion” efforts.

On Saturday, the Guardian reported that US army Maj Gen Charles Calvin Rogers’s Medal of Honor webpage led to a “404” error message – and that the URL had been changed, with the word “medal” changed to “deimedal”.

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Doge breaks into US Institute of Peace building after White House guts board

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Remaining members of board – Pete Hegeth, Marco Rubio and Peter Garvin – fire president of independent non-profit

The Trump administration fired most of the board of the US Institute of Peace (USIP) and sent its new leader into the Washington DC headquarters of the independent organization on Monday, in its latest effort targeting agencies tied to foreign assistance work.

The remaining three members of the group’s board – defense secretary Pete Hegseth, secretary of state Marco Rubio and national defense university president Peter Garvin – fired president and CEO, George Moose, on Friday, according to a document obtained by the Associated Press.

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White House’s defense for not recalling deportations ‘one heck of a stretch’, says judge

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Administration claims it didn’t stop flights despite judge’s instructions because he did not write it in the formal order

The Trump administration claimed to a federal judge on Monday that it did not recall deportation flights of hundreds of suspected Venezuelan gang members over the weekend despite his specific instructions because that was not expressly included in the formal written order issued afterwards.

The administration also said that even if James Boasberg, the chief US district judge in Washington, had included that instruction in his formal order, his authority to compel the planes to return disappeared the moment the planes entered international airspace.

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