Gout Gout, the 17-year-old 100m and 200m sprint prodigy, has earned his first call-up to the Australian squad after blitzing the national championships earlier this month.
Teen sprinter Gout Gout has been confirmed on Australia’s team for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September.
The 17-year-old son of South Sudanese immigrants will run in the 200 metres after clocking a wind-assisted 19.84 seconds in Perth this month to win his first national title. Gout’s run was the second-fastest ever by an athlete under 20 years of age under all conditions.
The Queenslander’s rapid rise has raised comparisons with Jamaican sprint great Usain Bolt and made him the poster boy for Australian track and field, seven years before the country hosts the Brisbane Olympics in 2032.
“I’m super excited to be picked to run the 200 in Tokyo at the World Championships,” Gout said in an Australian Athletics statement on Wednesday.
“That’s what we’ve been aiming for. I’m looking forward to September and seeing what I can do against the best of the best.”
Gout headlines a talented young contingent on the Australian team, which includes 18-year-old Cameron Myers, who took the 1,500 national title in Perth and ran the fastest-ever mile indoors among under-20 athletes (3:47.48) at the Millrose Games in New York in February.
Former high jump world champion Eleanor Patterson, who took bronze at the Paris Olympics, was also named on Wednesday among the first tranche of athletes confirmed for the team.
Patterson will bid for a sixth medal in major championships, having taken indoor silver at Nanjing in March behind compatriot Nicola Olyslagers.
Peter Bol, who ran fourth in the 800 at the Tokyo Olympics, will return to the Japanese capital in good form after taking the national record (1:43.79) at the Perth championships.
Gout Gout of Queensland crosses the finish line in a wind-assisted time of 19.84 seconds in the Men’s 200m Final during the 2025 Australian Open and Under 20 Athletics Championships at the WA Athletics Stadium on April 13, 2025, in Perth, Australia [Cameron Spencer/Getty Images]
A naval Iron Dome defense system, designed to intercept and destroy incoming short-range rockets and artillery shells, sits on the deck of a Sa’ar 5 Lahav Class corvette of the Israeli Navy fleet, in the northern port of Haifa on Feb. 12, 2019. On Thursday, an interceptor is believed to have stopped a rare missile launched by the Houthis targeting northern Israel. Pool photo by Jack Guez/UPI | License Photo
April 23 (UPI) — The Iran-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen launched a missile targeting northern Israel early Wednesday, according to the Israeli military.
The attack is rare for the Houthis, who have been enforcing a military blockade of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in support of the Palestinian people, tens of thousands of whom have been killed in Israel’s war against another Iran-proxy militia, Hamas, in Gaza.
The IDF announced the missile launch in a statement on Telegram, saying it triggered sirens in Haifa, Krayot and Western Galilee.
“An interceptor was launched toward the missile, and the missile was most likely successfully intercepted,” it said.
The attack comes amid near-daily U.S. strikes against the Houthis that began in mid-March, as the Trump administration attempts to destroy the group’s ability to attack U.S. vessels as part of its maritime blockade.
The Houthis established the blockade in November 2023, a month after the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7 of that year, when the militia launched a bloody surprise assault on the Middle Eastern country.
The Iran-proxy group has claimed the blockade is in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza, which has since been devastated by 18 months of war.
A cease-fire in the Gaza war took effect in January, but it lasted only 42 days. Israel has since resumed its military operations against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave.
Race Across the World returns to BBC One tonight as new pairings take on the global challenge, while Hannah Fry investigates smart doorbells in a new Channel 4 series
A former The Only Way Is Essex star who also auditioned for The X Factor is reportedly dating a world famous sports star as she was spotted boarding his team’s bus this weekend
Jasmin Walia was seen cheering the world famous sports star on in the crowd(Image: DesiPandeet/X)
A formerTOWIE star who also appeared on The X Factor is reportedly dating a world-famous sports star after she was seen cheering him on in the crowd and boarding the star’s team bus.
Jasmin Walia, 29, joined the cast of The Only Way is Essex in 2010, quitting the programme to focus on music in 2015. In 2014, she auditioned for the X-Factor, but was left in tears after being rejected by all four judges.
Now, it’s been reported she’s dating world famous Indian cricketer, Hardik Pandya. Jasmin was seen cheering him on in the crowd as she watched his team, Mumbai Indians, play against Chennai Super Kings. After the match, she was spotted boarding the team bus, as a source revealed the two have been “spending a lot of time together”.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
“Jasmin has been spending a lot of time with Hardik recently,” a source told The Sun. “She has been supporting Mumbai Indians as much as she can. She was there on Sunday to watch him play against the Chennai Super Kings and she has been seen boarding the team bus a number of times.”
The Mirror has contacted Jasmin’s representatives for comment.
Hardik, 31, captains the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League and occasionally plays for Baroda. He’s considered one of the best all-rounders in the world and led his team to victory once again as Jasmin witnessed his team celebrate a nine-wicket victory this weekend.
The sports legend was previously married to Serbian model and actress Natasa Stankovic, however the pair, who share a son together, called it quits after four years of marriage in July last year.
Jasmin appeared on TOWIE and The X Factor(Image: PA)
Sharing a statement at the time, Hardik wrote: “After 4 years of being together, Natasha and I have decided to mutually part ways. We tried our best together and gave it our all, and we believe this is in the best interest of both of us. This was a tough decision for us to make, given the joy, mutual respect, and companionship we enjoyed together and as we grew as a family.”
“We are blessed with Agastya, who will continue to be at the centre of both our lives and we will co-parent to ensure that we give him everything that we can for his happiness.”
Jasmin has also previously had a high profile relationship, as she dated Ex on the Beach star Ross Worswick. However, the pair called it quits in 2016 after two years together. Speaking on their breakup to OK! Jasmin said: “I don’t even know the real reason myself, it was just one of them where it just came to an end. We just both wanted different things and went our separate ways.
“I think I got so involved in working on my music that I didn’t have as much as time I would like to in a relationship. It’s a bit selfish but I’ve kind of always wanted my career first.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan made his return to snooker and secured a one-frame lead over Ali Carter after the opening session of their World Championship first-round match.
O’Sullivan, 49, had not played competitively since January when he snapped his cue and threw it in the bin following four losses in five matches at the Championship League event.
He subsequently withdrew from a number of tournaments, including the Masters, the Welsh Open and the Grand Prix, saying he “needed to prioritise his health and wellbeing”.
But the seven-time world champion recovered from losing the opening frame to take a 5-4 advantage, needing five more frames for victory when the match resumes on Wednesday afternoon (14:30 BST).
He hit a break of 107 to move 3-1 in front with the 1,283rd century break of his career and his 208th at the Crucible. He had a chance for another century, only to falter at 85 after missing a red into the middle pocket.
O’Sullivan looked on course to gain a 6-3 advantage, but missed a long red when 46-5 ahead, with Carter recovering to take the last frame of the session.
Before the tournament, O’Sullivan told BBC Sport “to come here is an achievement in itself for me” as he documented his mental health struggles.
No player has won the world title on eight occasions, with O’Sullivan aiming to move clear of Stephen Hendry’s seven successes.
April 22 (UPI) — The United States is set to impose tariffs of up to 3,521% on solar panels imported via a small number of Southeast Asian nations.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Commerce Department announced new tariffs targeted at companies in Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam after a year-long investigation on allegations that Chinese subsidiary companies were flooding the American market with cheap goods.
Meanwhile, the International Trade Commission — a separate U.S. agency — is due to reach its final decision in June on new tariffs in a case brought on by U.S.-based solar panel makers like Arizona’s First Solar and Hanwha Qcells, a Korean company.
President Donald Trump has imposed a tax of up to 145% on Chinese imports with some countries facing a blanket 10% tariff until July.
Critics like the Washington-headquartered Solar Energy Industries Association trade group said tariffs will harm American solar manufacturers because tariffs would raise the price on imported cells assembled into solar panels in the United States.
Last week, the administration said that new tariffs on top of already existing tariffs could spike to 245%.
Chinese officials have countered with a sweeping 125% levy on American products in a vow to “fight to the end.”
Malaysian-based Chinese solar panel manufacturer Jink Solar saw the lowest U.S. tariff at 41% while Trina Solar, a Chinese-based company, faced 375% tariffs on its products made in Thailand.
However, Cambodian exporters face the highest duties at 3,521% because of what was perceived as a lack of cooperation with the U.S. probe.
Then-President Joe Biden initially declared a 24-month tariff exemption on solar panel products from the four countries in June 2022 as part of the invoking of the Defense Production Act in a move largely supported by environmentalists.
In August 2023, the Commerce Department made its final determination alleging that neighboring Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand had violated U.S. trade rules by utilizing Chinese-sourced materials without paying tariffs.
“This is a decisive victory for American manufacturing and confirms what we’ve long known: that Chinese-headquartered solar companies have been cheating the system,” Tim Brightbill, lead counsel to the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee which called on federal officials to launch its investigation, stated at the time.
While few Brits have heard of the East Frisian Islands, the chain has become one of the most popular travel destinations for German holidaymakers, and it’s not hard to see why
Milo Boyd Digital Travel Editor and Commercial Content Lead and Emily Wright
14:49, 22 Apr 2025
This stunning chain of islands in the North Sea is a popular travel destinations for Germans(Image: (Image: Getty))
As Europe’s islands become increasingly crowded, holidaymakers are seeking out lesser-known spots for their getaways.
Boasting untouched landscapes, white sandy beaches and unique flora and fauna, one archipelago off the northwest coast of Germany could be just the ticket. While the East Frisian Islands may not ring a bell for many Brits, they’ve become a top travel destination for German tourists. Located in the North Sea, off the coast of East Frisia in Lower Saxony, these islands stretch an impressive 56 miles from west to east and sit between 2.2 and 6.2 miles off the mainland.
The largest island in terms of surface area is Borkum, situated at the western end of the chain. The other six inhabited islands include Juist, Norderney, which boasts the largest town in the islands, Baltrum, Langeoog, Spiekeroog and Wangerooge. There are also several small uninhabited islands, such as Lütje Hörn to the east of Bokrum.
The East Frisian islands are renowned for their stunning long beaches and their location within the UNESCO World Heritage Wadden Sea, reports the Express.
Juist is completely car-free, so visitors can explore by foot, bike or horse-drawn carriage(Image: (Image: Getty))
Bokrum island can be reached by ferry, catamaran or plane, although most visitors opt for the water route. For the best view of the island, make your way to the new lighthouse in the town centre, which stands tall at 60.3 metres. After ascending the 308 steps, you’ll be treated to a panoramic view of the surrounding area.
Juist is one of the four islands where cars are a no-go, leaving visitors to explore the quaint isle with nothing but their feet, bikes, or even the charming horse-drawn carriages. Over on Norderney, the island is lauded for its luxurious Thalasso-treatments—the perfect escape for those in pursuit of utter serenity, especially when you factor in a trip to the “bade:haus”, replete with swimming pools for that ultimate unwind session.
And then there’s Wangerooge, accessible by a ferry ride from Harlesiel. Once you disembark at the harbour, you’re free to jump on the much-talked-about “island train” which will drop you into the heart of town. Wangerooge boasts two churches that merit a visit. The St. Willehad Catholic Church presents a tranquil haven for those seeking solace, while the Nikolai Church serves as a hub for music lovers, regularly hosting concerts and lively music events.
Another island in the area that is little known among Brits but loved by Germans is Heligoland. Each year 350,000 tourists, mostly German but also often Dutch and Danish, catch the ferry to Heligoland, a tiny pair of rocks 44 miles from the coastline. They are tempted there by the apparent healing qualities of the air, the calm offered by a car-free environment, and the beaches.
The existence of the island itself was, at one point, not guaranteed. The British Navy moved onto Heligoland following the fall of Berlin and spent the next two years carrying out military tests there until finally, in 1947, they opted to get rid of thousands of tonnes of munitions they’d plundered from the tunnel network. Set off simultaneously, 4,000 torpedo heads, nearly 9,000 depth charges and over 91,000 shells of various calibres created a mushroom cloud six miles high. The only structure to survive was Heligoland’s lighthouse, which stands to this day.
A person rides a motorcycle through street fires, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 1, 2024, a day after gang violence left at least five dead and 20 injured. On Monday, the U.N.’s top envoy for the country warned that gang violence in Haiti was nearing the “point of no return.” Photo by Johnson Sabin/EPA-EFE
April 22 (UPI) — Gang violence in Haiti has continued to further deteriorate the country’s security and the crisis is reaching “a point of no return,” according to the United Nations’ top envoy for the Caribbean nation.
Maria Isabel Salvador, the special representative of the U.N. Secretary-General for Haiti, issued her warning Monday during a Security Council briefing in New York City.
She said that since she last spoke before the council in January the situation has further devolved, with gangs launching coordinated attacks to expand territorial control and undermine state security.
She detailed attacks targeting Kenscoff, the last road out of the capital, Port-au-Prince, not fully under gang control, and advancements by gangs into the city’s downtown areas.
Attacks have also spread across the West, Center and Artibonite departments, which are similar states or provinces — which Salvador described a part of a gang strategy to further stretch national security forces thin.
There have been at least five prison breaks in under a year, she said, with more than 500 inmates recently freed as “part of a deliberate effort to entrench dominance, dismantle institutions and instill fear.”
“The scale and duration of this violence overwhelmed the Haitian National Police, despite support from the Armed Forces of Haiti and the Multinational Security Support Mission, further obstructing stabilization,” she said.
Haiti has been facing spiraling gang violence since President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in July 2021.
Over the last year, there has been an increase in killings and kidnappings by criminal gangs due to Haiti’s weak security situation and justice system, Human Rights Watch said in its annual report on the country.
A transitional council has been created and the United Nations has authorized a Multinational Security Support Mission. However, a lack of funds and personnel has hampered the effort, according to HRW, which said gangs control about 85% of Port-au-Prince as well as other regions, including the West and Artibonite departments.
Salvador said that over the months of February and March, 1,086 people were killed and another 383 were injured due to gang violence. Meanwhile, U.N. statistics show that 60,000 people were forcibly displaced during those two months — on top of the 1.04 million people who had alredy been displaced multiple times as of January.
These numbers are expected to rise, said Salvador as she called on the international community to step up its support for Haiti through increased funding and operational capacity for the MSSM.
“Haiti could face total chaos and any delay in your support could be a direct cause of such stark deterioration,” she said. “I urge you to remain engaged and answer the pressing needs of the country and its people.”
April 21 (UPI) — China says it will retaliate against other countries who work with the United States in any way that could compromise its interests.
A Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said Monday in a press conference that it expects other countries should “stand on the side of fairness and justice, one the side of historical correctness,” and should defend economic and trade rules when it comes to negotiations with the United States.
The spokesperson called out the United States for having “abused” tariffs on all its trading partners, in reference to the tariffs levied by President Donald Trump on April 2.
China called Trump tariffs “unilateral bullying,” and that “appeasement cannot bring peace, and compromise cannot be respected.”
It also opposes any country that makes a trade deal with the United States and will “resolutely take countermeasures in a reciprocal manner” against any country who does.
The warning comes as the Trump administration will allegedly ask for limits on trade with China when it negotiates tariffs with other nations.
A Ukrainian Armed Forces chaplain takes advantage of a short-lived pause in the fighting on Sunday to hold an impromptu Easter service for the crew of a tank on the frontline in Zaporizhzhia province, much of which is occupied by Russian forces. Photo courtesy Ukraine Armed Forces 65th Mechanized Brigade/EPA-EFE
April 21 (UPI) — Russian forces launched aerial attacks targeting cities across southeastern and central Ukraine overnight, including the capital, Kyiv, Ukrainian authorities said.
At least one man was injured in Kherson by artillery fire and scores of drones and missiles were launched against Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Cherkasy and Kyiv provinces, dashing hopes that a 30-hour “Easter” cease-fire announced by Moscow on Saturday might lead to a more permanent cessation of hostilities.
The multi-pronged airborne assault from cruise missiles, two anti-radar missiles and at least 96 mainly attack drones came out of Russia’s Rostov, Kursk and Bryansk regions as well as occupied Crimea and the North Caucasus, the Ukrainian Air Force said in an update on its official Telegram account.
The wave of attacks, beginning at around 2 a.m., two hours after the cease-fire expired at midnight Sunday, continued for several hours with the air force claiming 42 of the drones had been shot down.
“The enemy attack was repelled by Ukrainian aviation, anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare systems, and mobile fire teams of the Ukrainian Defense Forces,” the air force said.
Moscow did not immediately comment on the attacks, but the state-run TASS news agency reported that Moscow’s so-called “Special Military Operation” had been restarted by Russian forces following the expiration of the cease-fire.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin had not given any orders to extend it.
Both sides accused each other of widespread violations, with Moscow dismissing an offer by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky late Saturday to extend the truce to 30 days, as blatant “demagoguery” given the 4,900 cease-fire breaches by the Ukrainian army confirmed by the Russian Defense Ministry.
Ukraine also accused Moscow of violating its own cease-fire thousands of times, with President Volodymyr Zelensky citing 1,882 instances of artillery bombardment, 812 of them using heavy weapons.
The frontline city of Pokrovsk, where Ukrainian forces are battling to prevent Russian forces from breaking through to link up Donetsk with other Russian-occupied territory to the west, suffered the brunt of the shelling.
However, Ukrainian authorities confirmed that across Ukraine there had been no air-raid alerts Sunday for the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Zelensky’s proposal for a cessation of all “strikes using long-range drones and missiles on civilian infrastructure for a period of at least 30 days, with the possibility of extension,” was far less ambitious than the comprehensive 30-day cease-fire plan hammered out between Ukraine and the United States in talks in Saudi Arabia last month.
Russia has so far failed to sign onto to the plan — despite extensive U.S. diplomatic efforts — but announced the 30-hour plan Saturday, hours after the United States signaled it was ready to walk away, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying Washington needed “to move on” if an end to the war was not going to be possible.
“We need to determine very quickly now, and I’m talking about a matter of days, whether or not this is doable,” he said on a trip to Paris accompanied by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, for talks with British, French, German and Ukrainian officials.
President Donald Trump backed up Rubio’s ratcheting up of the pressure but qualified it by saying that, while a breakthrough must come “very shortly” and that he would have no hesitation in “taking a pass” on trying to bring the two sides to the table if Moscow or Kyiv “make it very difficult,” he was not demanding it happen by a certain date.
“We’re just going to say: ‘You’re foolish. You’re fools. You’re horrible people,’ and we’re going to just take a pass. But hopefully we won’t have to do that.”
It remains unclear what impact that might have on American military aid — weapons and other support — to Ukraine. Current flows are under drawdowns on assistance packages approved under the previous administration of President Joe Biden, with no fresh approvals in the three months since Trump came into office Jan. 20.
Seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan tells BBC Sport’s Jamie Broughton that he has been struggling on and off with nerves for the past two years.
O’Sullivan only confirmed his participation in the World Championship on Thursday and has not played competitively since snapping his cue at the Championship League in January.
He looked haunted at times as he lost 10-9 to brilliant debutant Lei Peifan, who claimed EIGHT of the last 11 frames of an enthralling contest.
List of all-time Snooker World Champions
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, has died aged 88, the Vatican says.
His death on Monday came shortly after a bout of double pneumonia that kept him hospitalised for five weeks at Rome’s Gemelli University Hospital.
Just a day earlier, the pontiff made what would be his final major appearance as he greeted thousands of Easter worshippers from an open-top popemobile in St Peter’s Square and delivered a blessing through an aide.
The death of the 266th pope has sparked tributes from across the world:
Italy
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni mourned the loss of “a great man, a great shepherd” and expressed deep sorrow.
“I had the privilege of enjoying his friendship, his advice, his teachings, which never ceased, not even during times of trial and suffering,” she said. “We say goodbye to the holy father with a heart full of sadness.”
Italy’s football authorities postponed matches scheduled for Monday.
Argentina
The presidency office said that it deeply “regretted” the death of the first Argentine leader of the Catholic Church. Chainsaw-wielding President Javier Milei, who previously clashed with the pope, praised Francis’ focus on inter-religious dialogue, encouragement of spirituality amongst the young, and focus on cost-cutting in the Vatican.
European Union
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Francis’s life was defined by his efforts to build a fairer and more peaceful world. “He inspired millions, far beyond the Catholic Church, with his humility and love so pure for the less fortunate,” she said.
United States
The White House shared a tribute on social media, writing “Rest in Peace, Pope Francis” alongside a photo of the pope meeting President Donald Trump and the first lady. Vice President JD Vance, who met the pope on Sunday, said; “My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him.”
Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his “sincere condolences,” praising the efforts of Francis to strengthen ties between the Russian Orthodox and Catholic Churches. The Moscow Patriarchate echoed the sentiment, saying the late pontiff had played a key role in advancing dialogue between the two branches of Christianity.
India
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “Pope Francis will always be remembered as a beacon of compassion, humility and spiritual courage by millions across the world. He diligently served the poor and downtrodden. For those who were suffering, he ignited a spirit of hope.”
France
French President Emmanuel Macron praised the pontiff for his enduring solidarity with society’s most vulnerable. “In this time of war and brutality, he had a sense for the other, for the most fragile,” Macron said, commending his humility.
Philippines
In the Philippines, which boasts Asia’s largest Catholic population, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr called Francis “the best pope in my lifetime,” praising his humility, faith, and compassion for the poor. Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David expressed shock and urged churches to ring their bells and call people to prayer for the pope’s “eternal repose”.
Poland
Polish President Andrzej Duda hailed Francis as “a great apostle of mercy”, saying the pontiff’s example offered answers to contemporary challenges. “In his pastoral ministry, he was guided by humility and simplicity.”
Spain
Spain has declared three days of mourning. Justice Minister Felix Bolanos said in a televised address that the country regrets “the death of a good man and a great pope,” and praised Francis’s “reformist” papacy that “will leave a legacy for history”.
Australia
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Francis would be mourned by Australians of all faiths, describing him as “a devoted champion and loving father” to Catholics. “His compassion embraced all humanity,” Albanese told ABC News. “He urged us to hear the cry of the earth and remember all we share.”
Ethiopia
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said the pope’s passing was a loss not only for Catholics but for humanity. “May his soul rest in eternal peace, and may his legacy of compassion, humility and service to humanity continue to inspire generations to come,” he said.
East Timor
President Jose Ramos-Horta described Francis’s death as a global loss. He announced the nation’s flags would be lowered to half-staff for a week with a Mass to follow in tribute to the pope’s life and service.
Germany
Friedrich Merz, Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting, said Francis would be remembered for his unwavering commitment to the marginalised. “He was guided by humility and faith in God’s mercy,” Merz wrote on X.
Iran
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged Francis’s global spiritual influence. Spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Iran “extends condolences to all Christians around the world.”
United Kingdom
King Charles said he was “most deeply saddened,” praising Pope Francis’ “compassion,” commitment to unity, and the environment. Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed his condolences, saying Francis’s “tireless efforts to promote a world that is fairer for all” would be remembered.
Zhao Xintong wrapped up a comfortable 10-4 victory over Jak Jones to knock the 2024 runner-up out of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
Both of last year’s finalists have exited the 2025 event in the first round, following defending champion Kyren Wilson’s defeat by Lei Peifan on Saturday.
Zhao will meet fellow Chinese player Lei in his next match for a place in the quarter-finals.
Trailing 7-2 overnight, Jones started the second session with a break of exactly 100.
He reduced his deficit further when Zhao missed a simple brown during what appeared to be a routine clearance that would have restored the 28-year-old’s five-frame advantage.
But Zhao won the next two with breaks of 70 and 55 to move 9-4 ahead and then compiled a break of 87 after returning from the mid-session interval to defeat the 16th seed from Wales.
April 21 (UPI) — President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has proposed a prisoner swap with Venezuela involving 250 Venezuelan deportees from the United States who are being held in his infamous Terrorism Confinement Center — an offer that was swiftly rebuked by Caracas as cynical and admission that the imprisoned Venezuelans were illegally deported and arbitrarily detained.
Bukele made the offer to Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro on Sunday in a statement on X, offering to send Caracas the 252 deportees he is holding at the Terrorism Confinement Center in exchange for an equal number of jailed opponents of the authoritarian president.
The Salvadoran president listed some of the prisoners they would accept, including the son-in-law of Edmundo Gonzalez and nearly 50 detainees of other nationalities.
“Our foreign ministry will send the formal correspondence,” Bukele said.
“God bless the people of Venezuela.”
Attorney General Tarek William Saab of Venezuela issued a statement Sunday night rejecting the proposal while demanding a full list identifying the 252 alleged gang members being held, their legal status, proof of life and a medical report for each of them.
In the statement, he called Bukele a “neofascist” and said the offer demonstrates “that these citizens are being held hostage at the unilateral discretion of an individual acting outside the law, who publicly and through the media tells the world that he tyrannically decides who can enjoy life and freedom in El Salvador.”
Saab added that he has asked El Salvador’s attorney general and its Supreme Court to formally inform him of what crimes the Venezuelan prisoners have committed, when they were presented before a judge, whether they have had access to a lawyer and whether they have been allowed to communicate with anyone during their detention.
“The entire world should be repulsed by the fact that CECOT (the Terrorism Confinement Center) is no longer just a torture center created by Bukele’s twisted mind to punish criminals in his country, but has become a site of enforced disappearance for innocent Venezuelans (as arranged with his imperial partners), whom he, as an expert in human trafficking, uses in exchange for millions of dollars,” he said.
The prisoner exchange proposal comes as Bukele has attracted staunched international criticism over jailing some 250 Venezuelans whom the Trump administration deported to El Salvador last month on accusations of being members of the Venezuelan gangs.
The deportations were carried out under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, which President Donald Trump has tried to use but has been at least momentarily stopped from sending more detainees — seemingly to El Salvador.
On Saturday, the U.S. Supreme Court paused further deportations of migrant detainees until further notice.
This also comes as Democrats fight to return Salvadoran Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the Trump administration has admitted was wrongly deported among the hundreds of deportees but has said they will not return him, while continuing to portray him to the public as a criminal, accusing him of being a gang member and involved in human trafficking.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., visited with Abrego Garcia last week. On Sunday’s airing of ABC New’s This Week, he explained that he is fighting not just for Abrego Garcia but for the Constitution and the man’s right to due process.
“My mission and my purpose is to make sure that we uphold the rule of law, because if we take it away from him, we do jeopardize it for everybody else,” he said.
During a press conference following his return to the United States from El Salvador, he said the Trump administration has promised to pay El Salvador $15 million to detain the hundreds of prisoners whom he described as having been “illegally abducted.”
Bukele was in Washington, D.C., last week for meetings with Trump. During a press conference on April 14, they both stated that Abrego Garcia would not be returned to the United states.
Playwright a.k. payne, photographed at the Geffen Playhouse, where “Furlough’s Paradise” is running through May 18.
(Marcus Ubungen / For The Times)
Among the notes included in the “Furlough’s Paradise” script is an etymology of the word “furlough” — as in, “permission, liberty granted to do something.” Its various definitions throughout the history of language make clear that, whether by going away, retreating from or abstaining from having to do with, to leave is, essentially, to allow to survive.
This idea is at the core of a.k. payne’s moving two-hander, which stars DeWanda Wise and Kacie Rogers as estranged cousins — one on a three-day furlough from prison, another an Ivy League graduate on a break from her tech job — who reunite in their hometown for a funeral. They begin to process their conflicting memories, clarify their respective resentments, share their dreams of freedom and, in the safety of each other’s company, they each allow themselves to let go of everything to just be who they are, wholly and fully, alongside the one person in the world who sees them in their entirety.
The West Coast premiere of “Furlough’s Paradise” — which just won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the prestigious international award that honors women+ playwrights — is directed by Tinashe Kajese-Bolden and runs through May 18 at the Geffen Playhouse. Between rehearsals, payne tells The Times about the real-life inspirations for these onstage cousins, the necessity of a choreographer for this production and the lessons learned from their graduate school professor, Geffen Playhouse artistic director Tarell Alvin McCraney. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What inspired this play?
The play first was conceived when I was in grad school, but I was thinking about it for years before then, without the language for it. The initial impulse came from my own curiosity around the ways that incarceration impacts families. Where I’m from, everybody who is Black in our city has a reference point to the Allegheny County Jail, which is in the middle of Pittsburgh. My earliest memories are writing letters to family members who were incarcerated; as a young person, seeing family who was in that place transformed how I saw the world.
I also wanted to write a play that was inspired by the relationship between my cousin and I. We’re both only children; we’re almost siblings. And though the play traffics realism and has an illusion of realism, I’m really passionate about it not being a living room play; it’s a play about the Afro-surreal and the ways that Black life is always a little bit askew, like our experience of it doesn’t always match the way people perceive it or understand it.
Who are these two characters to you?
Frederick Douglass talks about being free in form versus free in fact — the idea of seeking a freedom in your mind and how you see the world, and the fact that systems of oppression and power don’t get all of us because we’re able to imagine alternative ways to exist. Both of these characters are wrestling with real instances of denials of freedoms, and I want this play to invite us to see the ways that these different systems have impacted both of them.
“I’m really passionate about it not being a living room play,” says a.k. payne.
(Marcus Ubungen / For The Times)
Because Sade’s body is physically incarcerated, she really fights for her mind to be free. She stands on business, she speaks truth and names things as they are, and she doesn’t shy away from that. There’s something honorable about her absolute refusal to lie or cheat, even in the midst of what this world has deemed criminal, and the ways in which people who have committed crimes are not always seen in their full humanity or in their integrity. That’s why Sade is so clear about what her dreams are. I wanted to really center that in the play because it’s important to listen to folks who have existed inside and honor the dreams of those who are most affected by these systems.
Mina is trying to be free in many different ways. The life she’s lived has colonized her mind, her body, everything, and she’s fighting to let herself feel comfortable in a space for a few days. She can’t even find the language for what her dreams are because she’s trying to free her tongue from these institutions. So though the play started as a love letter to a lot of my family who’ve been affected by incarceration, I wanted to also draw a love letter to versions of myself and my friends who have been in academic institutions, and have really suffered as Black and brown people and people of color in these spaces.
What do you hope audiences experience during these three days with Mina and Sade?
Sometimes it’s hard to sit in the rehearsal room with this play, because I want another world for these characters; I want to just get them out of this room and get them somewhere else, away from everything. Who were they before all the stuff they put on each other, and how can they be able to just not have to carry all of that?
To me, that’s evocative of what abolition means; it’s the capacity to exist together, and to break apart the rigid ways that we contain and police ourselves. So my hope is that audiences watch the play and want to create alternative spaces for Black people to actually be and exist and care for each other, and cherish being present with each other without being confined.
Geffen Playhouse’s artistic director Tarell Alvin McCraney, also the chair of playwriting at Yale School of Drama, described you as “one of the most powerful writers I’ve encountered in my time as a professor.” What was it like to be taught by him?
Tarell is an extraordinary teacher and mentor, as well as artist, of course. I started at Yale School of Drama in 2019 — I had gone straight through from undergrad, which was really difficult because of the elitism, the white supremacy and all the things. Tarell was extraordinary at crafting an oasis and fugitive space within an institution that honestly had caused a lot of harm for so many people who looked like me.
Grad school had its challenges, but the community I found in the playwriting department was such a gift. Our entire nine-person cohort was students of color, and Tarell created a horizontal leadership model in the program that allowed me to feel supported as an artist and a full person, where you can really listen to your own voice as a playwright and trust that voice. He created such fertile ground for exploration and play.
“Tarell is an extraordinary teacher and mentor,” says a.k. payne.
(Marcus Ubungen / For The Times)
“Furlough’s Paradise” made its world premiere at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre last year. What did you learn from that staging that you’re integrating into this one?
One of the biggest things is embodiment — it’s an endless question and the conundrum of being a Black writer in America and writing in English. I love this quote by Ntozake Shange: “i cant count the number of times i have viscerally wanted to attack deform n maim the language that i was taught to hate myself in.” That feels so relevant to how I think about language — there’s the constant awareness that this is a colonial language that my people were forced to speak, and so much that we do and experience just cannot fit into English.
So in this rendition, I’ve been thinking more about the body. Mina and Sade keep doing these comparisons [of each other] where, in all of that language, there’s no space to actually fully see both of them. But in these dream sequences at night, we see what they’re wrestling with outside of language. My hope is that those allow us to go to the limits of language, and see what our bodies do when language isn’t enough. There were movement consultants for a few gestural beats in other renditions, but having choreographers from day one of this process has been incredible.
How did you first start writing plays?
I grew up doing some musicals and operas in Pittsburgh, and my mom is a music teacher so I was always in her choirs. When I went to an arts magnet school, I majored in literary arts, and I wrote my first play in seventh grade. I entered it in City Theatre’s Young Playwrights Contest and I remember being in rehearsals for my play and thinking, “I love making stuff, being with people and imagining stuff together. I just want to do this forever.” Theater making for me is not just about my own little independent vision; there’s so much collaboration that goes into a show and I love making space on the page for other artists.
In undergrad, I directed a lot because I didn’t see the spaces that I wanted to create work in and I didn’t feel comfortable acting. I didn’t really feel there were structures for the work I wanted to write. But I fell in love with the practice of making theater and building ensemble to support that — specifically Black theater, the histories of Black theater and the ways that Black theater artists have imagined alternate worlds.
What structures can theater institutions prioritize to encourage more of the work you want to make?
Institutions are trying to improve things — even Tarell being here [at the Geffen] and being deeply committed to the work of Black and brown people and bringing in voices that are not traditionally in white American theater spaces.
But I find it critical to create alternative spaces entirely, because there’s always going to be a limit to what institutions that are not owned by us can do. I love the concepts of fugitivity and how people have created spaces that are not always visible to the institutional or public eye, that go deeper and aren’t necessarily trying to be big or fit into the systems. I wonder if there are ways that larger institutions can support many different kinds of theater making, like pouring into smaller artist collectives in a way that enables them to create with autonomy.
I’m also obsessed with maroonage, a Black cultural tradition in which people who were enslaved would escape to the mountains and form independent communities. In a theatrical tradition, what does it mean to create our own stuff and center our own gaze in our making of things? I’ve been building a theater collective in line with these things, and it’s Black folks who gather by bodies of water and just make experimental stuff. This past summer, we gathered in New Rochelle and did double Dutch lessons, clowning classes and Pilates.
Spaces like that are so critical to creating community and ensemble, which is hard when working on a small play like “Furlough’s Paradise.” So for the next renditions on the East Coast next year, I’m hoping to gather all the artists working on it [at the various theaters] and spend three days mapping out freedom dreams.
“I find it critical to create alternative spaces entirely,” says a.k. payne.
(Marcus Ubungen / For The Times)
‘Furlough’s Paradise’
Where: Gil Cates Theater at Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., L.A.
When: 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Ends May 18
Tickets: $36 – $139 (subject to change)
Contact: (310) 208-2028 or www.geffenplayhouse.org
Ukrainian rescuers working at the site of a missile attack in Sumy, northeastern Ukraine, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on April 13, 2025. Photo by Ukrainian Emergency Service/UPI | License Photo
April 21 (UPI) —Ukraine and Russia traded accusations Sunday of violating a one-day Easter truce, which was by Moscow only a day prior and has since expired.
President Vladimir Putin declared the 30-hour Easter Truce on Saturday, stating it would run through Sunday night.
However, as Sunday ended, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine accused Russia on social media of violating the truce nearly 3,000 times.
Early Sunday, he announced that Kyiv was documenting “every Russian violation of its self-declared commitment to a full cease-fire” while accusing Moscow of only pursuing a halt to the fighting for public relations reasons.
“In practice, either Putin does not have full control over his army, or the situation proves that in Russia, they have no intention of making a genuine move toward ending the war, and are only interested in favorable PR coverage,” he said.
He later added that Ukraine’s actions would remain “symmetrical.”
“Cease-fire will be met with cease-fire and Russian strikes will be met with our own in defense,” he said early Monday.
“Actions always speak louder than words.”
Russia — which began the war in February 2022 with a full-scale invasion of its neighbor — also accused Ukraine of violating the cease-fire.
Its Ministry of Defense stated on Telegram that its forces were “strictly observing the state of cease-fire” since it began Saturday evening, but that during the night, Ukraine violated the halt in fighting more than 1,000 times.
“As a result, enemy attacks caused deaths and injuries among the civilian population,” the ministry said in a post.
The accusations were traded as Zelensky pushes for the cease-fire to be extended for 30 days or, at least, to end long-range drones and missile strikes on civilian infrastructure for that period of time.
“If Russia does not agree to such a step, it will be proof that it intends to continue doing only those things which destroy human lives and prolong the war,” Zelensky said.
By Lydia Millet W.W. Norton & Co.: 240 pages, $28 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.
At one point in Lydia Millet’s latest collection, “Atavists,” a minor character posits that people “invented time. That it was all at once and everywhere. But minds weren’t able to grasp that, so they had to divide it into sections.”
In Millet’s capable hands, those sections are 14 interconnected short stories about Southern California neighbors, colleagues and families grappling with the end of the world. Millet’s definition of the end of the world is expansive: Sometimes, the world is microcosmic and social. Other times, it’s the end of a long-held identity. Always, it’s the endangered globe.
But Millet’s deftly told tales — in “Atavists,” as in her other novels and collections — demonstrate how a narrative framework creates meaning for human life. We seek the kind of meaning that divides time into manageable fictions like eras or generations. The conceit of the short story allows Millet to show how personalities assert themselves and simultaneously explore our interconnectedness as a species.
There’s a “Waiting for Godot”–ness to these tales, each of them examining an archetype like “Tourist,” “Artist,” “Futurist” or “Optimist” in the context of the post-pandemic era. Climate change and impending catastrophe loom over every story. Millet plays with the title and with the idea of atavism, in which an ancient trait asserts itself by skipping forward a few generations to suddenly appear in the gene pool. So, too, does she reference Joseph Campbell’s work while pushing back against any simplified theology of storytelling, suggesting instead that tying ourselves to the wheel of his heroic archetype is a burden. Millet demonstrates both how the characters of our era are manifestations of older types, yet they’re also a springboard for how people will define themselves in the future. She revels in complication.
Take, for example, “Dramatist,” the second story of the series. In this story, Nick, a member of one of the two families appearing most often in the collection, is a disillusioned book-smart Stanford grad fixated on the idea that he should be writing, yet unable to put words to paper. The central tension in Millet’s work comes from the sense that we’re all doomed: She writes that “stories seemed more and more useless,” and references the old line about fiddling while Rome burns. Unsure of his creative and professional roles, Nick is living back home with his parents while he LARPs, bartends and tries unsuccessfully to write a screenplay.
Millet’s characters reflect the real trend of Gen Z students returning to the nest to save money or find their passions, providing the author with the opportunity to explore generational friction in these households. Yet here the juxtaposition of age doesn’t provide any argument that one generation is best; each age just presents a different lens for viewing.
Rather than presenting a simple binary of misunderstanding between young and old, Millet’s “Tourist,” the tale of single mom Trudy and her son, and “Artist” and “Gerontologist,” which detail Mia’s role as a volunteer in a senior living center, demonstrate how youth isn’t ignorance, just as age isn’t an assurance of safety or wisdom. The characters in these households are often parents caught on the back foot. Their children seem rudderless, but they approach the world with more dexterity. Like Nick, perhaps one of the most world-aware characters, they are constantly seeking a peaceful reckoning between their creative impulses and the darkness of the world they’ve inherited. Nick is aware of the world’s ridiculousness, and he’s tortured about it.
Mia is one of several young adults in “Atavists” who demonstrates creativity in doing: Her art is to serve as an ambassador from the new world to the old. She starts by helping seniors with their phones and expands her role into many, many examples of helping them survive by retaining dignity. Millet wants us to consider whether we’re consumers or creators at heart.
“Atavists” focuses on social acuity and awareness, but also how our baser natures exert themselves today: Trudy obsesses over an old friend’s posts on social media. A scorned woman sneaks into a past lover’s house to mess with his mind. Tech-bro jargon invades stories that focus on trust, and Buzz, a father in another of the two families at the heart of these stories, peeks into the browser history of his daughter’s husband while he contemplates major changes to his own life. “Atavists” bounces from one home to the next. Sometimes these characters aren’t sympathetic, but that’s hardly the point. They’re inventions of character, against type, and of how our lives rebound off one another.
There are perks: Nick and his sister grow closer through technology: “So now she felt closer. Though farther away,” as the characters find connection over FaceTime. Trudy’s son Sam is at ease with his friends in a virtual realm. While older characters lament a loss of connection, efforts to bridge technological divides demonstrate how cross-generational bonds are possible. All of these people feel the “sadness of wanting. The sadness of hope,” yet there are solutions. If the world outside is doomed, there’s great affection in these stories and in finding each other, along with great awareness of what it means to be a neighbor or a regular customer — or even a viewer of someone else’s life on social media.
Maybe we’re “all waiting for something that never comes,” thinks Helen, Mia’s mother, in “Optimists.” “A sign, maybe. Written across the sky by a thousand jet planes. In synchronicity. And once we see it, well, then we may do something.”
Stories are the sign. “Atavists” begs us to keep reading.
Partington is a teacher in Elk Grove and a board member of the National Book Critics Circle.
An evening show last week at the Hollywood Improv comedy club included poop jokes, a song about young people being too woke and a raunchy impression of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
There were no quips about President Trump’s international tariffs, even from a comedian who had just posted a lengthy podcast episode about the on-again-off-again executive orders that have led to a global trade war and, many fear, could trigger a recession.
To get your fill of trade-related chuckles these days, there’s a much more reliable, if unexpected, source: the official Facebook page of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C.
The site has been rapidly manufacturing memes and sarcastic captions to capitalize — unrestrained by any tariffs — on a hot international export, namely jokes at the expense of the United States and its tariff-loving president.
One meme shows a red MAGA hat on a store shelf bearing a “Made in China” tag. The $50 price is crossed out, replaced by a tariff-inflated cost of $77.
Another cartoon — labeled “The Art of the Deal,” after Trump’s 1987 book — shows a pair of gambler’s hands. One with the word “tariffs” on its suit sleeve draws from a deck of cards bearing percentages. The Embassy’s caption: “But… the cards are made in #China. #Tariffwar.”
In Canada, the premier of Manitoba, Wab Kinew, signed a decree in an oversized folder and held it up with his signature, à la Trump. “This order,” he said, “it’s a wonderful order. It’s a beautiful order. This order is pulling American booze off the liquor mart shelves.”
Premier of Manitoba Wab Kinew at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington on Feb. 12, 2025. In March, he signed a decree to remove American alcohol from liquor store shelves in response to tariffs imposed by President Trump.
(Ben Curtis / Associated Press)
And on Norfolk Island — a remote rock in the Pacific Ocean with about 2,000 residents and essentially no exports to the U.S. — a children’s book author memed a baffled-looking tropical wrasse fish. The caption: “When you find out Norfolk Island exports are getting hit with a 29% tariff … guess that’s one way to leave a fish floundering.”
There are many ways world leaders, businesses and consumers are grappling with the growing threat of a global trade war, but perhaps the easiest — and, for some, the most therapeutic — is to rely on dark humor.
Joking about Trump’s frenetic rollout of tariffs has become a common response to the altogether serious issue of an economic fight started by the president that has upended markets, led to boycotts of American-made goods and travel to the U.S., and sparked fears of a recession.
Some of the humor has a barbed, geopolitical aim in a war for the world’s hearts and minds — see the Chinese government’s fusillade of memes — but political scientists say that, for many people, humor is a natural response to stressful times.
Patrick Giamario, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and author of the book “Laughter as Politics: Critical Theory in an Age of Hilarity,” said humor is an important part of the modern political process — and, for many, an attempt to make sense of events that feel overwhelming.
“The fact that we’re laughing so much now is a sort of sign of how broken things are,” Giamario said. “We laugh when things stop making sense.”
In addition to global angst, the levies have spawned: References to Trump as a “domestic tariffist.” Videos generated by artificial intelligence that show obese Americans toiling in garment factories. And lots of memes about over-taxed penguins angry about Trump’s tariffs, which targeted a few barren, uninhabited subantarctic islands.
“Poor old penguins, I don’t know what they did to Trump,” Australian trade minister Don Farrell quipped to the Australian Broadcasting Corp. “But, look, I think it’s an indication … that this was a rushed process.”
Australian Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell, left, arrives for a meeting with Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao, right, in Beijing, May 12, 2023.
(Michael Godfrey / Associated Press)
Trump’s tariffs have kept much of the world’s collective heads on a swivel. When he announced them, he said they would bring “jobs and factories … roaring back into our country” — despite skepticism from economists across the political spectrum.
On April 2 — which Trump dubbed “Liberation Day” — he announced a baseline tariff of 10% on imported goods from all foreign countries. He also announced higher rates, which he called “reciprocal tariffs,” for countries he said were unfairly taxing American goods. Financial markets plunged.
A week later, Trump changed course, saying he would pause the so-called reciprocal tariffs for 90 days while leaving the universal 10% tariff in place. He wrote on his Truth Social account: “BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well.” Markets surged.
Meanwhile, Trump escalated his standoff with China, hiking levies on Chinese imports — except, he later said, on electronics such as smartphones and laptops — to 145%.
Beijing retaliated by raising its levies on U.S. goods to 125%. The trade war was joined by a meme war.
Many of the Chinese memes portray American workers as unprepared for the kinds of jobs that bring products to their homes at cheaper prices.
During a press briefing last week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about Chinese officials sharing AI-generated videos depicting Trump, Vice President JD Vance and billionaire Elon Musk working in factories.
“I have seen the videos,” Leavitt said. “I’m not sure who made the videos or if we can verify the authenticity. But whoever made it clearly does not see the potential of the American worker, the American workforce.”
Screenshots of Leavitt herself being trolled by a Chinese diplomat who accused her of wearing a Chinese-made dress in the White House briefing room also have gone viral.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, April 15, 2025, in Washington.
(Alex Brandon / Associated Press)
“Accusing China is business. Buying China is life,” Zhang Zhisheng, China’s consul general in Denpasar, Indonesia, posted on X. “The beautiful lace on the dress was recognized by an employee of a Chinese company as its product.”
Ramesh Srinivasan, founder of the University of California Digital Cultures Lab, said it is clearly strategic for the typically staid Chinese government to turn to memes and internet jokes to communicate its stance on the trade war, which is that it “is ridiculous and unnecessary.”
“They’re presenting it in a much more innocuous and funny way, and that’s very, very intelligent,” Srinivasan said. “It’s a sign of the times.”
Donald Trump Jr. takes photos with supporters after a town hall meeting Monday, March 17, 2025, in Oconomowoc, Wis.
(Jeffrey Phelps / Associated Press)
Trump and his acolytes, of course, are veterans of the meme wars (his son and advisor, Donald Trump Jr., lists “Meme Wars General” in his Instagram bio). The president’s meme-filled X, née Twitter, account helped launch his political career, as did his crude-but-catchy nicknames for his opponents: Crooked Hillary Clinton, Sleepy Joe Biden and Little Marco [now Secretary of State] Rubio, among others.
Srinivasan said Trump, the former reality television star, has long been skilled at using dark humor to his advantage, especially online, where he is “this kind of hybrid troll-meme person.”
Traditional Russian wooden dolls called Matryoshka depicting China’s President Xi Jinping, President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are displayed for sale at a souvenir shop in St. Petersburg, Russia.
(Dmitri Lovetsky / Associated Press)
On the internet, the tariff jokes keep coming.
One widely-shared POV — internet lingo for “point of view” — video on TikTok shows a grumpy toddler striding officiously through an empty office. The caption: “POV: Me on my way to HR yet again for nicknaming my co-worker ‘Tariff’ for costing the company more than they’re worth.”
On YouTube, Penguins International, an apolitical conservation nonprofit dedicated to studying and protecting penguins, couldn’t resist getting in on the fun.
After Heard Island and the McDonald Islands — Australian territories where lots of penguins and no humans live — were listed on Trump’s tariffs list, Penguins International announced an online Protest March of the Penguins.
“Waddle we want? No tariffs!” read one digital protest sign.
“Beaks up!” read another.
On Wednesday, the Colorado-based organization posted a YouTube video of the birds’ annual migratory trek across the ice to their breeding grounds. As they squawked and brayed, a narrator said: “This year, they march in protest. They are peaceful. They are flightless. But they are certainly not voiceless.”
“We wanted to take an unusual current event and make light of it and stir up some support for some penguins that are endangered and threatened to go extinct,” David Schutt, executive director of Penguins International, said in an interview. Before the tariff announcement, he added, “most people didn’t know about the islands that these penguins are on.”
James Austin Johnson as President Trump, left, and Andrew Dismukes as Howard Lutnick during the “Saturday Night Live” skit “Trump Tariff Cold Open” on April 5, 2025.
(Will Heath / Getty Images)
During an Easter-themed “Saturday Night Live” skit this month, Trump, played by James Austin Johnson, said: “Many people are even calling me the Messiah, because of the mess I, uh, made out of the economy — all because of my beautiful tariffs. So beautiful. They were working so well that I had to stop them.”
On her “Good for You” podcast on April 13, comedian Whitney Cummings joked about Trump’s stated motive of using tariffs to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S., where workers — especially young ones who prefer remote work — don’t want them.
“I have nieces who are Gen Z,” Cummings said. “They’re not going to work in a factory. They won’t even work at the Cheesecake Factory because that would mean they would have a boss.”
Whitney Cummings at Hollywood Improv.
(Troy Conrad)
American manufacturing largely moved overseas, she continued, because “no one in America believes they should be working for some corporation who treats workers badly. They want to be the head of the corporation who treats workers badly.”
Two nights later, Cummings did a stand-up set at the Hollywood Improv, performing on a stage that has hosted comedy legends such as Robin Williams, Chris Rock and Eddie Murphy.
Cummings made some mildly political jokes — including one about growing more conservative after having a child and trading in her electric car for a gas model because gas stations are the only places where it’s socially acceptable to leave a small child alone in a vehicle.
But during her short set, she stayed away from tariffs — which are, perhaps, funnier on the internet.
