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Trump plans to remove Harvard’s tax-exempt status

President Donald Trump says he plans to strip Harvard University of its tax-exempt status, the latest salvo against the Ivy League school amid a larger crackdown on elite US universities. “We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve!” Trump said in a post on his social media platform, without specifying when he might take action.

Reuters

Australia

Leaders make final election pitch

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have made last-ditch bids to convince Australians why they should lead for the next three years. On the penultimate day of campaigning before Saturday’s election, public polling has Labor in the driver’s seat to form government with an outside shot at retaining majority. But the prime minister insists the government isn’t getting ahead of itself, after being scarred by an upset defeat to Scott Morrison in 2019.

Reuters

Government

21 hours ago

Waltz out in major security switch-up

US President Donald Trump has ousted his national security adviser Mike Waltz, naming Secretary of State Marco Rubio as his interim replacement in the first major shakeup of Trump’s inner circle since he took office in January. Trump, in a social media post, said he would nominate Waltz to be the next US ambassador to the United Nations, adding that “he has worked hard to put our nation’s interests first”. Earlier in the day, multiple sources said Trump had decided to force Waltz out of his White House position.

Reuters

21 hours ago

Spain

Spain should take over grid, says deputy PM

The state should take 100 per cent control of the Spanish grid operator, Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz says, days after the country suffered its worst blackout. Red Electrica, known as REE, is 20 per cent-owned by the state and the rest is in private hands.

Reuters

Ukraine

Ukraine, US sign reconstruction deal

Ukraine and the US have signed a deal heavily promoted by US President Donald Trump that will give the United States preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals deals and fund investment in Ukraine’s reconstruction. The two countries signed the accord in Washington after months of sometimes fraught negotiations, with uncertainty persisting until the last-moment with word of an eleventh-hour snag. The accord establishes a joint investment fund for Ukraine’s reconstruction as Trump tries to secure a peace settlement in Russia’s three-year-old war in Ukraine.

Reuters

India

Pakistan expects India to attack

Pakistan says it has ”credible intelligence” that India intends to launch military action soon, as tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours escalate following a deadly attack on tourists in Indian Kashmir. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged the US to press India to “dial down the rhetoric and act responsibly”. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has asked both nations to “de-escalate tensions,“ a State Department spokesperson said.

Reuters

Middle East

US and UK forces strike Houthi military target

US and British forces have conducted a joint military operation in Yemen, which Britain’s Defence Ministry said was against a Houthi military target responsible for making drones like those used to attack shipping. President Donald Trump ordered the intensification of US strikes on Yemen last month, with his administration saying it will continue assaulting Iran-backed Houthi rebels until they stop attacking Red Sea shipping. Britain and the US have also previously conducted joint operations and strikes in Yemen.

Reuters

Government

Trump touts 100-day record at rally

US President Donald Trump has touted what he described as a series of major economic wins and forcefully attacked Democrats, including his predecessor Joe Biden, during a rally in Michigan to commemorate his first 100 days in office. The rally in the politically competitive state, the hub of the US auto industry, was the largest event hosted by the Republican since his January 20 inauguration. Americans have cooled on aspects of Trump’s performance in recent weeks. In particular, people are fretting about Trump’s economic stewardship amid stubborn inflation and his administration’s aggressive moves to slap tariffs on almost every country in the world.

Reuters

Manufacturing

Carmakers win tariff break

US President Donald Trump has signed a pair of orders to soften the blow of his auto tariffs with a mix of credits and relief from other levies on materials, while his trade team touted its first deal with a foreign trading partner. The developments helped eased some investor worries about Trump’s trade policies as he visited Michigan, a cradle of the US auto industry, just days before a fresh set of 25 per cent import taxes was set to kick in on automotive components. The trip, on the eve of his 100th day in office, came as Americans take an increasingly dim view of Trump’s economic stewardship, with indications his tariffs will weigh on growth and could drive up inflation and unemployment.

Reuters

Europe

US officials push for peace deal

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said now is the time for concrete proposals from Moscow and Kyiv to end the war in Ukraine and warned that the US will step back as a mediator if there is no progress. At a later United Nations Security Council meeting, US diplomat John Kelley blamed Russia for the continuing bloodshed, saying it had “regrettably” carried out high-profile strikes “causing needless loss of life, including of innocent civilians.“ “Right now, Russia has a great opportunity to achieve a durable peace,“ Kelley said, while adding that the burden for ending the war rests with Russia and Ukraine.

Reuters

Canada

Grits ride anti-Trump wave to victory

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals have staged a major political comeback to retain power in parliamentary elections, fuelled by a backlash against US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and comments on making Canada the 51st US state. With...

Reuters

Canada

Carney aims for global leadership role against Trump

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney completed a comeback victory for the governing Liberals in the country’s federal election, positioning himself for a global role as a champion of multilateralism against US President Donald Trump’s more...

Reuters

Canada

Conservative’s Poilievre loses seat

Canada’s main opposition leader Pierre Poilievre has officially lost his seat in the federal election, results from Elections Canada showed, as the Conservatives were beaten by the incumbent Liberal Party. Poilievre, 45, failed to retain his seat in...

Reuters

Energy

Answers demanded as record blackout ends

Electricity had been restored to most of Spain and Portugal early on Tuesday after huge nationwide blackouts, although authorities were still trying to find out what caused the sudden outage. In Spain, schools and offices reopened, public transport restarted after long delays, traffic gridlock eased and many hospitals had recovered power while others continued to operate on generators.

Reuters

Ukraine

Zelensky hails killings of top Russian military figures

President Volodymyr Zelensky has praised Ukraine’s foreign intelligence service for the killing of top Russian military figures since the start of the war, but made no mention of a car bomb that killed a senior Russian officer last week. The Kremlin...

Reuters

Trade

India, UK firm up trade pact

The British and Indian trade ministers have begun two days of talks to conclude more than three years of negotiations on a trade pact, under additional pressure to reach a deal because of Donald Trump’s tariffs on exports to the United States. Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal described his first day of talks in with British trade minister Jonathan Reynolds as “productive” in a post on X, without giving further details. India and Britain are both seeking bilateral deals with the United States to remove some of Trump’s tariffs, which have upended the global trade system. The turmoil has also sharpened focus in both London and New Delhi on the need to clinch a UK/India trade deal.

Reuters