TRANSCRIPT
Australia's major party leaders have had their first leaders' debate of the federal election campaign.
Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton were asked by the group of 100 voters in the Western Sydney region about education, healthcare costs, and energy bill relief, among other issues.
About half the audience raised their hands when asked if they were struggling with the cost of living.
The Prime Minister and Opposition leader focused on cost of living issues as one of the most pressing election matters in the closing statements of their debate on Sky News.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is to meet financial regulators to discuss the impact of United States President Donald Trump's tariffs.
The high-powered meeting is expected to take place on Wednesday [[9/4]] and include the heads of the central bank and the banking, business and consumer watchdogs.
Ex-ambassador to the U-S Arthur Sinodinos told Nine's Today program it's a confidence-building measure.
"We're getting our best brains together to work out how we diversify our markets, how we adjust our economy, how we get ready for this. It's the sort of thing you'd expect any government to do and with the pressure of an election, governments in particular have to be seen to be in control. The reality is this has a long way to play. We dunno whether the tariffs are coming. We dunno what tariffs will stick. There's a lot of uncertainty in the global economy."
The United States is imposing a 104 per cent tariff on China from tonight after the Chinese government refused to lift its retaliatory tariffs on U-S goods by the Tuesday deadline set by President Trump.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has confirmed the decision in a news briefing.
Ms Leavitt says President Trump believes China has to make a deal with the U-S, and went on to say he would be incredibly gracious but is going to do what's best for the American people.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has described conditions in Gaza since the collapse of the ceasefire in March as re-opening the floodgates of horror.
No aid has been delivered to the Palestinian enclave of some 2.1 million people since March 2nd.
Israel has said it won't allow the entry of any goods and supplies into Gaza until Hamas releases all the remaining hostages.
Mr Guterres says the impact of Israel's actions have resulted in suffering.
"More than an entire month has passed without a drop of aid into Gaza - no food, no fuel, no medicine, no commercial supplies. As aid has dried up, the floodgates of horror have reopened. Gaza is a killing field, and civilians are in an endless death loop."
The heads of six UN agencies have appealed to world leaders to act urgently to ensure food and supplies reach Palestinians there.
At least 58 people are confirmed dead after the collapse of the roof of a nightclub in the Dominican Republic capital on Monday [[7/4]].
Officials said 146 people were injured and emergency crews are still working to pull survivors from the rubble as families of the victims gathered at the site searching for their loved ones.
The disaster struck during a concert attended by politicians, athletes and other prominent figures, while the cause of the collapse remains under investigation.
In athletics, a 57-year-old record held by Olympic great Raelene Boyle has been broken by 17-year-old Leah O'Brien.
She recorded 11.14 seconds in the 100-metre event at the Australian Junior Athletics Championships in her home city of Perth [[on Tuesday 9 April]].
That time has beaten the national under-18 record set by Boyle in her Olympic debut at the 1968 Mexico Games.
She achieved a time of 11.20 seconds.
O'Brien returns to the WA Athletics Stadium on Friday for the Open national championships.
