Welcome, readers, to the Afternoon Update.
Tensions between Donald Trump and his erstwhile “first buddy” Elon Musk have risen further, prompting threats from the US president toterminate government contractswith Musk’s businesses. Thespectacular public feudhas also pushed Tesla shares into a freefall. Amid all the drama, precipitated by Trump’s signature“Big Beautiful Bill”, eyes are turning to the Republican lawmakers weighing whether to pass it.
Musk has called forTrump to be impeachedand replacedby his vice-president, JD Vance, and alsolinked Trump to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with the White House calling the assertionsan “unfortunate episode”.
The 14.2%decline in Tesla’s share priceon Thursday knocked about $US8.73bn off Musk’s net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index – and roughly $US152bn off the value of the company.
Australian navy ship accidentally blocks wifi across parts of New Zealand
Russia mounts deadly barrage of Kyiv after vowing revenge for Ukraine attack on bomber fleet
Families of children killed in Hillcrest jumping castle incident ‘shattered’ after not guilty verdict
Pheobe Bishop disappearance: housemates charged with murdering teenager
Boele says Labor risks squashing business confidence on energy transition without firmer climate change stance
Sussan Ley says name spelling change was due to ‘punk phase’ – not numerology
Endangered sharks are being killed at alarming levels in the Pacific and industrial fishing is putting marine biodiversity at increasing risk,Greenpeace has claimed, after its activists disrupted a Spanish vessel operating north of New Zealand, claiming it killed three mako sharks in 30 minutes.
“Nowadays, even if you have a green card, you have legitimate status, you could get caught by ICE, because these guys are crazy.”
Across the US, hundreds of thousands of Chinese students are nowuncertain about their academic future. One 34-year-old Chinese PhD student at the University of Oregon said that although he is not planning to apply for a new student visa soon, the prospect of an encounter with ICE concerned him.
Students hoping to study at Harvard were under particular pressure after the Trump administrationannounced on Wednesdayit was banning the school from enrolling new foreign students – but on Thursday, a district judge in Bostonblocked the ban.
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For the second year running, only one Australian restaurant has been named in theWorld’s 50 Best Restaurants longlist. Josh and Julie Niland’s innovative fish-focused fine diner Saint Peter ranked at 66th place in the annual countdown, moving up the ranks from last year, when it placed at number 98.
Kelly Swain suspects there’s something poisonous about money. There are plenty of large-scale examples rampaging about right now. That’s why Swain isembracing a gift economyand discovering the joys of a slow and gentle lifestyle.
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