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Benjamin Britton, standing in the seat of Whitlam, told a rightwing podcast Australia’s education system ‘brainwashed’ students with Marxist ideology, and praised Isle of Man flat taxElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignPolls tracker; election guide; full federal election coverageAnywhere but Canberra; interactive electorates guideListen to the first episode of our new narrative podcast series: GinaGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastThe Liberal candidate for the New South Wales seat of Whitlam expressed a string of controversial views on fringe podcasts before his preselection, including the claim that women should not serve in combat positions with the Australian Defence Force (ADF).Benjamin Britton, who has been praised by Peter Dutton as an “outstanding candidate”, ran unsuccessfully for the United Australia party at the 2022 federal election. He has since claimed “diversity and equity quotas, Marxist ideology and woke ideologies” have weakened the country’s defences, singling out a 2013 change allowing women to be recruited into frontline combat positions.Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletterExposure to pornography leads to gender dysphoria and “transgender desires”;Labor intentionally keeps some electorates poor to have a better chance of winning them;Australia should “look at the Isle of Man” for lessons on introducing a flat tax rate to attract billionaires;The education system has “brainwashed” young Australians with Marxist ideology. Continue reading...

Designation as ‘undesirable organisation’ exposes nonprofit’s staff and partners to possible criminal prosecutionRussian authorities on Thursday banned the Elton John Aids Foundation (EJAF), which focuses on HIV/Aids prevention, citing its support for LGBTQ+ rights as a reason for the move.Founded by the British singer and songwriter in 1992, the organisation funds HIV treatment programmes in countries including Russia. It also advocates for LGBTQ+ people, who have faced years of brutal persecution in Russia. Continue reading...

President Donald Trump tempted fate with a social media post celebrating his controversial tariffs that called to mind George W. Bush's infamous "mission accomplished" speech during the Iraq war. The president announced sweeping tariffs Wednesday on U.S. imports that shook up world markets and will increase prices for American consumers, but he fired off an all-caps post on Truth Social preemptively celebrating his policy's impact on the economy. "The operation is over!" Trump posted at 8:33 a.m. EST. "The patient lived, and is healing. The prognosis is that the patient will be far stronger, bigger, better, and more resilient than ever before. Make America great again!!!" ALSO READ: 'Came as a surprise to me': Senators 'troubled' by one aspect of government funding bill Trump argues that the tariffs will boost domestic manufacturing, although economists generally disagree about their beneficial impact, and the post has the potential to haunt the president like Bush's premature speech weeks after the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. Global markets tumbled on Thursday morning after Trump's announcement, with S&P 500 futures slumping more than 3 percent and the value of the U.S. dollar dropping more than 1 percent.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that Canada will match U.S. President Trump's 25% auto tariffs with a tariff on vehicles imported from the United States.

Donald Trump has an ulterior motive for enacting his controversial tariff policy, but there is a way that opponents can fight back, according to Democratic Senator Chris Murphy. Murphy, who represents Connecticut, said in the wake of Trump's major trade war escalation that "those trying to understand the tariffs as economic policy are dangerously naive." "No, the tariffs are a tool to collapse our democracy. A means to compel loyalty from every business that will need to petition Trump for relief," the lawmaker wrote late Wednesday night on his social media. ALSO READ: 'Came as a surprise to me': Senators 'troubled' by one aspect of government funding bill He noted, "This week you will read many confused economists and political pundits who won’t understand how the tariffs make economic sense. That’s because they don’t. They aren’t designed as economic policy. The tariffs are simply a new, super dangerous political tool." The Senator added that "our founders created a President with limited and checked powers." "They specifically put the power of spending and taxation in the hands of the legislature. Why? Because they watched how kings and despots used spending and taxes to control their subjects," he added. "British kings used taxation to reward loyalty and punish dissent. Our own revolution was spurred by the King’s use of heavy taxation of the colonies to punish our push for self governance. The King’s message was simple: stop protesting and I’ll stop taxing." This, Murphy claims, is Trump's big tariff plan. "Trump knows that he can weaken (and maybe destroy) democracy by using spending and taxation in the same way. He is using access to government funds to bully universities, law firms and state and local governments into loyalty pledges," he wrote. "Healthy democracies rely on an independent legal profession to maintain the rule of law, independent universities to guard objective truth and provide forums for dissent to authority, and independent state/local government to counterbalance a powerful federal government." But, according to the lawmaker, "the private sector also plays a rule to protect democracy. Independent industry has power. The tariffs are Trump’s tool to erode that independence. Now, one by one, every industry or company will need to pledge loyalty to Trump in order to get sanctions relief." As far as what businesses might offer Trump, Murphy cites, "Public shows of support from executives for all his economic policy. Contributions to his political efforts. Promises to police employees’ support for his political opposition." Going even further, Murphy says that "the tariffs are DESIGNED to create economic hardship. Why? So that Trump has a straight face rationale for releasing them, business by business or industry by industry. As he adjusts or grants relief, it’s a win-win: the economy improves and dissent disappears." "And once Trump has the lawyers, colleges and industry under his thumb, it becomes very hard for the opposition to have any viable space to maneuver. Trump didn’t invent this strategy. It’s the playbook for democratically elected leaders who want to stay in power forever," Murphy then concludes. "The tariffs aren’t economic policy. They are political weapons. But as long as we see this clearly, we can stop him. Public mobilization is working. Today, a few Republicans joined Democrats to vote against one set of tariffs. The people still have the power." Those trying to understand the tariffs as economic policy are dangerously naive.No, the tariffs are a tool to collapse our democracy. A means to compel loyalty from every business that will need to petition Trump for relief.1/ A

The Trump administration appears to be leaving no stone unturned with its sweeping tariffs around the globe, from rocky outcrops home to polar bears in the Arctic to tiny tropical islands to a former British penal colony whose leader is befuddled that it was targeted.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was once called the most popular politician on Earth by then-U.S. President Barack Obama. Those times are long gone.

The Trump administration appears to be leaving no stone unturned with its sweeping tariffs around the globe, from rocky outcrops home to polar bears in the Arctic to tiny tropical islands to a former British penal colony