Celebrity doctor and former TV host Mehmet Oz has been confirmed by the US Senate to run the agency that oversees the healthcare of millions of Americans.

Oz, who has never held public office, was picked last year by President Donald Trump to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

On Thursday, he was confirmed to the role by the Republican-controlled US Senate by a party-line vote of 53-45.

The 64-year-old, whose approaches have come under scrutiny, trained as a surgeon before finding fame on The Oprah Winfrey Show in the early 2000s.

Health experts have previously criticised Oz's promotion of what they deem to be bad health advice about weight-loss drugs and "miracle cures", and for suggesting malaria drugs could be used as a cure for Covid-19 at the start of the pandemic.

After picking Oz to lead CMS, Trump said in a statement there "there may be no physician more qualified and capable...to make America healthy again".

Ahead of his inauguration, Trump's transition team said Oz would "work closely" with US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr to "take on the illness industrial complex".

The CMS oversees the country's largest healthcare programs, providing coverage to roughly half of Americans.

It regulates health insurance and sets policy that guides the prices that doctors, hospitals and drug companies are paid for medical services.

In 2023, the US government spent more than $1.4tn (£1.1tn) on Medicaid and Medicare combined, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Oz also hosted The Dr Oz Show, in which he offered health advice to viewers, from 2009 to 2022.

But he was scrutinised for recommending homeopathy, alternative medicine and other treatments that critics have called "pseudoscience".

Democrats have previously claimed a review of his financial records suggests Oz may not have paid $403,739 in Medicare taxes on more than $10 million of income from his media company between 2021 to 2023.

However, a spokesperson for Oz said a review by the Office of Government Ethics found he had complied with the law.

Veteran Bollywood actor and director Manoj Kumar has died at the age of 87 in India's financial capital, Mumbai.

The actor died of "age-related health issues", Dr Santosh Shetty of Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, where the actor was admitted, said.

His son, Kunal Goswami, told ANI news agency that Kumar had been battling health issues for a long time.

Kumar leaves behind a rich legacy of patriotic films, which propelled him to fame in the 1960s and 1970s.

Kumar, who was originally named Harikrishan Goswami, was born in 1937 in the northern state of Punjab.

He carved a niche for himself in the Hindi film industry with films like Shaheed, Roti Kapada Aur Makaan and Kranti. Known for their patriotic fervor, his films struck a chord with the Indian public.

Kumar received numerous awards over the years, including the Padma Shri - the fourth highest civilian award in India.

His contributions earned him the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest cinematic honour.

Tributes have been pouring in on social media to mourn his death.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called him an "icon of Indian cinema".

"Manoj Ji's (a term of respect in Hindi) works ignited a spirit of national pride and will continue to inspire generations," he wrote in a post on X.

Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit said his death was "a great loss to the [film] industry" and that the entire industry would miss him.

A week ago, Westminster was digesting the chancellor's Spring Statement and all the talk was of a tightrope walk and precarious public finances.

Next, let's go back nearly two decades to the financial crisis and the historically poor growth and negligible average earnings growth that has afflicted the UK ever since.

And then recall the calling card of the Labour Party at the general election last year and its "mission" to deliver sustained economic growth.

What is happening to economic growth? It is flatlining.

And now this: Donald Trump's tariffs.

The implications are four dimensional, complicated, disrupting – and the precise reactions and consequences of those reactions are largely unknowable and unmappable.

But let's be frank, they don't provide a benign backdrop conducive to predictable, steady economic growth.

President Trump's lament about the consequences of deindustrialisation in America and his reaction to that is prompting the UK and others to have to think nimbly and devote considerable bandwidth to preparing contingencies for what might happen next.

• At a glance: What Trump's new taxes mean for EU, China and others
• Explainer: What are tariffs, and why is Trump using them?

How should we understand and grapple with the magnitude of what we are witnessing?

The prime minister is not a man known for flights of rhetorical fancy.

So it is instructive to see how he is articulating this moment.

He claimed it was "the beginning of a new era for trade and the economy" and not just this, but was the second such paradigm shift we have witnessed just in the last few months.

There was already the beginnings of a new era for defence and security, he suggested, with the UK, Germany and others committed to ramping up spending on the military.

The economic shift also under way, he said, needed the "same recognition".

I know what you might be forgiven for thinking.

Politicians and, yes, journalists both have a weakness for hyperbole, and so maybe all of this is a bit self serving and over the top?

Perhaps.

But one of the most memorable conversations I had at Westminster this week was with a vastly experienced senior figure, thoughtful and reflective and also not prone to exaggeration.

(And, incidentally, not instinctively warm towards the Labour Party).

He was convinced, after a half century in politics that has taken in the Cold War, the Gulf War, 9/11, the Iraq war and the 2008 financial crisis that it is this moment, not those, that represents the single most profound for colossal, unpredictable, upending change.

Look beyond the actions and theatre of the Trump White House to the macro trends of the 21st century.

There is the migration of economic and political heft to the East.

There is the migration of many, many people towards the West, digitally savvy about the relative riches here, climate change and conflict among the push factors for some too.

There is the internet revolution upending business models and working patterns, inventing social media and concentrating vast wealth and influence among a clutch of global behemoths like Apple, Meta, Amazon and X.

And there is the artificial intelligence revolution in the infancy of its influence.

Exhilarating, unnerving, discombobulating, norm shredding.

All this is the context and in part the explanation for the political tussles playing out and the personalities at the centre of them.

And, my goodness, it is not an easy time to be leading a western democracy.

Ask any of those in office now, or any of those recently ejected.

President Trump is arguably an illustration of this and a collective reaction from America to some of the changes I've mentioned above.

And meanwhile, the prime minister is hoping for the best – that he can find the money to boost defence spending, convince the country and the markets that he can manage the national finances and negotiate a better trade deal with President Trump.

Pull these things off and perhaps a few others and maybe just maybe that longed for economic growth comes next.

But again and again events pop up to complicate and confound any apparently linear path towards it.

And it's happened again.

A Harris's hawk that has been repeatedly attacking villagers has been captured by a resident with the same name.

Steve Harris, 40, told the BBC he had managed to humanely catch the hawk in his garden in Flamstead, Hertfordshire.

It is estimated that the bird of prey had swooped on at least 50 people since early March, drawing blood from several victims.

"It's a relief for us and the whole village," said Mr Harris, whose children had been unable to use the back garden after the hawk took up residence in one of their trees.

"Every morning, we wake up and see it up in the tree, getting braver and braver.

"I've been working from home watching it, thinking we've got to get this bird gone."

Mr Harris said he acted spontaneously to capture the bird on Thursday morning.

"It had been chasing me around the village when I went for a run, and when I got back it flew down to the top of my shed.

"The falconer had left me a cage. I was using it to protect myself and I got brave enough when the bird was about a foot away, and I threw it over the top of it, trapping it.

"I screamed out for the falconer to come and help, and he came and tamed it."

The hawk had been wreaking havoc in the village, which is on the edge of the Chiltern hills, even holding up the postal service.

Jim Hewitt was taken to hospital covered in blood after he felt a "smack" on the back of his head while walking to the shop.

The 75-year-old said he was "delighted" the hawk had been caught, and had vowed: "I won't get beaten by a poxy bird."

Mr Harris said the situation had started to become dangerous.

"I got whacked over the head yesterday trying to get into my car... it was getting to the stage where it was attacking people with consistency."

Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

US President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on Wednesday including a 10% tariff on most countries.

Some of America's biggest trading partners will see even higher tariffs beginning 9 April.

The aggressive shift in trade policy makes clear where Trump stands on tariffs, but has left much of the world wondering what Americans - who are expected to see the side effects - think of the move.

We asked five people what they think.

Mary Anne Dagata, 71, Michigan

This Michigan resident thinks the pain Americans will feel will be temporary and worth it.

I know we're all going to get pinched in the pocket for a while. I think in the long run, it's going to get us out of the massive deficit that we're in.

I am concerned about the price of goods going up. I am going to end up being more particular about what I buy, basically I'll tighten the belt for a while.

But then I think it's going to go full circle and it's going to be a good thing for the economy and for people in general.

We've been the world's financial doormat for a while and we've gotta stop it.

• What Trump has done - and why it matters
• Explainer: What are tariffs and why is Trump using them?
• BBC Verify on the calculations used for Trump's giant cardboard chart

Catherine Foster, 58, Florida

This soon-to-be-retiree worries about economic instability prompted by Trump's actions.

I'm very unhappy. I'm probably a couple of years away from retiring and I don't know if I'm going to be able to retire.

My 401k's not doing great, Social Security is on the line and I don't think the tariffs are going to help America's standing on the world platform.

Trump is not a king and I feel like our Congress and Senate is letting us down, both parties, by not pushing back [on tariffs].

They know better, and they're not doing anything. Why?

Ben Maurer, 38, Pennsylvania

This trucker welcomes the incoming tariffs and hopes they can help restore smaller US towns.

I feel like the way to kick-start investment back into US manufacturing is exactly this.

It's a necessary evil.

Up until the 70s, there were two steel mills [in my area] and then they closed. And up until the last 10 years, the sites have been abandoned

We might not get back everything, but even if we recover 30-40% of it, it's quite a bit of money and jobs.

Gloria Smith, 77, Washington DC

This retiree says she is on a fixed income and feels Trump administration officials don't appreciate how tariffs will affect her life.

I'm on a fixed income. I'm retired, so things are going to go up and I'm worried. It means less money that I'll have coming in.

What I'm trying to do is stock up on food because I think things are going to get really, really bad as far as shipping. Food is the one thing that you can't really cut from your budget.

If I can be honest, Trump's got all the money. He doesn't have to [worry about] food. Musk has all the things, so this isn't going to affect them. So they don't know about the pain.

They say 'a little pain', but how little is this pain?

Robin Sloan, 73, Maryland

Robin says she's trying to hold out hope, but she worries the economic turmoil will affect her and her family.

I'm worried. I'm worried about my retirement funds. I'm worried that he's going to make other countries hate us for what he's doing. I just think he's an idiot.

I have a son and he's 30. He has his own family and he's looking for work and he's struggling. This isn't going to help things. He has two children - 18 months and six.

I tend to be a glass half-full type of person, but the president and his ideas are just so crazy sometimes. My financial adviser, who I really trust, did say that some of Trump's plans are good and good for the finance market.

It gives me a little bit of hope, I guess. But then when you see the stock market plunging, it was like "oh, maybe not".

Two tiny, remote Antarctic outposts populated by penguins and seals are among the obscure places targeted by the Trump administration's new tariffs.

Heard and McDonald Islands - a territory which sits 4,000km (2,485 miles) south-west of Australia - are only accessible via a seven-day boat trip from Perth, and haven't been visited by humans in almost a decade.

President Trump on Wednesday unveiled a sweeping import tax scheme, in retaliation for what he said are unfair trade barriers on US products.

A handful of other Australian territories were also hit by the new tariffs, in addition to the Norwegian archipelago Svalbard, the Falkland Islands and The British Indian Ocean Territory.

"It just shows and exemplifies the fact that nowhere on Earth is safe from this," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday.

Like the rest of Australia, the Heard and McDonald Islands, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island are now subject to a tariff of 10%. A tariff of 29% was imposed on the Norfolk Island, which is also an Australian territory and has a population of about 2,200 people.

Heard Island, though, is barren, icy and completely uninhabited - home to Australia's largest and only active volcano, Big Ben, and mostly covered by glaciers.

It is believed the last time people ventured on to Heard Island was in 2016, when a group of amateur radio enthusiasts broadcasted from there with permission of the Australian government.

Mike Coffin, from the University of Tasmania, has made the journey to the surrounding waters seven times to conduct scientific research, and is sceptical about the existence of major exports from the island to the US.

"There's nothing there," he told the BBC.

As far as he knows, there are only two Australian companies which catch and export Patagonian toothfish and mackerel icefish.

What is in abundance, however, is unique and spectacular nature.

The islands are listed by Unesco World Heritage as a rare example of an ecosystem untouched by external plants, animals or human impact.

"It's heavily colonised by penguins and elephant seals and all kinds of sea birds," said Prof Coffin, who studies the undersea geography of the islands.

He recalls observing from afar what he thought was a beach, only the sands "turned out to be probably a few 100,000 penguins".

"Every time a ship goes there and observes it, there's lava flowing down the flanks [of Big Ben]," he said, describing it sweeping over ice and sending up steam.

It's hard to get a clear picture of the trade relationship between the Heard and McDonald Islands and the US.

According to export data from the World Bank, the islands have, over the past few years, usually exported a small amount of products to the US.

But in 2022 the US imported US$1.4m (A$2.23m; ) from the territory, nearly all of it unnamed "machinery and electrical" products.

The US Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration and Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been contacted for comment.

As with many governments around the world, the tariffs have frustrated Australia's leaders, with Albanese saying they are "totally unwarranted" and "not the act of a friend."

From Saturday, all goods imported to the US from anywhere in the world will face a 10% "baseline" tariff.

Donald Trump announced higher rates for some countries he singled out as the "worst offenders" for trade.

Our correspondents have been answering your questions about what this means and the impact it could have.

What happens to US products that are made in China?

Mike Heafield, 60, in Preston, asks Senior Technology reporter, Graham Fraser, What happens to products - like the iPhone - that are made in China by US companies?

One eye-catching consequence of the tariffs announcement has been the impact on Apple, with its share price falling 7%.

The US tech giant has large manufacturing bases in some of the countries hit hardest by President Trump's policy - notably China, which faces tariffs of 54%, and Vietnam (46%).

In 2019, when Trump was first in the White House, Apple was given Chinese tariff exemptions. Apple bosses will be hoping to work out a similar deal this time.

The global investment bank Citi said: "If Apple cannot get exempted this time and assuming Apple gets hit by the accumulative 54% China tariffs and does not pass it through, we estimate about 9% negative impact to the company's total gross margin."

In February, Apple committed to invest more than $500bn (£396bn) in the US over the next four years. At the time, Trump claimed Apple's support for US manufacturing was partially a response to his trade policies, including tariffs.

How will the tariffs impact US consumers?

Paul Miller, in Devon, asks Dharshini David, Deputy Economics editor, about the impact of tariffs on US consumers, and whether the UK could gain from them.

US shoppers could very much be the frontline casualties in this trade war, blighted by higher prices and less choice, regardless of the president's rhetoric.

And that does mean that producers will seek out and take advantage of new markets.

We saw that in the president's first term, when the likes of Vietnam and Malaysia took advantage of the tariffs he imposed on China to increase the amount they sold to America.

Ironically, they consequently are in the firing line now - and so will likely be vying to sell more to the UK – good for consumers, less so for competing businesses

Already, many producers are turning their sights beyond established customers – think whisky makers looking towards Asia. That is likely to intensify.

Trump's announcement may mean a redraft of the global trade map – and our own shopping lists.

• Live updates: Reaction to Trump's tariffs announcement
• At a glance: What president's new taxes mean for EU, China and others

Will this have an effect on the UK's cost of living?

Jock Scott, from Nuneaton, asks Business reporter Nick Edser if the US tariffs have an effect on the UK's cost of living.

As ever when looking at the implications of the tariffs, there's a lot of uncertainty over this. In some circumstances UK prices could go up, in others they could fall.

The tariffs announced by Trump on Wednesday will be paid for by the businesses which import goods into the US. This means the initial impact of price rises is likely to be on US consumers, if American firms pass on the extra costs.

However, some economists think the tariffs could strengthen the value of the dollar against other currencies. If the pound weakens against the dollar, then UK firms importing goods from the US will face higher costs. This could then lead to higher prices of these goods in UK shops if companies cannot absorb the increased costs themselves.

Also, if the UK government decides to retaliate with tariffs of its own on US goods entering the UK, there is a risk UK prices could rise if British businesses pass on the extra costs to customers.

However, some economists have suggested prices could also fall as a result of the tariffs.

Swati Dhingra, an economist and member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, which sets interest rates, has suggested that firms which normally send their goods to the US may instead send them to countries which don't have such steep tariffs, like the UK, potentially leading to a flood of cheaper goods.

What does this mean for my pension?

Robert Jones, from Cardiff, asks Kevin Peachy, Cost of living correspondent, about the impact of tariffs on our pension investments.

There is little doubt Trump's announcement on tariffs has led to immediate moves in share prices and are also likely to have a longer-term economic impact.

Robert and Stephen have mentioned the drop in the value of their pension investments, and the situation will be unsettling for millions of people with any kind of investments.

Experts say that investors have always had to ride economic shocks. Investments, by definition, require a long-term outlook and strategy. So, they are urging people not to panic or make knee-jerk decisions.

That said, for those about to draw on investments, it may be more worrying, albeit that most pension savings are moved into safer holdings like cash or bonds as people approach retirement age. The state pension is unaffected.

Does the UK have a 'Brexit benefit' over the EU?

Paul Naldrett from Windsor asks Business correspondent Marc Ashdown if the UK's position outside of the European Union is actually an opportunity as the EU is given 20% tariffs.

Some are referring to a "Brexit benefit" because the UK is only subject to 10% tariffs rather than the 20% being slapped on the EU.

Not only will that limit the pain felt by British businesses compared to their European neighbours, but it could present trading opportunities.

UK exporters to America could have a competitive edge, with US importers only facing half the tax by dealing with UK businesses instead of EU businesses.

British firms - and consumers - could also benefit from cheaper goods finding their way here instead of America if the extra costs prove insurmountable.

But, there are concerns about the impact that could have on homegrown industries if cheap products, possibly with lower standards, flood the UK market.

Fundamentally wrong, was how Germany's outgoing chancellor, Olaf Scholz, described the new Trump tariffs.

A unilateral attack - that was the view of Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

French President Emmanuel Macron called them brutal, unfounded and certain to have a "massive impact" on the European economy.

He convened an emergency meeting with representatives of French businesses most affected by the newly announced 20% tariffs on EU goods sold to the US and issued a call to arms to European business "not to invest in America for some time until we have clarified things".

"What message would we send by having major European players investing billions of euros in the American economy at a time when [the US] is hitting us?" he said.

For France it's wine, champagne and the aeronautical industry, for Germany it's cars, and for Italy it's luxury goods. It's well known these sectors sell well abroad and now risk being clobbered by US import taxes.

Overall, the chemicals, machinery and equipment industries in the EU are seen as the most vulnerable to the tariffs.

But dig a little deeper and there are other EU sectors, reliant on the US market, that could come as a bit of a surprise.

French cognac, generally dismissed as an old person's tipple in Europe, is the booze of choice for many American rappers, playing a prominent role in the music and lifestyle of stars like Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg. More than 40% of French brandy is exported to the US.

Spain exports a lot of gas turbines to the US, alongside tonnes of olive oil.

Which EU countries are most exposed?

When we look at which EU countries are most exposed to the US in terms of GDP, the picture is also not quite what you might imagine.

Ireland is highly dependent on the US in terms of goods and services. Those exports - a lot linked to the pharmaceutical industry (which is currently exempt from the 20% tariffs, until the US boosts its own production) and also tech - make up a fifth of Ireland's GDP.

Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta are more exposed than the EU average in terms of services exports.

Belgium, the Netherlands and Slovakia are in a similar position when it comes to goods.

Germany has a greater exposure to the US than the other major EU economies, at over 5% of GDP, followed by Italy (about 4%), France (3%) and Spain (just over 2%). These figures were collated in 2024 by CaixaBank research based on Eurostat figures for the previous year.

Will the EU retaliate?

The response to the new US tariffs is being coordinated at EU HQ in Brussels. The European Commission deals with all overarching trade matters for the bloc's members.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen claims they hold "a lot of cards", including the strength to negotiate and the power to push back.

The US economy is mighty. It makes up 25% of global GDP.

But the EU single market of 450 million people (the biggest single market in the world) stands very close in size at 22% of global GDP.

So, yes, the EU can bite - hard - as well as bark when it comes to retaliating against Donald Trump's tariffs. Especially if, as EU figures have suggested, the bloc targets US services like Big Tech, possibly including Apple, Meta, Amazon and even Elon Musk's platform X.

But that risks a new backlash by the Trump administration. And the EU wants to avoid upping the ante.

If you take politics into account, not just economics, the EU has less room for manoeuvre than you might think.

Take energy supplies, the EU has been buying US liquified natural gas (LNG) after it weaned itself off Russian gas following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Tricky to reduce or heavily tax those imports. That would badly impact EU consumers, not only US industry, and it would worsen already dismal relations with the US.

Think of all the recent rows over defence spending and Ukraine. Aside from the economic hell the EU sees and hopes to avoid in the new Trump tariffs, the bloc also really wants to sidestep a trade war with the country that used to be Europe's best friend.

So, the Brussels plan is: threaten heavy retaliation, hope Donald Trump is persuaded to negotiate, then pray he'll stage a U-turn on tariffs.

The EU's trade commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, says he's speaking to his US counterparts on Friday. It's an opening gambit. The EU is in no rush to retaliate.

What could the EU offer the US in a negotiation?

The Trump administration has ruled out any country negotiating its way out of the new tariffs before they become live this weekend. But after that, what could the EU offer the US president to persuade him to back down?

Trump is incandescent about the EU's massive trade surplus. It sells far more goods than it buys from the US. The surplus for 2024 was around $200bn (€180bn; $153bn).

It's the other way round when it comes to services - the US sells far more to the EU than the other way round. That is why the EU thinks its main retaliatory leverage against the US would lie in services, like banks and big tech.

To redress the goods imbalance, the EU could offer to buy more LNG from the US, or more military equipment, following its pledge to Washington to do more for its own security.

But that would break a different EU promise - to boost withering European arms industries by trying to buy EU when re-arming EU countries. It is something the US has already objected to, so that's tricky.

Brussels could also cut direct and indirect tariffs on US goods. It could lose quotas on US agricultural produce.

It would be hugely reluctant to comply with another US ask: to water down its much-trumpeted digital regulations, aimed at limiting monopolies and placing restrictions on speech and content in the EU.

How bad can this all get?

How do you price in the possible collapse of the international trading system, EU officials ask.

European firms fret about their markets being flooded by cheap goods from non-EU countries that are also hit by Trump tariffs and seeking to sell elsewhere.

The risk is very real when it comes to China. Trump is slapping more that 50% tariffs on Beijing when you add it all up.

Would the EU have to ratchet up its import duties on Chinese goods to protect itself and could that lead to an unintended trade war with China?

These are anxious and hugely uncertain economic times.

Which is why the European Commission says it also wants to focus on matters it can control - if EU capitals agree - and that is reducing internal barriers within the EU single market.

Those barriers, such as tax regimes, vary from country to country and impact the EU's overall economic growth and competitiveness.

The IMF calculates they're equivalent to a 45% tariff on EU manufacturing; 110% when it comes to services.

That is far higher than the tariffs now imposed on the EU by Donald Trump.

EU countries say they're united in combating those. So far they've been divided over completing their own internal market.

Two tiny, remote Antarctic outposts populated by penguins and seals are among the obscure places targeted by the Trump administration's new tariffs.

Heard and McDonald Islands - a territory which sits 4,000km (2,485 miles) south-west of Australia - are only accessible via a seven-day boat trip from Perth, and haven't been visited by humans in almost a decade.

President Trump on Wednesday unveiled a sweeping import tax scheme, in retaliation for what he said are unfair trade barriers on US products.

A handful of other Australian territories were also hit by the new tariffs, in addition to the Norwegian archipelago Svalbard, the Falkland Islands and The British Indian Ocean Territory.

"It just shows and exemplifies the fact that nowhere on Earth is safe from this," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday.

Like the rest of Australia, the Heard and McDonald Islands, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island are now subject to a tariff of 10%. A tariff of 29% was imposed on the Norfolk Island, which is also an Australian territory and has a population of about 2,200 people.

Heard Island, though, is barren, icy and completely uninhabited - home to Australia's largest and only active volcano, Big Ben, and mostly covered by glaciers.

It is believed the last time people ventured on to Heard Island was in 2016, when a group of amateur radio enthusiasts broadcasted from there with permission of the Australian government.

Mike Coffin, from the University of Tasmania, has made the journey to the surrounding waters seven times to conduct scientific research, and is sceptical about the existence of major exports from the island to the US.

"There's nothing there," he told the BBC.

As far as he knows, there are only two Australian companies which catch and export Patagonian toothfish and mackerel icefish.

What is in abundance, however, is unique and spectacular nature.

The islands are listed by Unesco World Heritage as a rare example of an ecosystem untouched by external plants, animals or human impact.

"It's heavily colonised by penguins and elephant seals and all kinds of sea birds," said Prof Coffin, who studies the undersea geography of the islands.

He recalls observing from afar what he thought was a beach, only the sands "turned out to be probably a few 100,000 penguins".

"Every time a ship goes there and observes it, there's lava flowing down the flanks [of Big Ben]," he said, describing it sweeping over ice and sending up steam.

It's hard to get a clear picture of the trade relationship between the Heard and McDonald Islands and the US.

According to export data from the World Bank, the islands have, over the past few years, usually exported a small amount of products to the US.

But in 2022 the US imported US$1.4m (A$2.23m; ) from the territory, nearly all of it unnamed "machinery and electrical" products.

The US Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration and Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been contacted for comment.

As with many governments around the world, the tariffs have frustrated Australia's leaders, with Albanese saying they are "totally unwarranted" and "not the act of a friend."