TRANSCRIPT
- The global tariff war heats up as the EU imposes countermeasures on the US
- Philippines' former president travels to the Hague to face charges over his violent war on drugs
- The Illawarra Hawks level up to Melbourne United with a dramatic finish in the NBL
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The European Union has announced 26 billion euros of counter-tariffs on goods from the United States, intensifying a global trade war after U-S tariffs on steel and aluminium came into effect.
The European Commission says it will end its current suspension of tariffs on April the 1st and implement further duties by April the 13th.
The suspended tariffs apply to products including boats, motorbikes and bourbon, with more expected in the coming weeks.
Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen says the measures are proportionate.
"The European Union must act to protect consumers and business. The countermeasures we take today are strong, but proportionate. As the United States are applying tariffs worth $28 billion, we are responding with countermeasures worth 26 billion euros. This matches the economic scope of the tariffs of the United States."
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Union officials in Australia say Donald Trump is using trade tariffs to steal and weaken Australia's domestic steel industry.
The comments come as US tariffs on steel and aluminium come into effect, with Australia failing to secure an exemption.
Australia sends about $800 million worth of steel to the US each year, but it only represents 0.2 per cent of exports.
Dr Jenny Gordon, an Honorary Professor at the Centre for Social Research and Methods at the ANU, says the broader global impacts of the tariffs could be challenging.
"If the world doesn't want what we sell because of global recession then commodity prices go down and that means Australia's terms of trade get weaker, and it means buying imports is far more expensive. And that just pushes up the cost of living, makes it harder for Australian firms to compete with the rest of the world because they often rely on imports. "
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Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has travelled to the Hague after his surprise arrest at Manila airport on Tuesday.
The International Criminal Court ordered the arrest after accusing him of crimes against humanity over the deadly "war on drugs" that defined his presidency.
National police say 6,200 people were killed during anti-drug operations under Mr Duterte, but human rights groups claim there were tens of thousands of extra-judicial killings.
The Philippines withdrew from the court's founding treaty in 2019 but the ICC says it has jurisdiction to investigate alleged crimes that took place while a country was a member.
Presidential spokesperson Claire Castro says the Philippine government is cooperating with the ICC.
“There is a warrant of arrest second, there are cases that were filed. Third, there are victims that will give their statement to the court. This is not just a made up story, there are victims, this is not planting of evidence. The case did not come from the Philippines. This case is pending in the ICC.”
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New South Wales Police have arrested a man in connection with the theft of a flag from a mosque in Western Sydney last week.
CCTV footage of the incident, seen by SBS, shows a man cutting down the flag with a knife at a Shia mosque in Sefton.
A 39-year-old has been charged with stealing and malicious damage and appeared in Bankstown Local Court on Tuesday.
In a second incident, police have also confirmed a black flag was left near the same mosque on Tuesday.
CCTV footage, also seen by SBS, shows a man enter the front of the gates of the mosque holding flag with the 'tawhid' symbol – which has been used by IS, al-Qaeda, and other jihadist groups.
Mosque leaders say they discovered a note insulting worshippers of the mosque and threatening to continue pulling down flags.
Police say investigations into the second incident are continuing and there is no ongoing threat to the local community.
A spokesperson for Sefton Mosque, Sheikh Mohammad Hourani, says the community is feeling "tremendous fear".
“I would like to see an increase in the government support and the government assistance to these places of worship... and secondly to try and combat this issue as much as they can, this is very important, especially after the first incident and then following the second incident .. I do think there needs to be tougher laws on this offence.”
Mr Hourani says a meeting with counter terrorism police took place the mosque yesterday.
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And in basketball, the Illawarra Hawks have levelled the NBL championship series with a tense away win over Melbourne United.
Star imports Harvey and Trey Kell recovered from poor game-one showings to lead the Hawks to a thrilling 102 to 100 victory at John Cain Arena.
It leaves the best-of-five series locked at 1 apiece ahead of the next clash in Wollongong on Sunday.
A three-point shot from Harvey put the Hawks in head in the final minutes of the games, while Melbourne's captain Chris Goulding failed to find the back of the net to match it just before the buzzer.
