Wednesday, April 9, 2025

Another week, another Trump tariff debacle – and this time, even the penguins are getting caught in the crossfire. Yes, you read that correctly. The president has slapped tariffs on an Australian territory with no human inhabitants, just a few penguins and seals minding their own business. Ah, the beauty of geopolitics.

But wait – the plot thickens. The penguins aren't just waddling away from this one; they've taken to social media to voice their outrage. 

Meanwhile, Trump's tariffs are causing further backlash, with even Elon Musk's brother, Kimbal, weighing in.

In a scathing post on X/Twitter, Kimbal slammed Trump as "the most high tax American President in generations" and outlined exactly why he thinks the tariffs are ultimately bad for the American people.

Musk wrote: "Through his tariff strategy, Trump has implemented a structural, permanent tax on the American consumer.

"Even if he is successful in bringing jobs on shore through the tariff tax, prices will remain high and the tax on consumption will remain (in) the form of higher prices because we are simply not as good at making all things."

Elsewhere, SNL was praised for its comedic take on the tariffs, with one viewer joking: "Now the tariffs make a lot more sense."

Well, at least someone's finding the humour in it... 

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A false social media post about Trump's tariffs almost sank the stock market

Havoc has ensued thanks to the fake post 

Scientists 'bring back' dire wolves after 10,000 years and pay tribute to Game of Thrones

The company announced that it has successfully created three wolf pups

The thought of convincing your boss to let you take time off after a heartbreak feels like such a hard sell - but could this all be due to change?

Most employees are expected to carry on as normal when their love life comes crashing down around them, but not for the staff at Cebu Century Plaza Hotel in the Philippines. In 2023 the business introduced a five-day paid "heartbreak leave" for employees mourning the end of a relationship.

There are some caveats - the time off can be taken once a year, provided the breakup is with a different person each year. But it's better than nothing. CEO Ricardo Dublado created the policy based on his own experience.

The proposal of "heartbreak leave" has been catching on in the Philippines, and a parliamentary bill was proposed in February last year which would allow any worker experiencing romantic turmoil be eligible for up to three days of unpaid leave.

However some critics say the paid leave could be costly for companies. Research has suggested heartbreak can negatively impact work. A 2022 study from the University of Minnesota showed that almost 44 per cent of those divorcing their partner agreed or strongly agreed that being in the process of a divorce had a negative impact on their work. Staff reported being unable to focus or sleep and a tendency to break down in tears.

Staff who are unable to work to an acceptable standard can also cost businesses, so perhaps heartbreak leave is better in the long run for everyone involved.

Read more here

Self-gratification may become harder for Americans because of a new Senate bill that has been described as waging a "war" on masturbation.

Officially known as Senate Bill 3003, the proposal calls for age verification for the sale of sex toys online.

Republican Senator Angela Paxton, wife of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, introduced a bill to punish online sellers of an "obscene device" to customers without proper age verification.

Translation - an obscene device, according to the state of Texas Penal Code, is "a device including a dildo or artificial vagina, designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs".

Age verification has become a hot topic in the US, particularly in southern states and revolving around the usage of porn websites. Site owners would face a fee and a misdemeanour charge if they failed verify the age of its users. Some US states have laws requiring adult websites to verify the age of its users before allowing access to sexually explicit content, often through government-issued IDs, with both Texas and Louisiana leading the change.

Privacy concerns and data collection have been paramount amid the rise of age verification. In a statement shared by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), staff attorney Lisa Femia disapproved of existing age verification laws in Texas.

"Texas' age verification law robs internet users of anonymity, exposes them to privacy and security risks, and blocks some adults entirely from accessing sexual content that's protected under the First Amendment," Femia said in a press release. "Applying longstanding Supreme Court precedents, other courts have consistently held that similar age verification laws are unconstitutional."

The "chicken jockey" scene in the video-game-themed film A Minecraft Movie is sending cinema audiences wild, but what is it all about?

A Minecraft Movie is an adaptation based on the hugely popular video game Minecraft. It was released in cinemas on 4 April, where it has become a box office sensation bringing in approximately $300m (£233m) globally across its opening weekend.

The film has taken viewers by storm, with the "chicken jockey" scene in particular sparking a trend which has seen cinema audience members join in with so much enthusiasm that the police reportedly had to be called.

In the scene, actors Jack Black and Jason Momoa's characters are preparing to duel a chicken inside a boxing ring when a baby zombie is dropped from a box on the ceiling and proceeds to ride the animal, thus becoming a "chicken jockey".

Clips across social media have shown the cinema crowds erupting when Black's character Steve utters the words "chicken jockey".

Find out more here

White Lotus season 3 finale recap: Who dies and every detail you missed from episode 8

Madonna and Elton John finally end their decades-long feud during SNL confrontation

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