Author JK Rowling responded to a comment from Boy George, the former lead singer of Culture Club, claiming &#8220;she hates men,&#8221; which is just a small part of the backlash she’s received since the United Kingdom&#8217;s Supreme Court ruled that the definition of a woman is determined by biological sex.
The billionaire “Harry Potter” author has been a controversial figure for years as critics labeled her a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) for stating her belief that men cannot become women. These criticisms went mainstream again last week when actor Pedro Pascal <a href="https://fox59.com/news/entertainment/last-of-us-actor-pedro-pascal-calls-harry-potter-author-heinous-loser/">accused</a> Rowling of exhibiting “heinous loser behavior” for celebrating the court ruling.
Pascal, who has a trans-identifying sibling, recently attended the U.K. premiere of Marvel’s “Thunderbolts” wearing a “Protect the Dolls” T-shirt, which was created to benefit a charity for trans-identifying people. The actor spoke out about these issues in the past, saying, “A world without trans people has never existed and never will… I can’t think of anything more vile and small than terrorizing the smallest, most vulnerable community of people who want nothing from you, except for the right to exist.”
Boy George, 63, responded to a user on X who had commented on a post about Pascal. The original post stated that Pascal &#8220;doesn&#8217;t hate women.”
Boy George replied, “Stop this nonsense that if you don&#8217;t agree with [JK Rowling] you hate women. She hates men. This is where this truth lies. She cannot differentiate between a &#8216;trans&#8217; woman and a biological male. Which is weird with her imagination?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🙄I&#8217;m married to a man, George. I do not hate men. I simply live in reality where men &#8211; however they identify &#8211; commit 98% of sexual assaults, and 88% of victims are female. Trans-identified men are no less likely than other kinds of men to pose a risk to women or girls. <a href="https://t.co/0zC3p99WyL">https://t.co/0zC3p99WyL</a>
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1916282326205579346?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
And then Rowling weighed in, shooting down the singer’s assertions. “I&#8217;m married to a man, George. I do not hate men,” the author wrote along with an eye roll emoji. “I simply live in reality where men &#8211; however they identify &#8211; commit 98% of sexual assaults, and 88% of victims are female. Trans-identified men are no less likely than other kinds of men to pose a risk to women or girls.”
&#8220;I hate to point this out*, but accusing me of hating men because I don&#8217;t think trans women should be given access to all women-only spaces does rather suggest that (in spite of your feverish assertions to the contrary) you&#8217;re well aware that these are, in fact, men. *I don&#8217;t,&#8221; she <a href="https://x.com/jk_rowling/status/1916456363393155436">wrote</a> in a follow-up X post.

JK Rowling

JK Rowling Responds To Boy George Claiming ‘She Hates Men’

JK Rowling Responds To Boy George Claiming She 'Hates' Men

Celebrities

Pedro Pascal

Transgender

United Kingdom

World

The approval of leftist leaders in Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom has surged since President Donald Trump took office in January and began implementing his economic and foreign policy agendas.
The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/trump-world-left-leaders-polling-43095b2f?mod=hp_lead_pos6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on Thursday that the reaction to the beginning of Trump&#8217;s second administration has given new life to liberal leaders who previously looked destined for defeat in upcoming elections. Trump&#8217;s massive tariffs imposed on nearly every country in the world are the top issue that appears to be driving support for leftist leaders.
The biggest swing following Trump&#8217;s inauguration came in Canada, where the ruling Liberal Party appeared dead in the water until Trump imposed a tariff on Canadian goods and suggested making Canada the 51st state.
Trump&#8217;s policies and attitude toward Canada have appeared to turn the upcoming prime minister election on its head — shifting from a likely flip to the Conservative Party to potentially remaining in the hands of the Liberal Party and leftist Prime Minister Mark Carney. The Conservatives, led by Pierre Poilievre, were ahead of the Liberals by more than 20 points in the polls, but now the Liberals lead by around 4 points, according to the WSJ. Poilievre and his Conservative Party hope to gain back support among Canadians, who will go to the polls on Monday.
In Australia, which is holding elections on May 3, Left-leaning Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is now ahead in the polls by more than 10 points after trailing his conservative opponent, Peter Dutton, by six points in January. The jump in support for Albanese coincides with Australians losing trust in the U.S. government, according to polling results from the Lowy Institute. The think tank found that only 36% of Australians have any level of trust in the United States to act responsibly, the WSJ reported. That was down from 56% last year.
The United Kingdom&#8217;s Left-leaning Labour Party is still struggling with its approval rating, sitting at just 29%, but that&#8217;s an 8-point increase from February. The upward trend in approval for the British Labour Party followed Prime Minister Keir Starmer&#8217;s meeting with Trump at the White House in late February to discuss tariffs and the war in Ukraine. Starmer has <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3ev43vqj49o" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vowed</a> to &#8220;only strike a [trade] deal&#8221; with Trump &#8220;if it&#8217;s in the national interest.&#8221; Earlier this month, an Ipsos poll showed a 17-point drop in the number of Britons who agreed that the United Kingdom has a &#8220;special relationship&#8221; with the United States, down to 30%.
Conservative leaders in Canada and Australia are trying to navigate Trump&#8217;s policies as they seek to regain support ahead of their elections. Poilievre, a popular figure on the Canadian Right, has pushed &#8220;Canada First&#8221; campaign messaging, similar to Trump&#8217;s &#8220;America First&#8221; slogan. The Canadian parliamentarian has also amassed a large following among Canadian and some American conservatives for his viral critiques of the legacy media and former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Despite his similarities to Trump, Poilievre has been careful to differentiate himself from the U.S. president and has strongly opposed Trump&#8217;s tariffs that are now affecting the Canadian economy, calling Trump&#8217;s move &#8220;historic mistreatment of Canada.&#8221; Poilievre&#8217;s strategy is showing signs of success, as the Conservative Party has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/conservative-party-surges-ahead-of-canadian-election-as-concerns-over-trump-seem-to-wane-poll" target="_blank" rel="noopener">regained</a> some ground on the Liberals, according to a CTV News-Globe and Mail-Nanos poll released earlier this week. According to the survey, Conservatives have narrowed the gap from 5.6 points to 3.6 points.
Dutton, the Australian conservative candidate, has pushed policies similar to those implemented by Trump, such as seeking to radically cut government spending. Dutton, however, has called Trump comparisons a &#8220;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/05/donald-trump-in-the-white-house-seemed-like-a-plus-for-peter-dutton-but-after-this-week-maybe-not-so-much" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sledge</a>&#8221; used to attack him, adding that “the government doesn’t have a good story to tell.”

UK Prime Minister Meets With President Trump In Washington

These Leftist World Leaders Saw A Surge In Support After Trump Took Office

Australia

Canada

Donald Trump

Executive

Global Politics

Politics

Trans-identified activist Dylan Mulvaney has joined in on the trend of threatening to leave the United States for good.
“I’m trying to move here permanent [sic],” he <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIolRogP_CQ/">told</a> the U.K.-based outlet Pink News while discussing his lead role in the musical stage play “We Aren’t Kids Anymore,” which is playing at the Savoy Theatre in London.
“There’s something about being here that makes me feel like, people have been so kind, and the theater culture’s amazing, and Percy Pigs are my favorite,” Mulvaney continued. “So honestly, that makes the move worth it.” 
This isn’t the first time Mulvaney, best known for partnering with Bud Light in what became one of the biggest PR disasters in history, has discussed leaving his home country. The trans activist fled to Peru in 2023 to “feel something” and “feel safe,” as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dylan-mulvaney-flies-to-peru-to-feel-safe-participate-in-shaman-ceremonies-amid-bud-light-backlash">reported</a>.
“I’ve seen a lot of llamas. The people here are so kind. I feel very safe here,” Mulvaney said at the time. “It’s a little sad that I had to leave my country to feel safe but that will get better eventually.”
Anheuser-Busch lost billions of dollars in market value after a partnership with Mulvaney, in which the activist was sent a Bud Light can with his face on it. Mulvaney later blasted Bud Light, saying that the brand did not do enough to “publicly stand” up for him. 
“I took a brand deal with a company that I loved. And I posted a sponsored video to my page,” Mulvaney said at the time. “And it must have been a slow news week, because the way that this ad got blown up, you would have thought I was like, on a billboard, or on a TV commercial or something major, but no, it was just an Instagram video.”
“And I was waiting for the brand to reach out to me, but they never did. And for months now, I’ve been scared to leave my house, I have been ridiculed in public, I’ve been followed,” Mulvaney added. 
Sales of Bud Light plummeted following the Mulvaney partnership, and the beer has since lost its place as one of the country’s 10 most popular beers. Years later, its reputation still hasn’t fully recovered.
Meanwhile, Mulvaney might not find the absolute acceptance he’s seeking in London. The United Kingdom’s highest court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/uk-supreme-court-rules-trans-identifying-men-are-not-women">ruled last week</a> that the legal definition of “woman” is based on biology and does not include trans-identifying men who say they are women.
In the landmark judgment, the British Supreme Court ruled that the meaning of “woman” in equality legislation is a “biological woman and biological sex,” and the “concept of sex is binary, a person is either a woman or a man.”

Dylan Mulvaney

Trans Activist Dylan Mulvaney Floats Move To London, But U.K. Just Ruled Men Aren’t Women

Trans Activist Dylan Mulvaney Floats Move To London, But U.K. Just Ruled Men Aren't Women

London

Drummer Zak Starkey, who is the son of The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, just publicly commented on his removal from the band The Who earlier this year after playing with them for almost three decades.
While rumors have circulated that Starkey was let go due to disagreements among the band members, Starkey said the issue was actually a “medical emergency.”
“I’m very proud of my near 30 years with The Who,” the 59-year-old musician told <a href="https://people.com/zak-starkey-ringo-starr-son-breaks-silence-exiting-the-who-exclusive-11716449?">People</a>, before referencing Keith Moon, the legendary drummer with The Who from 1964 until his death in 1978.  “Filling the shoes of my Godfather, ‘uncle Keith’ has been the biggest honor and I remain their biggest fan. They’ve been like family to me.”
“In January, I suffered a serious medical emergency with blood clots in my right bass drum calf,” Starkey continued. “This is now completely healed and does not affect my drumming or running.”
Starkey also seemed to reference an incident that occurred during a show at Royal Albert Hall last month, when Metro reported that singer Robert Daltrey was struggling to hear over the sound of the drums.
Starkey said, &#8220;After playing those songs with the band for so many decades, I’m surprised and saddened anyone would have an issue with my performance that night, but what can you do?&#8221;
“I plan to take some much needed time off with my family, and focus on the release of ‘Domino Bones’ by Mantra Of The Cosmos with Noel Gallagher in May and finishing my autobiography written solely by me,” added Starkey. “29 years at any job is a good old run, and I wish them the best,” he concluded.
A rep for The Who confirmed Starkey’s departure last month, describing it as a “mutual decision.” 
“The band made a collective decision to part ways with Zak after this round of shows at the Royal Albert Hall,&#8221; the rep <a href="https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/the-who-zak-starkey-fired-reason-roger-daltrey-oasis-lineup-b2734169.html">told</a> The Independent. “They have nothing but admiration for him and wish him the very best for his future.”
The Who formed in London in 1964. The band rose to fame with their popular live performances, which made them icons of the British Invasion alongside The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. They’re known for hits like “My Generation” and the rock opera “Tommy.”

Zak Starkey

‘The Who’ Drummer Breaks Silence After Being Kicked Out Of Band

'The Who' Drummer Breaks Silence After Being Kicked Out Of Band 

Entertainment

Music

The United Kingdom&#8217;s highest court ruled Wednesday that the legal definition of &#8220;woman&#8221; is based on biology and does not include trans-identifying men who say they are women.
In the landmark <a href="https://supremecourt.uk/uploads/uksc_2024_0042_judgment_aea6c48cee.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">judgment</a>, the British Supreme Court ruled that the meaning of &#8220;woman&#8221; in equality legislation is a &#8220;biological woman and biological sex,&#8221; and the &#8220;concept of sex is binary, a person is either a woman or a man.&#8221;
The ruling is a watershed moment in Britain&#8217;s shift on gender ideology, which has faced a referendum in Europe in recent years, especially as the harms of transgender drugs and procedures on children have come to light and sparked legal challenges.
The court case was about whether trans-identifying men with a &#8220;gender recognition certificate&#8221; that legally recognizes them as female are protected from discrimination as a woman under the 2010 Equality Act.
The court ultimately ruled that interpreting sex as simply as what someone&#8217;s gender certificate says would be &#8220;incoherent,&#8221; according to a summary of the ruling.
“The terms woman and sex in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex,” Lord Patrick Hodge, one of the court&#8217;s senior judges, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/16/uk/uk-supreme-court-ruling-definition-woman-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the court. “The provisions relating to sex discrimination can only be interpreted as referring to biological sex.”
The five judges cautioned that they were not ruling broadly on whether trans-identifying men were women, saying that was beyond the role of the court.
Lord Hodge said the ruling should not be seen as “a triumph for one or more groups in our society at the expense of another – it is not.”
Critics of gender ideology were ecstatic nonetheless.
A group called For Women Scotland filed a challenge in 2018, butting heads with the Scottish government, which argued that trans-identifying men were legally women.
For Women Scotland celebrated with tears and hugs in the courtroom before a victorious exit, where they cracked open a bottle of champagne outside with other campaigners against gender ideology.
Other groups celebrated as well.
<p class="paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph" data-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/cm9js9dgx000c3b6oni5n6mv7@published" data-editable="text" data-component-name="paragraph" data-article-gutter="true" data-analytics-observe="off">“The court has given the right answer: the protected characteristic of sex – male and female – refers to reality, not paperwork,” the group Sex Matters said.
The LGB Alliance, which presented arguments in court, called the ruling a “watershed for women.”
In response to the ruling, the British government said it supports &#8220;single-sex spaces.&#8221;
“This ruling brings clarity and confidence, for women and service providers such as hospitals, refuges, and sports clubs,” a British government spokesperson <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/16/uk/uk-supreme-court-ruling-definition-woman-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “Single-sex spaces are protected in law and will always be protected by this Government.”

Womens’ Rights Supreme Court Judgement In London

UK Supreme Court Rules Trans-Identifying Men Are Not Women

UK Supreme Court Rules Legal Definition Of 'Woman' Is Biological

Britain

Gender

Gender Identity

gender ideology

Social Issues

Transgenders

MixCollage-14-Apr-2025-05-21-PM-3053

Matt Walsh Breaks Down The Deceptive Propaganda In ‘Adolescence’ Netflix Show

Crime

England

Great Britain

Matt Walsh

Movies

Murder

Netflix

Opinion

Stabbing

Teenagers

Violent Crime

Two trans-identifying individuals &#8212; men who identify as women &#8212; faced off against each other in a women’s pool championship match over the weekend.
Harriet Haynes and Lucy Smith made it to the final showdown for the championship title at the Ultimate Pool Women&#8217;s Pro Series Event 2 on Sunday in Wigan in the United Kingdom. Haynes went on to defeat Smith 8-6. Each beat out four female opponents to secure their spots in the finals.
Former U.S. college swimmer Riley Gaines, who rose to national prominence by taking a stand against men infiltrating women’s sports, reacted to the story by saying, &#8220;A real life South Park episode.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
A real life South Park episode <a href="https://t.co/xOSNt945uJ">https://t.co/xOSNt945uJ</a>
&mdash; Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1908973764706218042?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Haynes has not yet publicly commented on this event, but in December, he <a href="https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/home-news/transgender-pool-player-harriet-haynes-ban-b2653361.html">told</a> The Independent that pool &#8220;isn&#8217;t a gender-affected sport,” claiming as a biological male he had &#8220;no advantage.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;re not talking about boxing or golf—we&#8217;re talking about pool,&#8221; Haynes said at the time.
Some factors which critics say can affect a woman’s ability to compete against a man in pool include a man’s greater upper body strength, greater height, larger hand size, and longer reach. Professional level pool competitions are generally split between men and women.
Per <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/snooker/2025/04/07/womens-pool-final-two-transgender-athletes/">The Telegraph</a>, competitive pool player Lynne Pinches was allegedly asked to leave this year’s competition where she was observing as a spectator. She <a href="https://x.com/PinchesLynne/status/1909143922246287454">stated</a> that Haynes’ romantic partner complained she was there and had her thrown out.
Pinches dropped out of the Women’s Champion of Champions final against Haynes in 2023, which led to Haynes winning the event.
Pinches discussed the disadvantage female athletes have competing against trans-identifying men during a conversation with TalkTV. She said, “Whenever you play a transgender player, even if you win, it doesn’t make any difference because, in your heart, you know it’s unfair. This is a category advantage. Being biologically male and playing against females gives you a clear category advantage.”
She continued, “Every time I play a transgender player, I think about it before, during and after the match, about how unfair it is and how this is a level I can’t reach. I watch some of the shots they play, and I think females don’t play these shots down the rails like this and they don’t clear up like this. They [trans women] have a longer reach and a lot of them are taller than us.”
“Women have been silenced because of fear of being transphobic,” Pinches added. “That is why people don’t speak out about this subject. It’s not a gender issue. This is a fairness issue.”

pool

Pool Competition Ends With Trans-On-Trans Final After Two Men Beat All The Women

Transgender Athletes

British podcaster Russell Brand, 49, has been charged by the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England with rape and sexual assault for alleged acts committed between 1999 and 2005.
The British Metropolitan Police Service announced they had been authorized by the Crown Prosecution Service to charge Brand in connection with the offenses of one count of rape, one count of indecent assault, one count of oral rape, and two counts of sexual assault.
“Detectives began investigating in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations, which followed reporting by Channel 4’s Dispatches and The Sunday Times,” the Metropolitan Police <a href="https://news.met.police.uk/news/russell-brand-charged-by-the-metropolitan-police-service-495944" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a>.
The accusations stem from four alleged incidents; one in 1999 in which a woman said she was raped in the Bournemouth area, one in 2001 in which a woman claimed she was indecently assaulted in the Westminster area of London, one in  2004 when a woman said she was orally raped and sexually assaulted in the Westminster area of London, and one between 2004 and 2005, in which a woman claimed she was sexually assaulted in the Westminster area of London.
Brand will appear at Westminster Magistrates&#8217; Court on May 2.
“The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers,” Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy said. &#8220;The Met&#8217;s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.&#8221;
“Five women — four who remained anonymous and one who [was] 16 years old [at the time of the alleged assault in 2006] — previously came forward to accuse Brand in a joint <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/russell-brand-investigation-sunday-times-video-watch-latest-news-x33ss0kmk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">investigation</a> by The Sunday Times, <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/russell-brand-rape-sexual-assault-abuse-allegations-investigation-v5hxdlmb6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Times</a> and Channel 4 current affairs show Dispatches in September 2023,” People Magazine <a href="https://people.com/russell-brand-charged-rape-sexual-assault-police-7971304" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
In September 2023, Brand issued a <a href="https://variety.com/2023/tv/global/russell-brand-sexual-assault-allegations-metoo-denies-1235725357/">statement</a> on YouTube in which he said:
<blockquote>
I’ve received two extremely disturbing letters, or a letter and an email, one from a mainstream media TV company, one from a newspaper, listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks, as well as some stupid stuff, like my community festival should be stopped, I shouldn’t be able to attack mainstream narratives on this channel. But amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.
These allegations pertain to the time I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies. As I’ve written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous. Now, during that time of my promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual.
I was always transparent about that then — almost too transparent. And I’m being transparent about it now as well. And to see that transparency metastasized into something criminal, that I absolutely deny, makes me question: Is there another agenda at play? Particularly when we’ve seen coordinated media attacks before like with Joe Rogan, when he dared to take a medicine that the mainstream media didn’t approve of and we saw a spate of headlines from media outlets across the world using the same language.
</blockquote>

Russell Brand

Russell Brand Charged With Rape And Sexual Assault

Rape

President Donald Trump unveils his highly anticipated tariff plan in a Rose Garden speech. Damning new evidence points to an FBI cover-up ahead of the 2020 election. And, trade negotiations between the U.S. and the U.K. hang in the balance, as the fate of a pro-life protester becomes a bargaining chip.
It’s Thursday, April 3, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
&nbsp;
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trump-tariffs-unveiled-fbi-censored-biden-laptop-4-3-25/id1576594336?i=1000702026572" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
&nbsp;
<h2>Trump’s “Liberation Day” Tariffs</h2>
<div id="attachment_902231" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-902231" class="size-large wp-image-902231" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-Rosegarden-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-Rosegarden-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-Rosegarden-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-Rosegarden-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-Rosegarden-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-Rosegarden-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-Rosegarden-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-Rosegarden-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)</div>
Topline:  After months of anticipation, President Trump rolled out his plans to implement historic tariffs on Wednesday, transforming American trade policy with the stroke of his pen.
World leaders, investors, the business community — everyone has been holding their breath ahead of what Trump described as “Liberation Day.” The announcement in the White House Rose Garden was among the most consequential moments in American trade policy since NAFTA was implemented in 1994, or even the Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930.
The Plan: The U.S. will establish a minimum 10% baseline tariff on all countries, regardless of what they charge. From there, the president announced that rates would be reciprocal. But according to Trump, the United States will be gracious, in his words, “kind reciprocal, not full.” In a truly remarkable scene, the president held up a giant poster board listing dozens of countries along with the rate they’ll now pay. Trump says that number was decided by adding up each country’s tariffs, value-added taxes, and currency manipulation. That number was then divided by two, and the final rate was decided.
According to the president, China’s overall rate on U.S. imports is 67%, so we’ll charge 34%. The European Union will face 20% rates; Japan, 24%; Australia, 10%; India, 26%; the United Kingdom will pay 10%; South Africa will pay 60%; and so on.
The president devoted much of his address to the auto industry, saying foreign tariffs had driven American companies to outsource production, leaving our manufacturing base decimated. In an effort to bring that auto production back to the United States, Trump announced additional 25% tariffs on all auto imports. Following that announcement, he called Brian Pannebecker, a United Auto Worker, to the podium.
 “My entire life I have watched plant after plant after plant, in Detroit and the metro area, close,” Pannebecker said. “And the UAW members… we support Donald Trump’s tariff policies 100 percent.”
This plan marks not just a transformation of global trade but also a political transformation. For decades, Republican administrations have opposed tariffs, while Democrats were generally in favor. But Democrats now argue that tariffs are a tax on consumers and will drive inflation higher. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), for example, said Trump was “taking a sledgehammer to the US economy” and vowed to fight his tariff policy “tooth and nail.”
The question now becomes how those other countries respond — will they lower rates in an effort to find relief or dig in for a prolonged trade war? We’ll have answers soon. 
&nbsp;
<h2>FBI Biden Cover-Up</h2>
<div id="attachment_902233" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-902233" class="size-large wp-image-902233" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/FBI-Coverup-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/FBI-Coverup-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/FBI-Coverup-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/FBI-Coverup-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/FBI-Coverup-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/FBI-Coverup-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/FBI-Coverup-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/FBI-Coverup-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Nes via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: House investigations revealed Tuesday that the FBI sought to silence its own agents from discussing Hunter Biden’s laptop publicly.
Congress has received internal messages from the FBI, which, while heavily redacted, suggest a coordinated effort to cover up elements of the Hunter Biden laptop story in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election. An FBI analyst confirmed the laptop’s authenticity in a phone call with Twitter on October 14, 2020, the day that a story in the New York Post on information found in Biden’s laptop dropped. After that, the FBI’s brass shut down public discussion. 
According to these messages, an FBI official told Elvis Chan, the FBI liaison for social media companies, that there was a “gag order” on talk about the laptop. This was apparently as the FBI was actively investigating the laptop for criminal conduct. Chan asked what specific crime was suspected of being violated, and the response was censored. But it was apparently shocking enough to make Chan write back, “oh crap. Ok. it ends here.”
The allegation is that the FBI knew the laptop was authentic as early as October 14, 2020, but still moved to censor the New York Post story before the election.
“We already kind of knew the FBI knew it was real,” Jon Levine of the Washington Free Beacon told Morning Wire. “But the sort of real time details, like on the very same day [the Post broke the story] they knew it was real. That&#8217;s new and it&#8217;s extra insidious because if you go back to that time… the FBI was running around that same week saying, well, we&#8217;re, we&#8217;re looking into this being a Russian information dump.”
All the FBI had to do was confirm the laptop’s authenticity. Instead, it allowed a considerable censorship operation to smother a news story. Several major media outlets propped up the FBI’s narrative, from <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/03/26/media/nprs-katherine-maher-admits-outlet-failed-to-cover-hunter-biden-laptop/">NPR</a> saying it didn’t want to “waste our time on stories that are not really stories” to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/19/hunter-biden-story-russian-disinfo-430276">Politico</a> publishing a story citing dozens of foreign intelligence officials who claimed the laptop “[had] all the classic earmarks” of Russian disinformation. All while the FBI was, in fact, investigating a very real Hunter Biden laptop. The fact that officials from other agencies signed on to that claim suggests the suppression effort extended beyond the FBI.
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<h2>US Pressures UK Against Censorship</h2>
<div id="attachment_902235" style="width: 870px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-902235" class="size-large wp-image-902235" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/UK-Opinion-Liscence-860x576.jpg" alt="" width="860" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/UK-Opinion-Liscence-860x576.jpg 860w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/UK-Opinion-Liscence-300x201.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/UK-Opinion-Liscence-768x514.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/UK-Opinion-Liscence-1536x1028.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/UK-Opinion-Liscence-2048x1371.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 860px) 100vw, 860px" />(Edited satirical photo, Original by Mariia Morozova via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: The State Department announced it’s closely monitoring the case of a woman targeted by the British government for her pro-life activism while the United Kingdom negotiates a trade deal with the US.
Over the weekend, the State Department announced that it is following the developments surrounding retired medical scientist Livia Tossici-Bolt. She was reportedly arrested in Bournemouth, England, in 2023 for holding a sign near an abortion clinic that read, “Here to talk if you want.” She’s one of many pro-life activists prosecuted for pro-life activism and prayer in the vicinity of abortion clinics. The U.K. has “buffer zone” laws that prohibit this kind of activity in those areas, including silent prayer. She faced a criminal trial on March 6, and a verdict is expected to be handed down on April 4.
The State Department&#8217;s announcement was an oblique warning. Headlines from The Telegraph and other high-profile European publications indicate that the United Kingdom’s censorship of its citizens could actually become a massive liability in regard to the transatlantic relationship, which has historically been very friendly. The State Department never directly said the trade deal was imperiled, but it did say that the U.S. is “concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom.&#8221;
The State Department confirmed to Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan that its senior advisor, Sam Samson, recently met with Livia in the U.K. Sources close to the situation told The Daily Wire that State Department officials held bilateral meetings with members of the British government about the topic, including the officials who are pushing hate speech laws. The United States has emphasized that its alliance with the United Kingdom must be civilizational – American allies must be on board with American values, including freedom of speech. 
The White House has not commented directly on this matter, but Vice President JD Vance has consistently made opposition to government censorship a trademark issue. Vance chastised European leaders for censoring their citizens at a security conference in Munich earlier this year. On Tuesday, he reiterated his vision for a liberated West at a Heritage Foundation event.
“ We can rebuild the kind of society where virtue and freedom and our ancient liberties are preserved and enforced and facilitated by our government rather than torn down by our government,” Vance said. “You see in Europe, people arrested for praying and you have the police asking them, well, what are you praying about? As if it was any of the police&#8217;s business.”

President Trump Holds “Make America Wealthy Again Event” In White House Rose Garden

Morning Brief: ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs, An FBI Cover-Up, & America Pressures Brits On Free Speech

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Morning Wire

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WASHINGTON— As the United Kingdom negotiates a trade deal with the United States, the country&#8217;s leaders are grappling with a new understanding of the &#8220;Special Relationship&#8221; — namely, that President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration is very serious about European nations respecting the rights of their citizens.
Vice President JD Vance roundly condemned Britain&#8217;s prosecution of pro-life activists in February, and over the weekend, the State Department announced that it is monitoring the case of Livia Tossici-Bolt, a woman prosecuted for holding a sign near a Bournemouth abortion clinic that reads: &#8220;Here to talk if you want.&#8221;
&#8220;U.S.-UK relations share a mutual respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms,&#8221; the State Department&#8217;s Democracy, Human Rights, &amp; Labor Bureau said in a statement. &#8220;However, as Vice President Vance has said, we are concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom.&#8221;
The State Department confirmed to The Daily Wire on Tuesday evening that it is monitoring Tossici-Bolt&#8217;s case, that it is important to the United States that the United Kingdom &#8220;respect and protect freedom of expression,&#8221; as the department said over the weekend, and that State Department senior advisor Sam Samson met with Tossici-Bolt in the United Kingdom recently. 
Sources close to the situation told The Daily Wire that State Department officials held bilateral meetings with members of the British government about the topic, including those officials pushing hate speech laws within the United Kingdom. The United States has emphasized that its alliance with the United Kingdom must be civilizational, and that American allies must be on board with American values, including freedom of speech.
Now, headlines from The Telegraph and other high-profile European publications are signaling that the United Kingdom&#8217;s censorship of its citizens could actually be a massive deal in regard to the transatlantic relationship.
&#8220;No free trade with US without free speech, [British Prime Minister Keir] Starmer warned,&#8221; reads a Telegraph headline, with the subhead: &#8220;PM’s hopes of avoiding Donald Trump’s tariffs may hinge on case of pro-life activist arrested for peaceful protest.&#8221;
&#8220;[UK officials] were surprised the U.S. cares about this,&#8221; one source shared. &#8220;It&#8217;s a field of diplomacy that hasn&#8217;t been addressed.&#8221;
A source familiar with the trade negotiations told The Telegraph that there should be “no free trade without free speech&#8221; — likely a point of concern to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s attempts to strike a free trade deal with the United States. It&#8217;s a big change for British leaders used to dealing with President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration, which, one source pointed out to The Daily Wire, wasn&#8217;t worried at all about the matter — in fact, he was jailing pro-life activists within the United States.
<div id="attachment_901637" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/as-britain-negotiates-trade-deal-state-department-takes-aim-at-its-censorship-of-pro-life-woman/munich-security-conference-opening-day" rel="attachment wp-att-901637"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-901637" class="wp-image-901637 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2199525377-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2199525377-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2199525377-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2199525377-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2199525377.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>US Vice President JD Vance during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025.  Photographer: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg via Getty Images</div>
Tossici-Bolt is one of several pro-life activists who believe that abortion is the murder of an unborn child and have sought to change hearts on the matter through silent protest and prayer outside of abortion clinics. Abortion clinic &#8220;buffer zone&#8221; laws in the United Kingdom prohibit these basic activities, and authorities have arrested individuals like Isabel Vaughn-Spruce as they silently pray in buffer zones, accusing them of illegal protest.
A verdict in Tossici-Bolt&#8217;s case is due Friday, <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03/31/anti-abortion-protest-bournemouth-free-speech-row-trump/">according to the Telegraph</a>.
The publicity around the issue prompted Kemi Badenoch, a conservative member of Parliament, to warn that free speech in Britain is &#8220;at risk&#8221; and that the United Kingdom should not be “persecuting people for expressing themselves.&#8221;
“We have freedom of expression in this country, we have free speech in this country,&#8221; she <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/04/01/free-speech-at-risk-amid-abortion-row-badenoch-warns/?ICID=continue_without_subscribing_reg_first">said</a>. &#8220;However, it is at risk because a lot of people are expanding the law way beyond the original intention.”
Britain&#8217;s Business Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, downplayed the matter Tuesday morning on BBC radio, saying, &#8220;Obviously there are things from different people in the administration that they’ve said in the past about this, but it’s not been part of the trade negotiations that I’ve been part of.”
Meanwhile, free speech allies like ADF International are thrilled that the United States has spoken up.
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“We are very grateful to the US for standing up for freedom of speech in Great Britain at a time when our leaders are intent on censoring us. This censorship has been happening gradually over decades but the implications of it are being fully realized now,&#8221;  Lorcan Price, an Irish barrister and legal counsel for ADF International, told The Daily Wire on Tuesday evening.
&#8220;It is right for the US to call out human rights abuses in the UK out of concern as a close ally — at times it is necessary for allies to speak frankly and truthfully to each other and this is one of those times,&#8221; he added. &#8220;We sincerely hope that the increased attention on Livia’s prosecution will lead to a return to free speech in the UK.”
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Vance condemned the United Kingdom&#8217;s censorship in strong terms when he spoke at the Munich Security Conference in February,  arguing that “free speech in Britain and across Europe &#8220;was in retreat,&#8221; and referencing the story of Adam Smith Connor, an army veteran who prayed outside an abortion clinic in the United Kingdom on behalf of his unborn son, who his girlfriend aborted years earlier.
The vice president told the gathered world leaders: “Adam was found guilty of breaking the government’s new buffer zones law, which criminalizes silent prayer and other actions that could influence a person’s decision within two hundred meters of an abortion facility.&#8221; 
Speaking Tuesday evening at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., at the premiere of Rod Dreher&#8217;s &#8220;Live Not By Lies&#8221; documentary, Vance argued that if citizens around the world &#8220;speak the truth, if we refuse to live by lies, then I think we can redeliver on the promise of civilization.&#8221;
&#8220;We can rebuild the kind of society where virtue and freedom in our ancient liberties are preserved and enforced, and facilitated by our government, rather than torn down by our government,&#8221; the vice president said, adding, &#8220;You see, in Europe, people arrested for praying, and you have the police asking them, well what are you praying about? As if it was any of the police&#8217;s business.&#8221;
As for Tossici-Bolt herself, she said Monday that she&#8217;s grateful to the United States for “prioritizing the preservation and promotion of freedom of expression and for engaging in robust diplomacy to that end”.
“It deeply saddens me that the UK is seen as an international embarrassment when it comes to free speech,&#8221; she told The Telegraph. &#8220;My case, involving only a mere invitation to speak, is but one example of the extreme and undeniable state of censorship in Great Britain today.”
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As Britain Negotiates Trade Deal, State Department Takes Aim At Its Censorship Of Pro-Life Woman

JD Vance

Pro-Life Movement

State Department

Global travel was disrupted on Friday as London’s Heathrow Airport shut down due to a fire that broke out at an electrical station. 
Heathrow, one of the world’s busiest airports, announced it would be closed until midnight due to a fire that caused two terminals to lose power. The fire, which broke out Thursday, has already <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/londons-heathrow-airport-closed-all-day-friday-after-fire-causes-power-outage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">impacted</a> more than 1,300 flights, with authorities telling travelers not to come to the airport. Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uks-heathrow-airport-experiences-power-outage-due-fire-substation-2025-03-21/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the closure could impact up to 290,000 travelers.
“Due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport, Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage. To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March,” the airport posted on X. “Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and should contact their airline for further information. We apologise for the inconvenience.”
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Due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport, Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage.
To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March.
Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport… <a href="https://t.co/7SWNJP8ojd">pic.twitter.com/7SWNJP8ojd</a>
— Heathrow Airport (@HeathrowAirport) <a href="https://twitter.com/HeathrowAirport/status/1902911632679805313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The airport later <a href="https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/business/money-report/britains-heathrow-airport-closes-friday-after-substation-fire-causes-significant-power-outage/4140238/?os=io....dbr5yxkr%26ref%3Dapp&amp;ref=app" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> it did not estimate when power would be “reliably restored.” 
&#8220;We expect significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens,” a spokesman said. 
The London Fire Brigade <a href="https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/incidents/2025/march/fire-at-electrical-substation-hayes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the blaze involved around 6,600 gallons of cooling oil. London Police said it was working with firefighting authorities to determine the cause, saying the investigation was ongoing. 
“While there is currently no indication of foul play we retain an open mind at this time,” the police said in a statement. 
The investigation is being led by London’s Counter Terrorism Command because of the location of the power station and the “impact this incident has had on critical national infrastructure,” the Metropolitan Police <a href="https://x.com/metpoliceuk/status/1903058191736549865" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
In addition to the airport disruption, more than 67,000 homes in the area lost power due to the fire, and around 179 people were evacuated from the area by firefighters and police. 
&#8220;I would like to take this opportunity to thank firefighters and Control officers for their courage and professionalism to bring this incident under control in what were very challenging,” said Deputy Commissioner at London Fire Brigade Jonathan Smith.

Fire At Substation Grounds Flights At Heathrow For The Day

Thousands Of Travelers Left In Limbo As Fire Shuts Down One Of World’s Busiest Airports

Air and Space

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Courtney Love says she’s planning to become a citizen of the United Kingdom, mentioning how it’s been “frightening” to live in America recently.
The 60-year-old singer, who was married to the late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, made the remarks while speaking at the Royal Geographical Society in London.  &#8220;I&#8217;m really glad I&#8217;m here,” Love told the crowd, per <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-14507441/Courtney-Love-fleeing-America-moving-UK-Donald-Trump.html">The Daily Mail</a>.
“&#8217;It&#8217;s so great to live here. I’m finally getting my British citizenship in six months,” she added. “I get to be a citizen… I&#8217;m applying, man! Can&#8217;t get rid of me!”
“In terms of Trump, and particularly this group… it’s like emperor-core. Like, wearing million-dollar watches. Emperor-core is going on at Mar-a-Lago,” she reportedly said. The singer also noted, “It&#8217;s frightening now. It&#8217;s like cyanide now.”
Love moved from Los Angeles to London in October 2019. The singer <a href="https://people.com/courtney-love-getting-british-citizenship-six-months-report-11698584">explained</a> her reasoning in 2022, saying her favorite things about London were, “Laws. No guns. Four seasons. Discourse. You stan a middle-aged woman far better. Discretion.&#8221;
“I’m an Anglophile. I love London, it’s my favorite city and is the best place I’ve ever lived,” she told the London Evening Standard in 2024. “I’m left alone, there are laws here that protect me when I’m being outspoken, I like the friends I’ve made here.”
Other celebrities have been fleeing the United States in the wake of President Trump’s victory. Rosie O’Donnell recently announced she was defecting to Ireland. 
“It’s been pretty wonderful, I have to say. The people are so loving and so kind, so welcoming and I’m very grateful,” O’Donnell said, adding that she decided to move because it “would be the best for myself and my 12-year-old child.”
“I’m happy. Clay is happy,” she added. “I miss my other kids. I miss my friends. I miss many things about life there at home and I’m trying to find a home here in this beautiful country and when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America, that’s when we will consider coming back.”
“It’s been heartbreaking to see what’s happening politically and hard for me personally as well. The personal is political, as we all know,” O’Donnell continued, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rosie-odonnell-confirms-rumors-she-left-u-s-following-trump-victory">reported</a>.
Comedian Ellen DeGeneres and her wife, Portia de Rossi, moved to the United Kingdom last year.

Courtney Love

Courtney Love Says She’s Getting U.K. Citizenship Because America Is ‘Frightening Now’

Courtney Love Said She's Getting U.K. Citizenship Because America Is 'Frightening Now'

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