Bullying claims 'nonsense', actress Rebel Wilson tells Sydney court

President Donald Trump said Friday that he will hike US tariffs on cars and trucks from the European Union next week, charging that the bloc is not complying with an earlier trade deal.

The pact, which was struck last summer, had capped the US tariff on EU autos and parts at 15 percent, which is lower than the 25-percent duty that Trump imposed on many other trading partners.

These sector-specific duties were not affected by a Supreme Court ruling earlier in the year that struck down a swath of Trump's global levies.

But the US leader said Friday: "Based on the fact the European Union is not complying with our fully agreed to Trade Deal, next week I will be increasing Tariffs charged to the European Union for Cars and Trucks coming into the United States."

"The Tariff will be increased to 25%," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Trump did not say how believed the EU is failing to live up the trade deal or give a further reason for the planned hike. But the announcement came a day after his renewed criticism of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Trump told Merz to focus on ending the Ukraine war instead of "interfering" on Iran.

Germany would likely be hit hard by a sharp tariff on cars and parts, as it is responsible for a significant amount of EU auto exports.

In late March, EU lawmakers gave their green light to the bloc's tariff deal with Trump, but with conditions.

While many EU lawmakers agreed to cut EU tariffs on some US imports, as a first step towards implementing the 2025 deal, they also sought additional safeguards.

While the European Parliament has given its conditional approval to the EU-US trade pact, before the deal is implemented by the bloc, it still needs to be negotiated with EU states.

In April, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic was in Washington to meet with counterparts including US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and trade envoy Jamieson Greer.

At the time, he said that the EU was also seeking more progress in easing the effects of still-steep US steel tariffs, adding that talks were going in a positive direction.

The United States is the second largest market for new EU vehicle exports, after the United Kingdom, according to a 2025 fact sheet by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association.

Over a fifth of EU vehicle exports went to the United States.

Germany alone exported some 450,000 vehicles to the United States in 2024, according to the VDA industry group. But that figure has since slipped.

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(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump said he will remove the 10% tariff on Scotch whisky imports and lift restrictions on the barrel trade between Scotland and Kentucky, a move the industry called a "significant boost" that ends months of economic pressure.

Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post Thursday as King Charles III and Queen Camilla departed Washington after a four-day state visit tied to the United States' 250th anniversary of independence.

"In Honor of the King and Queen of the United Kingdom, who have just left the White House, soon headed back to their wonderful Country, I will be removing the Tariffs and Restrictions on Whiskey having to do with Scotland's ability to work with the Commonwealth of Kentucky on Whiskey and Bourbon," Trump wrote. "The King and Queen got me to do something that nobody else was able to do, without hardly even asking!"

Trump imposed a 10% baseline tariff on all imports in April 2025 as part of his "Liberation Day" trade agenda. After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down that tariff regime in February 2026, the administration immediately reimposed a 10% global import duty under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. That rate applied to imported goods, including Scotch whisky.

The White House did not immediately provide details on the timing or mechanism for implementing the removal. The Section 122 duty exempted certain categories of goods from the 10% rate, including critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, energy products, and passenger vehicles. Scotch whisky was not among the exempted categories.

Mark Kent, chief executive of the Scotch Whisky Association, said the announcement delivers relief to an industry under financial pressure.

"This deal is a significant boost for the Scotch Whisky industry in our most valuable export market," Kent said. "Distillers can breathe a little easier during a period of significant pressure on the sector. For months, many have worked tirelessly to return zero-for-zero tariff trade for whisky and bourbon."

The United Kingdom is Kentucky's second-largest export destination, with nearly $5.4 billion in products shipped there in 2025, according to data from Gov. Andy Beshear's office. Kentucky set an all-time export record of $50.6 billion that year.

The announcement specifically addresses the barrel trade at the heart of the Scotland-Kentucky commercial relationship. By law, Kentucky Bourbon must be aged in new, charred oak barrels used only once. Scottish distillers are major buyers of those used barrels, making Scotland a critical market for Kentucky cooperages and distilleries.

Kentucky bourbon generates more than $9 billion in economic output annually and supports more than 23,100 jobs statewide, according to a February 2025 letter Beshear sent to Kentucky's congressional delegation warning of harm from retaliatory tariffs on bourbon. Annual industry payroll tops $1.63 billion.

Beshear, a Democrat, had publicly called on Trump to "roll back the tariffs" as recently as February 2026, citing the importance of trade partnerships to Kentucky's record export growth.

Kent said the removal of the tariff would reinvigorate a commercial partnership spanning generations.

"The special relationship that the Scotch Whisky and American Whiskey industries share will be reinvigorated by this announcement," Kent said. "While challenges in our sector remain, we can now redouble our efforts to boost the benefits our two great industries bring to communities across Scotland and the US."

The royal visit marked the first time a sitting British monarch has visited Washington since Queen Elizabeth II called on President George W. Bush in 2007. King Charles III addressed a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, the first monarch to do so since Queen Elizabeth II in 1991, citing $430 billion in annual U.S.-UK trade and defending the NATO alliance.

The Kentucky Distillers' Association and the White House were contacted for comment.

Pope Leo XIV on Friday named a former undocumented migrant as bishop of West Virginia, weeks after a high-profile verbal confrontation with US President Donald Trump.

The US-born leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics has been highly critical of Trump over immigration and the Middle East war.

The Vatican in a statement announced the nomination of 56-year-old Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, currently an auxiliary bishop in Washington.

Born in El Salvador, Menjivar-Ayala migrated to the United States in 1990, according to a biography on the Washington diocese website.

He has spoken in interviews about being born into poverty and fleeing conflict in his native country to arrive in the US as a refugee.

After being initially detained in Mexico trying to get to the US, he said in an interview last year that he paid a bribe to get out and crossed the border at Tijuana.

He was ordained as a priest in 2004 and became a bishop in 2023.

He is nominated to the diocese of Wheeling-Charleston in West Virginia.

Leo last month declared Trump's threat to destroy Iran "unacceptable" and urged Americans to demand their congressmen "work for peace".

That prompted scathing criticism from the US president, who slammed the pontiff as "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy".

The pope has also called the treatment of migrants in the US "extremely disrespectful", adding: "We have to look for ways of treating people humanely".

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French bakeries sold crusty baguettes and flaky croissants with government backing Friday, defying labour unions arguing that May 1 should remain a day of compulsory rest.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu ordered several baguettes for lunch in front of the cameras in the village of Saint-Julien-Chapteuil in central France.

"Let's have several... at least four," he said, as he sought to promote a new bill to clearly exempt independent bread and flower shops from mandatory rest on Labour Day.

Under French law, "May 1 is a public holiday and a non-working day". Essential services -- such as hospitals and hotels -- can remain open but must pay their staff double.

But there has been confusion about whether bakeries can make their employees work.

Labour inspectors on the public holiday in 2024 reported five bakers to the authorities for operating.

Although the bakers were all acquitted last year, their plight sparked debate across France.

The government earlier this week encouraged bakers to work on May 1, saying they were "indispensable to the continuity of social life".

It also said florists could employ staff to sell fragrant lily of the valley, which is traditionally sold on Labour Day in France.

On Wednesday, the cabinet put forward a bill -- that has yet to go to a vote in parliament -- to allow both bakeries and florists to open on the first day of May, provided staff volunteer to work in writing and are paid double wages.

The government decided not to back a previous proposal for more businesses including butchers and fishmongers to open on the public holiday.

- 'Hands off May 1' -

The country's main unions argue that no employee is truly free to volunteer when they are seeking to keep a work contract.

They fear French workers will soon all be required to work on the holiday as exceptions gradually become the rule.

"Hands off May 1," read the poster of a hard-left activist at a May Day protest in Paris.

Leader of the main CGT union Sophie Binet criticised "employers who feel entitled to open all their businesses and make their staff work on May 1, even though it's not allowed".

"The government must ensure that the law and the rule of law are upheld," she said, leading the protest in the capital.

She added that the public holiday was not however her chief concern.

"It's not the stealing of May 1 that should be on parliament's agenda. It's a major plan to raise wages," she said.

Some came to protest in costume.

A man dressed as a late 18th-century revolutionary held a pike topped with a picture of the US president, billionaire Donald Trump.

A woman protester nearby was dressed as Marie-Antoinette, the queen executed by guillotine during the French revolution.

According to folklore, when she was told the poor were running out of bread, she responded: "Let them eat cake".

burs-ah/jj

A London court on Friday overturned Emmy award-winning comedy writer Graham Linehan's conviction for damaging the mobile phone of a transgender activist.

Linehan co-created the popular 1990s sitcom "Father Ted" but has more recently become well-known for his gender critical views.

A court in November cleared him of harassing the activist, Sophia Brooks, who had accused him of sending "abusive and vindictive messages" on social media.

But the court found him guilty of damaging her phone.

An appeal judge at London's Southwark Crown Court on Friday quashed that conviction for damage after a two-day hearing.

"Having considered all the evidence before us, we cannot be sure that the damage to the complainant's phone was caused by Mr Linehan," said judge Amanda Tipples.

"We therefore found Mr Linehan not guilty of the offence."

Speaking after the hearing, Linehan said the decision to throw out the conviction was "very welcome" but that the case "should never have got to court".

He said he believed there had been a "troubling pattern of police forces around the country to believe trans-rights activists, time and time again, even when there has been overwhelming evidence that complaints have been made against gender critical campaigners, in bad faith". 

The Irish writer, who also co-created the sitcoms "Black Books" and "The IT Crowd", became embroiled in a free speech row in Britain last year over his stance.

It followed his arrest at London's Heathrow Airport by armed police over accusations of inciting violence with his social media posts insulting transgender people.

The arrest sparked a backlash and claims of state overreach, including from US tech billionaire Elon Musk. Last October UK prosecutors said they would take "no further action" in that case.

har/jkb/jxb

Throwing more than $5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf wasn't all bad news for Saudi Arabia.

Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf's establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view -- one of its key aims, experts say. 

They said the exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf. 

"Saudi Arabia is not going cold on sport," Simon Chadwick, professor of Afro-Eurasian sport at the Emlyon Business School in Shanghai, told AFP. 

"It is evaluating the work that has thus far been done, what remains to be delivered, and what has worked (or hasn't worked). The trajectory remains the same." 

The $900 billion Public Investment Fund (PIF) has spent big on sport to raise Saudi's profile, luring superstar footballers such as Cristiano Ronaldo. Saudi Arabia later secured hosting rights for the 2034 World Cup.

The desert monarchy and world's biggest crude exporter, deploying its oil wealth via the PIF, aims to diversify its economic portfolio by encouraging tourism, business and domestic spending, to shield it from an expected slump in demand for fossil fuels.

"Perhaps Saudi plans were rather too grandiose to begin with, but equally the grifters and opportunists of global sport have been seeking to take advantage of the country's sports spending," Chadwick said.

- Blank cheque -

PIF-funded LIV ("54" in Roman numerals), promised to reshape golf when it debuted in 2022 with 54 holes, shotgun starts, dance music on the course and stars such as Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson on reported nine-figure deals.

A dispute with the US PGA Tour was headed for the courts until the two rivals announced surprise merger talks which dragged on for years without resolution. In the meantime, LIV failed to land a major broadcast deal or build a significant fanbase. 

Saudi sport investments -- sometimes criticised as "sportswashing", or an attempt to divert attention from human rights -- have grown since LIV was announced in October 2021.

PIF acquired English football club Newcastle United around the same time, the F1 Saudi Grand Prix began two months later and Ronaldo arrived to huge fanfare in January 2023. 

"That phase was primarily about visibility and positioning Saudi Arabia as a major global player," Amro Elserty, a France-based Middle East affairs sports analyst, told AFP. 

"What has changed is not that this objective disappeared, but that the marginal value of continuing to spend at the same level on a single project like LIV has declined."

The new phase includes cuts beyond LIV. The Saudi Pro League, once a blank cheque for veteran footballers, has pulled back from major signings, and the PIF sold a majority stake in Al Hilal, one of the top Saudi clubs, last month.

PIF "stated from the beginning that financial support for the Saudi league would not be sustainable", said Amir Abdelhalim, an Egyptian football analyst.

- Sports 'melodrama' -

Meanwhile the WTA Finals women's tennis tournament will complete a three-year run this year and the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, one of the sport's richest events, was scrapped last month, two years into a scheduled 10-edition deal. 

The sports slowdown is consistent with cuts to other projects, such as tourism resorts and NEOM, a futuristic new city priced at $500 billion, as Saudi Arabia winds back its more extravagant ventures. 

Elserty said leaving LIV, the brainchild of PIF governor and golf fan Yasir Al-Rumayyan, carries "reputational impact... but it is unlikely to be seen internally as a significant setback. 

"Within the logic of PIF's strategy, this is better understood as a controlled exit from an experimental phase rather than a failure in the conventional sense."

According to Chadwick, "observers and critics are the people who have turned the supposed sports divestment into a melodrama". 

ht/th/pi

Mizzou announced Friday that it has agreed to a three-year contract extension with athletic director Laird Veatch.

The announcement comes on the two-year anniversary of Veatch's first day as Mizzou AD. The extension was approved during the UM System Board of Curators' recent meeting at Missouri S&T in Rolla, "reinforcing the university's commitment to Veatch's leadership and long-term vision for Mizzou Athletics," according to a news release.

The new North End Zone project set to be completed ahead of the upcoming football season is one of the significant upgrades Mizzou has undertaken with Veatch at the helm. 

"The momentum of Mizzou Athletics is undeniable thanks to the incredible leadership of Athletic Director Veatch," UM System President and Mizzou Chancellor Mun Choi said in the release. "We are a powerhouse in the SEC and a source of pride for all Missourians. AD Veatch and his staff's commitment to excellence and winning championships will continue to drive our programs forward and deliver proven results for our student-athletes and dedicated Tiger fans."

"I'm incredibly grateful to President Choi and the Board of Curators for their trust and support," Veatch said in the release. "This extension reflects the collective work of our coaches, staff, student-athletes and supporters who have embraced our 'Will to Win' and who believe in what Mizzou Athletics will become. We've made meaningful progress, but the reality is we're just getting started. Our focus remains on providing our programs the resources to consistently compete for and win championships to unite and elevate Mizzou for years to come."

(The Center Square) – A nonprofit advocacy group has filed federal civil rights complaints against two healthcare systems, alleging their scholarship programs unlawfully exclude applicants based on race.

Do No Harm, a national anti-DEI policy advocacy group, announced last week it submitted complaints to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights against Beacon Health System and Valley Health System.

The group alleges both systems operate student scholarship programs limited to certain racial minorities, in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws.

Beacon Health, which has locations in Michigan, offers an “Underrepresented in Medicine Scholarship” that includes a training rotation and stipend for fourth-year medical students. Eligibility is restricted to “traditionally underrepresented racial/ethnic” groups, according to the scholarship's website.

Valley Health is based in West Virginia and offers a “Minority Healthcare Scholarship," which awards $5,000 to students pursuing healthcare careers. According to the complaint, applicants are required to be members of a “minority ethnic or racial groups.” The page for that scholarship is no longer active, as is a Facebook post that promoted it.

Do No Harm argues the programs violate both Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act by excluding applicants based on race. Both systems also receive federal funding, aid, or grants, according to Do No Harm.

In an exclusive statement to The Center Square, Do No Harm Chairman Stanley Goldfarb said the complaints seek federal intervention to ensure equal access to the scholarships.

“The Civil Rights Act and the Affordable Care Act are clear: racial discrimination is illegal, and federal funds—to which taxpayers of all races contribute—should not be used to support it,” Goldfarb said. “We are asking HHS-OCR to step in and remedy these scholarships so that all qualified medical students can have a fair shot at competing for these programs.”

Goldfarb added the scholarships rely on “illegal racial stereotyping” by assuming “disadvantage” based on race.

“We are asking HHS-OCR to step in and remedy these scholarships so that all qualified medical students can have a fair shot at competing for these programs,” Goldfarb said. “When merit is prioritized at every level of healthcare, patients benefit.”

The Office for Civil Rights will now determine whether to open a formal investigation into the complaints.

Neither Beacon Health nor Valley Health immediately responded to requests for comment.

French bakeries sold crusty baguettes and flaky croissants with government backing Friday, defying labour unions arguing that May 1 should remain a sacred day of compulsory rest.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu ordered several baguettes in front of the cameras in the village of Saint-Julien-Chapteuil in central France.

"Let's have several... at least four," he said, as he sought to promote a new bill to clearly exempt independent bread and flower shops from mandatory rest on Labour Day.

Under French law, "May 1 is a public holiday and a non-working day". Essential services -- such as hospitals and hotels -- can remain open must pay their staff double.

But there has been confusion about whether bakeries can open.

Labour inspectors on the public holiday in 2024 reported five bakers to the authorities for operating, causing them to be hauled before a court.

The bakers were all acquitted last year, but their plight sparked debate across France.

The government earlier this week encouraged bakers to work on May 1, saying they were "indispensable to the continuity of social life".

It also said florists should open to sell fragrant lily of the valley, which is traditionally sold on Labour Day in France.

On Wednesday, the cabinet put forward a bill -- that has yet to go to a vote in parliament -- to allow both bakeries and florists to open on the first day of May, so long as employees volunteer to work in writing and are paid double wages.

But the country's main unions argue that no employee is truly free to volunteer when they are seeking to keep a work contract.

They also fear French workers will soon all be required to work on the holiday.

"Social history shows us that each time a principle is undermined, exemptions gradually increase until they become the rule," they warned in a joint statement last month.

burs-ah/cw

(The Center Square) - U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter's decision to run for U.S. Senate has attracted 14 candidates for his 1st Congressional District post. 

Carter, a Republican, has served in Congress since 2015. 

Six Republicans qualified: Pat Farrell, Jim Kingston, Brian Allen Montgomery, Krista Penn, Kandiss Taylor and Eugene Chin Yu. 

Taylor, an educator who ran for governor in 2022, said the Trump administration has not gone far enough to dismantle the Department of Education.

“We have a lot of federal regulations in education, and they’re really unconstitutional,” Taylor said in an interview with The Center Square. “It’s supposed to be a state right.”

Taylor slammed expanding Medicare and Medicaid. She called for greater competition among insurance companies to lower prices.

“When you have monopolies on systems, then of course you can jack your price up and screw the people and that's what we see happening,” Taylor said.

Penn told The Center Square she wants to advocate for veterans' issues. She said the Department of Veterans Affairs has not done enough to standardize its processes and provide the highest quality of care for veterans.

“If things were standardized, then they would be able to walk right in and know exactly what the processes are and not have to learn things all over again,” Penn said. “We need fewer career politicians and we need more leaders who understand the true meaning of service."

Kingston, son of former U.S. Congressman Jack Kingston, is endorsed by President Donald Trump. Kingston, Farrell, Montgomery and Yu did not respond to a request for an interview. 

Eight Democrats qualified: Defonsio Daniels, Joyce Marie Griggs, Amanda Hollowell, Michael McCord, Joey Palimeno, Sharon Stokes Williamson, Patrick Wilver and Randall Jay Zurcher.

Hollowell said Carter has not been responsive to the community’s needs for several years.

“He was selective about who he was responding to via email,” Hollowell said in an email with The Center Square. “Then, he became a super MAGA Trumper, so we really knew that he wasn’t listening to you.”

Hollowell called for expanded testing and rubric opportunities, increased caps on student loan borrowing and pay raises for teachers.

“If we are not providing people with that foundation and that skill set, we're going to be stagnant,” Hollowell said. “I do believe we fully need to reinstate the Department of Education.”

Daniels, Griggs, McCord, Palimeno, Williamson, Wilver and Zurcher did not respond to a request for an interview. 

Early voting continues through May 15. A runoff, if needed, will be held on June 16.