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 to terminate government contracts with Musk’s businesses. The spectacular public feud has 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 for Trump to be impeached and replaced by his vice-president, JD Vance, and also linked Trump to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with the White House calling the assertions an “unfortunate episode”.
The 14.2% decline in Tesla’s share price on 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.
Top news
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
Pheobe Bishop disappearance: housemates charged with murdering teenager
Sussan Ley says name spelling change was due to ‘punk phase’ – not numerology
In pictures
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.
What they said …
***
“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 now uncertain 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 administration announced on Wednesday it was banning the school from enrolling new foreign students – but on Thursday, a district judge in Boston blocked the ban.
In numbers
For the second year running, only one Australian restaurant has been named in the World’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.
Before bed read
Kelly Swain suspects there’s something poisonous about money. There are plenty of large-scale examples rampaging about right now. That’s why Swain is embracing a gift economy and discovering the joys of a slow and gentle lifestyle.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: PIER. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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