1. $23 billion budget boost in three months
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham is set to announce a budget shortfall of $134.6 billion for this financial year as of the end of February, $23.1 billion less than the forecasted $157.7 billion deficit announced at the mid-year budget update in December. "This is still a huge deficit in anyone’s language, but more people in work is providing a marked improvement to date thanks to lower unemployment payments and more taxpayers," Birmingham said.
2. Australian ambassador says China is 'unreliable' and 'vindictive'
Graham Fletcher, the Australian ambassador to China, has described China as "quite unreliable as a trading partner and even vindictive" in a briefing to the Australia China Business Council according to The Australian. On the ongoing trade tensions between Australia and China, Fletcher said "both sides are very determined" and added that he was "not sure China realises the damage that is occurring both in Australia and internationally".
3. Joe Biden expects to run for reelection in 2024
In his first formal news conference since becoming president, Joe Biden said he expects to run for reelection in 2024. Biden is the oldest president to take office in US history, and will be 81 at the time of the next US presidential election in 2024.
4. $3.8 million buyer of first tweet compares it to the Mona Lisa
Following the US$2.9 million ($3.8 million) sale of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's first tweet as a nonfungible token (NFT), the buyer, Malaysia-based businessman Sina Estavi, has compared the tweet to Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. "It's a piece of human history in the form of a digital asset. Who knows what will be the price of the first tweet of human history 50 years from now," Estavi told the BBC.
5. US stocks bounce back
On Thursday in the US, the Dow Jones rose by 199.42 points or 0.62% to 32,619.48 and the S&P gained 20.38 points or 0.52% to 3,909.52 after significant losses for both indexes earlier in the day. The Nasdaq also ended the day in the green after yesterday's 2% drop, rising 15.79 points or 0.12% to 12,977.68, boosted by Tesla which gained 1.61% to close at US$640.39.