#investment #finance - US trade policy causes carnage on global markets as recession fears grow | Close of Business: ABC News In-depth

15 March 2025

Fears of an economic downturn spooked investors and sparked a $US4 trillion sell-off on Wall Street, as on-again-off-again tariff threats from the White House against allies like Canada and Mexico ramped up uncertainty.

The Australian share market followed suit, tumbling to a 7-month-low, narrowly avoiding a technical correction, which is a 10% fall from the most recent peak.

Leading independent economist Saul Eslake told Close of Business the moves from the US administration are creating volatility and uncertainty not just for investors, but US households who will ultimately carry the cost of tariffs. He spoke to business presenter Alicia Barry.

#ABCBusiness #ABCNewsIndepth #ABCNewsAustralia

#F1 - 2025 Australian Grand Prix - Saturday "First Qualifying session of the year completed in Melbourne" Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team

 

			Press Information 15 March 2025   F1: Session Report   2025 Australian Grand Prix - Saturday George Russell will line up fourth for tomorrow's season-opening Australian Grand Prix with Kimi Antonelli P16 after suffering floor damage during Q1. After evaluating yesterday's running, the team made several overnight changes which yielded improvements on single lap performance. Having cycled through two new sets of the Soft compound, George ended the final hour of practice P2 with Kimi P5. Whilst hotter ambient temperatures arrived for Qualifying, cloud cover kept track temperatures in the low 40°Cs, similar to earlier sessions. The team opted to run the Medium compound initially in Q1; whilst George found gains on his second lap, Kimi aborted and moved on to the Soft compound. Unfortunately, a kerb strike at turn six on his first push lap on that tyre caused sizeable damage to the bib area of the floor and significantly impacted performance. Despite that, a valiant effort from the young Italian saw him improve on his second push lap but just miss out on advancing out of Q1 by just 0.09s. George meanwhile progressed through to Q3 and sat P2, less than one tenth from pole after his first run. On his final effort, he was unable to make a significant improvement though and eventually qualified P4. Rain is forecast for tomorrow's race with the season set to get underway with 58 laps around Albert Park. Driver FP3 Q1 Q2 Q3 George Russell P2 9 Laps 1:15.971 P2 Medium, Soft 6 Laps 1:15.798 P4 Soft, Soft 6 Laps 1:15.546 P4 Soft, Soft Kimi Antonelli P5 9 Laps 1:16.525 P16 Medium, Soft George Russell I'm very happy with how today went. We struggled in the hotter conditions last year, and that was true yesterday. That was a very useful day of learning for us; we went away overnight, and the team worked hard to try and understand why we were lacking on the Soft tyre compared to the Medium and Hard compounds. We found some areas of improvement that were beneficial, and we can hopefully continue pushing in this direction.   Whilst we are still a few tenths behind the McLarens, we're starting P4 for the first race of the season, and that is encouraging. It could have potentially been a little better too as Q3 was tricky for us. I lost three tenths in the last couple of corners on my first push lap and didn't improve significantly on my final effort.   Finally, whilst Kimi was unfortunate to be knocked out in Q1, he has shown great signs of speed this weekend and he'll soon be right up there. Tomorrow is a new day and, with the weather forecast showing rain, it's going to be all to play for. Hopefully, we can be in the mix.   Kimi Antonelli That was an unfortunate Qualifying session to start the season. As I came through turn six on my first push lap on the Soft tyre, there was some gravel on track and I ran slightly wide. It was not enough to really impact my lap time, but the car hit the exit kerb harder than I expected and I suffered some significant floor damage. I could feel the car bottoming on the straight and costing me a lot of performance. Without the damage, I am sure it would have been a very different story for us.   Starting P16 is of course not ideal. That is particularly true when you look at our pace in FP3 as I think we could have been challenging near the front of the grid. It is what it is though and now we look ahead to tomorrow. The forecast is for rain and that will hopefully present us with some opportunities. I'm looking forward to it and getting my first F1 race under my belt.   Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO We were in the mix today and that was encouraging. We showed improved speed in FP3 having made some changes overnight. Whilst we looked like we were in the fight for pole position at moments in Qualifying, the McLarens were very impressive; I think it's fair to say that they had a couple of tenths advantage over us on the optimal lap. Overall, it is a good start to the new season with the W16. It all looks close at the front, and we will see what we can do tomorrow.   Kimi was very unfortunate to suffer floor damage having run over the exit kerb at turn six. He didn't run very wide yet suffered a big hit on the underside of the car and that caused him to lose a significant amount of performance. He put in a strong effort to try and hustle the car through to Q2, but it wasn't quite enough. It is all beneficial for his learning though and he will now have an exciting race trying to come through the pack tomorrow.   Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director We had a solid start to the day in FP3. We looked to have made improvements to the car overnight and the drivers were happy with the overall balance. It looked like we could be in the mix at the front come Qualifying, although the pack at the front was very tight.   Whilst that did prove to be the case, we were slightly unfortunate not to get the perfect laps together when it mattered in Qualifying. George's session ran to plan, as he progressed through to Q3. His first effort in the final segment put him P2, but he dropped back slightly in the final reckon to P4. With tomorrow's forecast, there is still plenty of opportunity for him to move forward though and fight for the podium.   Kimi was more unfortunate having run over the exit kerb at turn six. That caused floor damage that impacted his performance significantly, both on the straights and in the corners. He did his very best to get the car through to Q2 but, even if he had been able to do so, it's unlikely that we would have been able to make the necessary repairs to get him back out there. We can be encouraged by his progress through the weekend though, and the pace he has shown on both the single lap and the long run. Whilst he's starting out of position, the wet weather may afford him the chance to make good progress up the field. Preview Friday Saturday Sunday webmaster       John Nichols      @itcracing      @Linkedin

#F1 #AustralianGP - Can McLaren driver Oscar Piastri become Australia's greatest? The Inside Line

15 March 2025

McLaren's Oscar Piastri is the latest in a long line of great Australians in F1.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri has the bit between his teeth this year to become the first Australian to win his home F1 Grand Prix.

Last year, the Melbourne-born pilot came home fourth, equalling the best result any of his countrymen have managed since the first Championship round held in Australia in 1985.

Watch the video, and tell us what you think in the comments…

webmaster       John Nichols      @itcracing      @Linkedin

#F1 #Formula1 #News

#USA #trump #economy #canada - ‘Idiotic and dangerous’: Republicans running out of answers for Trump torching the economy: MNSBC

13 March 2025

David Gura, Bloomberg News Anchor and Correspondent and Matina Stevis Gridneff, New York Times Canada Bureau Chief join Nicolle Wallace with the latest impact of Donald Trump’s intentional trade war, the impact it has had on our relationships with our former key trading partners and the negative impact it will have on all Americans as price begin to rise across all aspects of the American marketplace.

#trump #economy #canada

#Turkey #NATO #Ukraine - As Trump pivots to Russia: Will Europe's defenses need Turkey? | DW News

13 March 2025

Turkey has one of the biggest and strongest militaries within NATO. So what role could Turkey's armed forces play in a world without NATO?

It's a question being posed now as doubts grow over America's commitment to protect Europe. What's behind the idea of a Turkish protective shield for Europe?

#Turkey #NATO #Ukraine

#news - Top U.S. & World Headlines — March 14, 2025: Democracy Now

14 March 2025

Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET. Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe

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#USA #DonaldTrump - NATO's 'Trump whisperer' treads carefully on Greenland and defence • FRANCE 24 English

14 March 2025

He's been dubbed the "Trump whisperer," but NATO chief Mark Rutte struggled to get a word in Thursday as the US president mused about annexing Greenland and criticised allies over defence spending.

The former Dutch prime minister visited the White House seeking to convince a skeptical Donald Trump to maintain US commitment to the transatlantic alliance and to Ukraine.

#Rutte #Trump #NATO

#F1 - 2025 Australian Grand Prix - Friday "First Friday of the season completed in Melbourne": Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team

 

Press Information 14 March 2025

 
F1: Session Report
 
2025 Australian Grand Prix - Friday

 
First Friday of the season completed in Melbourne

• The team began the 2025 season on Friday in Melbourne with our new line-up of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli taking to the circuit.
• The team evaluated all three compounds across the two sessions, although we were an outlier in being the sole team to run the Hard compound in FP2.
• That made the evaluation of relative performance compared to our competitors more challenging across both the single lap and the long runs.
• George ended the day the quickest of our two drivers, with rookie Kimi conducting himself well and gaining valuable data and experience over the course of the day.
• The team will now work hard overnight and in the simulator back at Brackley to evaluate changes ahead of Saturday.
• Tomorrow sees the first Qualifying session of the year take place, with significantly warmer conditions expected and a likely ambient temperature over 30°C.

• Driver	FP1				FP2
  George Russell	26 Laps	1:17.716	P7	Medium, Soft, Medium	30 Laps	1:17.282	P10	Hard, Soft, Hard
  Kimi Antonelli	25 Laps	1:18.390	P14	Medium, Soft, Medium	31 Laps	1:17.534	P16	Hard, Soft, Hard

George Russell
It was an interesting first day of the season. We looked particularly quick on the Hard and Medium compounds, and the overall balance of the car felt strong. On the Soft tyre, we didn't improve as much as you might expect. That is something we will evaluate overnight but, with the track temperature over 40°C today, that may have played a part. It is encouraging that there is inherent pace in the car though, as we've seen on the C3 and C4 compounds. Our focus is now unlocking that pace across all three tyre compounds and hopefully we can do that tomorrow.
 
It felt good to be back out on track here; the fans are always incredible in Melbourne and it's a fun circuit to drive. I had a couple of moments out there but was able to keep it out the wall. I am confident that we can find the improvements we are looking for overnight and have a smoother day on Saturday.
 
Kimi Antonelli
It was a positive first day of the season. Overall, I was pleased with how everything went. I'm getting more and more confident with each lap and continue to build my learning. The long run in FP2 was good and gives us a strong platform for the rest of the weekend. We've got some work to do on the single lap to find a bit more performance; that is mainly linked to getting the tyres in the right window and something we will focus on improving overnight. We've got plenty of data to work with to do that ahead of Saturday.
 
It is slightly too early to make any predictions on our relative performance. We don't know what the other teams are doing, and we were offset on tyre strategy today. The car was feeling good though and we will see what we can do in Qualifying tomorrow.
 
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
Today was a solid start to the new season. We were able to run cleanly in both sessions and gather good data across all compounds. Having come from a surprisingly cold three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain, it was useful to continue building our knowledge of the W16 on a different type of circuit and in warmer conditions.
 
The car was behaving well, particularly on the long run and the harder C3 and C4 compounds. Looking at the headline times, we've got some work to do on improving our single lap performance on the Soft compound ahead of Qualifying. We've already got some areas of focus though and are confident we can take steps to do that overnight.
 
As was expected ahead of the weekend, it looks close between several teams at the front. We were slightly offset with our tyre choice in FP2 so it's hard to predict the relative order. What we can say though is that even small improvements will likely make a big difference. We will be working hard this evening, and in conjunction with the teams back at Brackley and Brixworth, to do this.

Preview

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

webmaster       John Nichols      @itcracing      @Linkedin