Anthony Albanese denounces US tariffs as ‘not a friendly act’ after Donald Trump refuses exemption for Australia

Donald Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium is “entirely unjustified” and “not a friendly act”, Anthony Albanese says, after the Labor government failed to receive the exemption the US president had dangled in a call last month.The Australian prime minister said his government would continue pushing for an exemption to the 25% tariffs, calling the trade barriers favoured by Trump “a form of economic self-harm”, in his strongest criticism of the American president since he returned to office.“This is against the spirit of our two nations’ enduring friendship and fundamentally at odds with the benefit of our economic partnership that has delivered over more than 70 years,” Albanese said in Sydney on Wednesday.The Trump administration announced it had rejected Australia’s plea for an exemption from US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, due to come into effect on Wednesday. Albanese stressed in his press conference that no nation, including Australia, had received a carve-out

New name but same old struggles for Boohoo

“Debenhams is back,” proclaimed the online retailing group formerly known as Boohoo. Unfortunately, its fast-fashion brands – not just Boohoo itself but also Pretty Little Thing and MAN – haven’t gone away. All are struggling badly.Since the latter collection still represents three-quarters of group revenues, new chief executive Dan Finley’s upbeat talk about an exciting future feels more than a little premature. The main market-moving news in the strategy rejig and trading update was another downgrade to the City’s profit expectations alongside a thumping £40m charge for writing down surplus stock at what are now badged as the “youth brands”

The making of Elon Musk: how did his childhood in apartheid South Africa shape him?

The billionaire and now Trump adviser grew up amid the collapse of white rule, attending an all-white school and then a more liberal oneWith an imposing double-winged redbrick main building, and school songs lifted directly from Harrow’s songbook, Pretoria boys high school is every inch the South African mirror of the English private schools it was founded in 1901 to imitate.Elon Musk, who has rapidly become one of the most powerful people in US politics, spent his final school years in the 1980s as a day pupil on the lush, tree-filled campus in South Africa’s capital, close to his father’s large detached home in Waterkloof, a wealthy Pretoria suburb shaded by purple jacaranda blossoms in spring.South Africa was rocked by uprisings as apartheid entered its dying years. In 1984, black townships across the country revolted. By 1986, the white minority government had imposed a state of emergency

Skype shutdown surfaces sweet memories: ‘I proposed marriage’

Microsoft announced on the last day of February that it would sunset Skype. By the time the death knell tolled, the video chatting software that once revolutionized communications had become a ghost of its former self. Experts chimed in with half-hearted eulogies for the platform that Microsoft spent years neglecting, yet few were surprised, and even fewer shed tears.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link

Eagles will visit White House to celebrate Super Bowl win after 2018 absence

The Philadelphia Eagles have confirmed they will visit the White House to celebrate their victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in this year’s Super Bowl.The news was announced by the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, on Tuesday, and later confirmed by an Eagles spokesperson.“I know there was a lot of fake news about an invitation that wasn’t sent or was sent, we want to correct the record: we sent an invitation, they enthusiastically accepted, and you will see them here on 28 April,” Leavitt said.The Eagles were disinvited to the White House in 2018, the last time they won the Super Bowl, after a number of players said they would drop out amid tensions over the anthem protests that had swept the NFL. Donald Trump, then in his first term as president, had attacked players who knelt during the anthem to protest against racial inequality

Tiger Woods all but certain to miss Masters after rupturing achilles at home

Tiger Woods is a near certainty to miss the Masters for just the fifth time since his debut in 1995 after confirming emergency surgery on a ruptured achilles, sustained while training at home.Woods has not played an individual event since missing the cut at the Open Championship last summer. He is a notable absentee from the Players Championship this week, with a lack of appearances in the early part of this year partly due to the death of his mother in early February.The assumption was that the 15-time major champion would tee up at Augusta National in April. However, Woods all but ruled that out with a surprising social media post on Tuesday