Asian stock markets plunge, gold reaches record high Gold has reached a record high while the yen has strengthened against the dollar and stock markets have slumped after Donald’s Trump’s unexpectedly aggressive tariff announcement. Here’s the latest on the markets courtesy of Reuters: The high-flying tech sector was pummelled as manufacturing hubs in China and…

Australia has experienced its hottest 12-month period on record, ending with its hottest March on record, with last month seeing temperatures 2.41C above average, the Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed. The bureau said its data going back to 1910 showed the 12 months ending in March 2025 averaged 1.61C above average – the hottest of…

Australian elections have many proud traditions: democracy sausages, Akubra hats, and of course, salt of the earth “tradies” in campaign ads. The tradition continues down in Victoria, where a young man in an orange hi-vis vest, complete with a hard hat, makes an appearance in a campaign video for the former Liberal MP Tim Wilson.…

Donald Trump’s tariff “day of liberation” arrived with the US president imposing markups on imports while accusing other nations, including allies, of “looting, pillaging, raping and plundering” the US. The UK got off relatively lightly with the basic 10%. Here is how major British newspapers see it. Guardian front page, Thursday 3 April 2024 Photograph:…

Albanese says ‘no one has got a better deal’ than Australia in Trump’s tariff regime Anthony Albanese emphasises that “no one has got a better deal” than Australia, and diplomats and officials are continuing to engage with the administration: We have made very strong representations. Ministers, our ambassador, people in the embassy, people at departmental…

For weeks, Donald Trump and his aides sought to brand Wednesday as “liberation day” in America. Many in the US could be forgiven for wondering what exactly they’ve just been liberated from. After much hype, the president unveiled his plan for a new era in global trade: a blanket 10% tariff on goods imported into…

Samoa is in the grip of an “energy crisis” prime minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa said this week, as she declared a state of emergency over power outages that have swept the country for weeks, causing huge disruption to businesses and daily life. The government is scrambling to provide relief to affected businesses and households, with…

Doctors have reported a rise in the number of patients with Victorian diseases such as scabies, as the Royal College of Physicians urged the government to do more to fight poverty. The survey of 882 doctors found 89% were concerned about the impact of health inequalities on their patients, while 72% had seen more patients…

Mallory McMorrow, a state senator from Michigan and rising star in the Democratic party, has announced her bid for the US Senate in what is expected to be one of 2026’s most competitive and high-profile contests. McMorrow, 38, launched her campaign on Wednesday to succeed Michigan’s retiring Democratic senator Gary Peters with a video that…

Joe Rogan, the influential podcast host and prominent supporter of Donald Trump, has criticized the president’s administration over the deportation of a professional makeup artist and hairdresser to a prison in El Salvador, calling it “horrific”. Andry José Hernández Romero, who is gay, had sought asylum in the US, telling officials he faced persecution because…