ASX to fall, Wall St slips despite Meta surge
Trump granted a 90-day reprieve to Mexico, America's largest trading partner, while threatening Canada, its second-largest trading partner because Canada outlined a plan to recognise Palestinian statehood.
The president also sent letters to most of the largest global drugmakers – including Merck, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, GSK – demanding Americans get the best drug prices in the world for prescription drugs.
The tariff news took the wind out of a big tech rally powered by Meta Platforms and Microsoft, which briefly topped the $US4 trillion market cap mark. Meta was 11.8 per cent higher shortly after 2pm in New York, lifting its market cap to near $US2 trillion.
Apple and Amazon are set to report quarterly results after the closing bell at 4pm (6am AEST on Friday).
Market highlights
ASX futures are pointing down 50 points or 0.6 per cent to 8653.
All US prices as of near 2pm New York time.
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Bold PC reform would raise tax for top 500 companies | But the corporate tax rate would be slashed to 20 per cent for small and medium companies under a new Productivity Commission recommendation.
Chanticleer: This Robin Hood company tax proposal is laced with risk | The PC's radical tax plan wants big business to fund lower taxes for small and medium-sized firms, thereby blunting the former's global competitiveness.
| Donald Trump has again relented in imposing higher tariffs on America's largest trading partner, saying more time is needed to reach an agreement.
| The company made the highly unusual move to understand if major investors would reject executive pay plans as it dealt with a backlash.
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The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
Social media ban Australia: How new laws will work and how they could fail
Seven months later, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant challenged that description, sharing research with Wells in late June that said four in 10 young teenagers had been exposed to harmful content, such as eating-disorder videos, on YouTube. Loading That triggered an intense lobbying campaign by YouTube. The website's owner, Google, sent Wells a legal letter flagging it would consider High Court action, arguing the ban violated the implied constitutional right of freedom of political communication. There is a lot at stake for the company. Google reported $8.4 billion in gross revenue from Australia in 2022, the last year it made that figure available, giving it the motivation and resources to fight efforts to restrict access from new, young users to one of the company's key online services. Then Australian children's music royalty got involved. The Wiggles' chief executive Kate Chiodo visited Wells and attempted to appeal to her as a mother of three young children by arguing YouTube's inclusion in the ban would restrict access to kids' shows. Wells was not persuaded. 'I said to them, 'you're arguing that my four-year-old twins' right to a YouTube login is more important than the fact that four out of 10 of their peers will experience online harm on YouTube',' Wells said on Wednesday. Responding to this masthead's request for comment, the Wiggles linked to a Facebook post from Wells – made three years ago – showing a photo of her twin sons and captioned that she handled the parliament by having baby gates and 'The Wiggles on YouTube'. 'Video platforms like YouTube, when used to watch trusted children's programs, function differently to social media,' a Wiggles spokesperson said. 'Millions of Australian parents (including Minister Wells) and their children watch the Wiggles on YouTube much like they would on smart TVs, not as part of a social media feed.' YouTube said in a statement it was considering its legal options, and on Thursday Google cancelled a parliamentary concert (that Wells was intending to attend as communications minister) featuring rock band the Rubens. The company said it was out of respect for the grieving parents at Wednesday's press conference. Evans' anger at YouTube has never abated. Liv was 15 when she died by taking her own life after her battle with anorexia. A lover of cheerleading, animals, art and nature, her early childhood was full of fun and learning. Evans said he noticed a change in Liv when she was 13 and began using Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube. The browsing on YouTube began with cat videos, then cooking, to healthier recipes, then fitness tips, before it took a darker turn towards how to remain thin. 'She may not be recovered, but I think she would still be here if it weren't for YouTube,' Robb said. YouTube has argued there is substantial evidence that it is used regularly for educational purposes, citing a 2024 survey that found 84 per cent of teachers use the platform for lessons. Loading YouTube Australia and New Zealand public policy manager Rachel Lord said the survey revealed 85 per cent of children and 68 per cent of parents said the platform was appropriate for under 15s, in contrast to other social media companies. 'YouTube is not a social media platform; it is a video-sharing platform with a library of free, high-quality content, and TV screens are increasingly the most popular place to watch,' Lord said in June, following the eSafety commissioner's advice. But there is deep disagreement about how effective a social media ban will be in protecting young people. The government has handed responsibility for enforcement to tech platforms, with big fines if they do not comply. But anyone, including young children, will still be able to access services that do not require a login. This masthead conducted an experiment using both YouTube and TikTok without an account, scrolling through videos via a desktop with private browsing to avoid the companies relying on previous search history. YouTube delivered videos designed to trigger engagement that were a far cry from educational, but did not raise obvious red flags. On TikTok, however, in the first three minutes of scrolling, sexualised content, misogynistic messaging and videos themed around death appeared. None were explicitly pornographic or violent, and this masthead does not suggest the experiment was scientific or would be the same for every user. But the process indicates how internet platforms retain an incentive to show users troubling content to attract their attention even without a login. Platforms typically serve more videos to a user depending on the preferences they indicate. 'It is difficult to comment on your experiment without knowing the conditions or controls in place when it was conducted,' a TikTok spokeswoman said. 'Everything on TikTok is bound by our strict community guidelines regardless of whether someone is logged in or not. We proactively remove content that breaches those guidelines and, in fact, removed more than 926,000 videos in Australia in [the first quarter of] 2025 alone.' University of Sydney law professor Anne Twomey said the government's claim to parents that it had their back in protecting kids from social media was 'rubbish' because the ban has numerous carve-outs and exceptions, including for gaming and messaging. 'It is very unlikely all the children will be outside playing footy in the garden. It exempts, for example, online gaming, so if Jonny is shut away in his bedroom doing online gaming, he will keep doing that,' she said. 'There is nothing here that gets kids off their computers into the garden. 'Bullying will still happen by using messaging apps, it's not going to stop kids having their sleep disrupted, it doesn't do any of that.' Loading The legislation also does not explain to tech companies what constitutes 'reasonable steps' to prevent under 16s from accessing social media, Twomey said. 'That's a problem for the platforms to deal with because they are entering into the area of the unknown, which is unusual with laws,' she said. Facial estimation technology and ID verification are some of the ways being proposed to ensure children cannot access social media. Twomey said the government risks a backlash because the policy was sold to the Australian public as a way to take kids away from technology. 'You can still watch as many videos on as many harmful issues as you like,' she said. 'What the law means is you can't comment, can't like or dislike or upload your videos.' Macquarie University psychologist Danielle Einstein disagrees, arguing it will be like banning alcohol for children under 18, creating a cultural understanding that social media at a young age has potentially life-altering affects. 'At the basis of it all, it's their understanding of the risks and what their view of alcohol is, and that's what we need to do with social media, is we need to change everyone's view of social media.' Einstein – whose research played a role in driving the campaign from advocacy group 36 Months that the parents who stood with Albanese are linked to – said the new laws have already changed people's views on how technology should be a part of children's lives and the next step should be presenting a public health campaign to young people.
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
'Cannot be relinquished': Hamas says it will not disarm until full restoration of Palestinian statehood with Jerusalem as capital
Hamas has announced the militant group is not prepared to step down in the Israel-Gaza war until the establishment of a fully independent and sovereign Palestinian statehood. Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel aimed at securing a 60-day ceasefire in the Gaza war and deal for the release of half the hostages ended last week in deadlock. On Saturday, Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff visited Israel as its government faces mounting pressure over the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the enclave. In a recording of a meeting, reviewed by Reuters, Mr Witkoff is heard saying: "We have a very, very good plan that we're working on collectively with the Israeli government, with Prime Minister Netanyahu … for the reconstruction of Gaza. That effectively means the end of the war." Witkoff also said Hamas was willing to lay down its arms in order to end the war, despite the militant group previously claiming it would not fall to demilitarisation. In response to media reports quoting Witkoff, Hamas issued a statement claiming it has a legitimate right to resistance so long as the Israeli occupation in the enclave continues. "In response to media reports quoting US envoy Steve Witkoff, claiming [Hamas] has shown willingness to disarm,'' a statement read. "This right is recognised by international laws and norms, and it cannot be relinquished except through the full restoration of our national rights - first and foremost, the establishment of an independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital." The militant group further shamed Witkoff's visit to an aid distribution centre in Gaza on Friday and labelled it as "nothing more than a premeditated staged show". In a tweet, Witkoff said he spent over five hours in Gaza assessing conditions and the purpose of his visit to the enclave amid an extreme hunger crisis, was to give Trump "a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza". However, Hamas claimed the trip was "designed to mislead public opinion, polish the image of the occupation, and provide it with political cover for its starvation campaign and continued systematic killing of defenceless children and civilians in the Gaza Strip". It comes as Hamas released its second video in two days of Israeli hostage Evyatar David, in which he appears skeletally thin, digging a hole, which, he says in the video, is for his own grave. "They are on the absolute brink of death," David's brother Ilay said at a rally in support of the hostages in Tel Aviv, where thousands gathered holding posters of those in captivity and chanted for their immediate release. "In the current unimaginable condition, they may have only days left to live." Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa'ar said the "world cannot remain silent in the face of the difficult images that are the result of deliberate sadistic abuse of the hostages, which also includes starvation". The crisis in Gaza has also prompted a string of Western powers to announce they may recognise a Palestinian state. A senior Israeli official said an understanding between Israel and Washington was emerging that there was a need to move from a plan to release some of the hostages to a plan to release all the hostages, disarm Hamas and demilitarise the Gaza Strip, echoing Israel's key demands for ending the war. -With Reuters
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
The US is reportedly working on a single deal to bring all hostages held in Gaza home
Hamas insists it will not lay down its weapons until an independent Palestinian state is established. Media in Israel have quoted US envoy Steve Witkoff claiming the group has shown a willingness to disarm. Mr Witkoff has been meeting the families of some of the hostages still being held in Gaza, in Tel Aviv The US is now working on a single deal to bring all the hostages home.
