Aussies in turmoil as Trump bans overseas students from Harvard
Nobel laureate and Harvard alumnus Brian Schmidt says Donald Trump's move to ban the world's best university from enrolling students from overseas is a 'profound escalation' of the president's culture wars that will trigger a global response.
'This is a major escalation that is absolutely violating the autonomy of Harvard and presumably other universities across the United States, and I suspect it will create a major backlash, both legally and within the higher education community of the United States and globally,' Schmidt told AFR Weekend.
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Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Sky News host Danica De Giorgio reacts after Trump pollster revealed US President ‘doesn't like' Ambassador Kevin Rudd
Sky News host Danica De Giorgio has savaged Australia's Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd after Donald Trump's former pollster revealed the President 'doesn't like' him. On Monday, renowned US pollster Brent Buchanan told Sky News Australia Mr Rudd's presence in Washington was the reason Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been unable to schedule a face-to-face meeting with the US President. 'I think he doesn't like the current ambassador, and that's one of the biggest issues,' Mr Buchanan said. 'Donald Trump needs to find an Australian that he likes - or Australia needs to find an Australian that Donald Trump likes and let that person take point - because so much with Donald Trump is personal relationships.' De Giorgio questioned why Trump would 'bother' to meet Mr Albanese after Ambassador Rudd called Trump a 'village idiot' and a 'traitor to the West'. 'I mean, no wonder Trump did not bother to meet with Albo this month in Canada. Why would he bother?' De Giorgio said. De Giorgio said Australia's relationship with the US was on 'shaky grounds' and largely blamed Ambassador Rudd and the Prime Minister's hesitance to meet with the President. 'Kevin Rudd is the problem,' she said. Earlier, Mr Buchanan said Mr Rudd was critical in opening doors to the Trump administration for "certain countries", flagging Australia was struggling to establish a direct line with the President due to Rudd's previous scathing commentary. 'But Donald Trump's a deal maker, and so if you bring a deal, he's going to talk through it,' he said. Mr Buchanan said that the one positive for Rudd was that he's a China expert, which was 'a great opportunity to build relationships with our Congress ... which is anti-China'. The Sky News host said the calls for Mr Albanese to meet with the US President did not just come from voices in Australia, but from the Capitol in Washington as well. Two senior US lawmakers, Republican Michael McCaul and Democrat Joe Courtney, have issued a bipartisan plea for the Prime Minister to prioritise a White House visit. The pair said President Trump valued one-on-one visits and his style of diplomatic relations hinged on face-to-face talks, given his background as a businessman and dealmaker. 'For [Albanese] to come to the White House would be a great gesture on the prime minister's part, that I think would go over very well,' McCaul said in an interview. 'That would be very sound advice for him to do that.'
The Advertiser
3 hours ago
- The Advertiser
US Senate extends vote on Trump's 'big beautiful bill'
The US Senate has extended its debate on President Donald Trump's controversial budget, with the expectation of voting on the plan, which would add more than $5 trillion to the public debt. Republicans told the media that the "vote-a-rama" would begin at 9am local time on Monday (11pm AEST), the process in which lawmakers present amendments to the initiative, which contains key elements of Trump's agenda, such as tax and public spending cuts, and increased funding for defence and immigration control. It is still uncertain whether all 53 senators from Trump's party will support the bill, as it would add $US3.3 trillion ($A5.1 trillion) to the public debt within 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) now estimates, a higher estimate than the $US2.4 ($A3.7) trillion in the version approved by the House in May. Other lawmakers question the cuts to social programs such as Medicaid and food stamps because the CBO predicts that 12 million people will lose their health insurance by 2034 under the initiative, which would cut $US1.1 trillion ($A1.7 trillion) in public health policies. Among the critics is Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who resigned from his re-election bid on Sunday after publicly opposing the bill and drawing criticism from Trump. "Facts matter, people matter. The Senate's approach to Medicaid breaks promises and will push people who truly need it off Medicaid," the lawmaker said. Elon Musk, also took a swipe at the bill, which would end tax breaks for the electric vehicles that his automaker Tesla manufactures, posting on X it was "utterly insane and destructive" and "political suicide for the Republican Party". Meanwhile, Democrats displayed unified opposition by first forcing 16 hours of reading aloud of the 940-page bill and then exhausting the 10 hours of debate allotted to each party to delay the process and highlight the tax cuts for the wealthy and the budget. "Democrats are exposing on the floor through parliamentary inquiries the hypocrisy of what Republicans are trying to do here in the Senate. We are exposing how Republicans are trying to hide the true cost of their gifts to billionaires," Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said. Trump intensified his lobbying in the last week to get the Senate to approve his controversial "Big, Beautiful Bill" for signing by Friday, Independence Day. The controversy grew this week after the release of the 940-page draft currently being discussed by the Senate. It includes more cuts than those approved by the House of Representatives, particularly to social programs and tax incentives for wind and solar energy, and electric vehicles. The US Senate has extended its debate on President Donald Trump's controversial budget, with the expectation of voting on the plan, which would add more than $5 trillion to the public debt. Republicans told the media that the "vote-a-rama" would begin at 9am local time on Monday (11pm AEST), the process in which lawmakers present amendments to the initiative, which contains key elements of Trump's agenda, such as tax and public spending cuts, and increased funding for defence and immigration control. It is still uncertain whether all 53 senators from Trump's party will support the bill, as it would add $US3.3 trillion ($A5.1 trillion) to the public debt within 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) now estimates, a higher estimate than the $US2.4 ($A3.7) trillion in the version approved by the House in May. Other lawmakers question the cuts to social programs such as Medicaid and food stamps because the CBO predicts that 12 million people will lose their health insurance by 2034 under the initiative, which would cut $US1.1 trillion ($A1.7 trillion) in public health policies. Among the critics is Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who resigned from his re-election bid on Sunday after publicly opposing the bill and drawing criticism from Trump. "Facts matter, people matter. The Senate's approach to Medicaid breaks promises and will push people who truly need it off Medicaid," the lawmaker said. Elon Musk, also took a swipe at the bill, which would end tax breaks for the electric vehicles that his automaker Tesla manufactures, posting on X it was "utterly insane and destructive" and "political suicide for the Republican Party". Meanwhile, Democrats displayed unified opposition by first forcing 16 hours of reading aloud of the 940-page bill and then exhausting the 10 hours of debate allotted to each party to delay the process and highlight the tax cuts for the wealthy and the budget. "Democrats are exposing on the floor through parliamentary inquiries the hypocrisy of what Republicans are trying to do here in the Senate. We are exposing how Republicans are trying to hide the true cost of their gifts to billionaires," Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said. Trump intensified his lobbying in the last week to get the Senate to approve his controversial "Big, Beautiful Bill" for signing by Friday, Independence Day. The controversy grew this week after the release of the 940-page draft currently being discussed by the Senate. It includes more cuts than those approved by the House of Representatives, particularly to social programs and tax incentives for wind and solar energy, and electric vehicles. The US Senate has extended its debate on President Donald Trump's controversial budget, with the expectation of voting on the plan, which would add more than $5 trillion to the public debt. Republicans told the media that the "vote-a-rama" would begin at 9am local time on Monday (11pm AEST), the process in which lawmakers present amendments to the initiative, which contains key elements of Trump's agenda, such as tax and public spending cuts, and increased funding for defence and immigration control. It is still uncertain whether all 53 senators from Trump's party will support the bill, as it would add $US3.3 trillion ($A5.1 trillion) to the public debt within 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) now estimates, a higher estimate than the $US2.4 ($A3.7) trillion in the version approved by the House in May. Other lawmakers question the cuts to social programs such as Medicaid and food stamps because the CBO predicts that 12 million people will lose their health insurance by 2034 under the initiative, which would cut $US1.1 trillion ($A1.7 trillion) in public health policies. Among the critics is Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who resigned from his re-election bid on Sunday after publicly opposing the bill and drawing criticism from Trump. "Facts matter, people matter. The Senate's approach to Medicaid breaks promises and will push people who truly need it off Medicaid," the lawmaker said. Elon Musk, also took a swipe at the bill, which would end tax breaks for the electric vehicles that his automaker Tesla manufactures, posting on X it was "utterly insane and destructive" and "political suicide for the Republican Party". Meanwhile, Democrats displayed unified opposition by first forcing 16 hours of reading aloud of the 940-page bill and then exhausting the 10 hours of debate allotted to each party to delay the process and highlight the tax cuts for the wealthy and the budget. "Democrats are exposing on the floor through parliamentary inquiries the hypocrisy of what Republicans are trying to do here in the Senate. We are exposing how Republicans are trying to hide the true cost of their gifts to billionaires," Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said. Trump intensified his lobbying in the last week to get the Senate to approve his controversial "Big, Beautiful Bill" for signing by Friday, Independence Day. The controversy grew this week after the release of the 940-page draft currently being discussed by the Senate. It includes more cuts than those approved by the House of Representatives, particularly to social programs and tax incentives for wind and solar energy, and electric vehicles. The US Senate has extended its debate on President Donald Trump's controversial budget, with the expectation of voting on the plan, which would add more than $5 trillion to the public debt. Republicans told the media that the "vote-a-rama" would begin at 9am local time on Monday (11pm AEST), the process in which lawmakers present amendments to the initiative, which contains key elements of Trump's agenda, such as tax and public spending cuts, and increased funding for defence and immigration control. It is still uncertain whether all 53 senators from Trump's party will support the bill, as it would add $US3.3 trillion ($A5.1 trillion) to the public debt within 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) now estimates, a higher estimate than the $US2.4 ($A3.7) trillion in the version approved by the House in May. Other lawmakers question the cuts to social programs such as Medicaid and food stamps because the CBO predicts that 12 million people will lose their health insurance by 2034 under the initiative, which would cut $US1.1 trillion ($A1.7 trillion) in public health policies. Among the critics is Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who resigned from his re-election bid on Sunday after publicly opposing the bill and drawing criticism from Trump. "Facts matter, people matter. The Senate's approach to Medicaid breaks promises and will push people who truly need it off Medicaid," the lawmaker said. Elon Musk, also took a swipe at the bill, which would end tax breaks for the electric vehicles that his automaker Tesla manufactures, posting on X it was "utterly insane and destructive" and "political suicide for the Republican Party". Meanwhile, Democrats displayed unified opposition by first forcing 16 hours of reading aloud of the 940-page bill and then exhausting the 10 hours of debate allotted to each party to delay the process and highlight the tax cuts for the wealthy and the budget. "Democrats are exposing on the floor through parliamentary inquiries the hypocrisy of what Republicans are trying to do here in the Senate. We are exposing how Republicans are trying to hide the true cost of their gifts to billionaires," Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said. Trump intensified his lobbying in the last week to get the Senate to approve his controversial "Big, Beautiful Bill" for signing by Friday, Independence Day. The controversy grew this week after the release of the 940-page draft currently being discussed by the Senate. It includes more cuts than those approved by the House of Representatives, particularly to social programs and tax incentives for wind and solar energy, and electric vehicles.
Sydney Morning Herald
5 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
US intercepts Iranian call on damage to nuclear sites, as photos show likely repairs under way
Washington: An intercepted communication between senior Iranian officials suggests the United States did not inflict as much damage as anticipated when it struck Iran's nuclear sites earlier this month, despite US President Donald Trump claiming the assault 'obliterated' the facilities. Satellite photographs taken since the strikes show repair and assessment work also appears to be under way at two of the three sites struck on June 22. The intercepted Iranian communication played down the extent of damage caused by the strikes, The Washington Post reported, citing four people familiar with classified intelligence circulating within the US government. During the conversation overheard by the US, the Iranian officials wondered why the attacks had not been as destructive and extensive as anticipated. But a source who declined to be named told Reuters that while the communication had been intercepted, there were serious questions about whether the Iranian officials were being truthful in their conversation, and described the intercepts as unreliable indicators. The report by the Post is the latest to raise questions about the extent of the damage to Iran's nuclear program. Loading A leaked preliminary assessment from the Defence Intelligence Agency cautioned the strikes may have only set back Iran by months, and the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, concurred with that on Sunday, saying Iran may be able to enrich uranium again within 'a matter of months'. But CIA director John Ratcliffe told sceptical US lawmakers in a classified hearing last week that the strikes had destroyed Iran's lone metal conversion facility, a US official said, meaning it would now take years for Iran to build a nuclear bomb. Ratcliffe also told politicians that the intelligence community assessed that the vast majority of Iran's amassed enriched uranium probably remained buried under the rubble at Isfahan and Fordow, two of the three facilities the US struck.
