TRANSCRIPT
- China has dropped all trade tariffs against Australian winemakers.
- At least 11 people have died after Cyclone Gamane strikes island nation of Madagascar.
- The AFL players' association has responded to an alleged drug-testing controversy.
China has dropped its trade tariffs against Australian winemakers in a significant step towards improved diplomatic relations and trade ties.
He Yadong, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce, announced the decision and reaffirmed China's commitment to its trade relationship with Australia.
“In view of changes in China’s relevant wine market conditions, anti-dumping duties and countervailing duties will no longer be imposed on imported relevant wines originating in Australia. China and Australia are each other's important trade partners. We are willing to work with Australia to resolve each other's concerns through dialogue and consultation and jointly promote the stable and healthy development of bilateral economic and trade relations.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has celebrated the news, saying the decision comes at a critical time for Australia's struggling wine industry.
He also highlighted that in 2019, before the tariffs were in place, Australia's wine export to China was worth $1.1 billion a year.
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At least 11 people have died after Cyclone Gamane struck the African island nation of Madagascar.
Local authorities say around 7000 people have been affected by the devastation caused by the cyclone so far, which reached the north of the island on Wednesday.
The cyclone moved across the island with an average wind speed of 150 kilometres per hour and heavy rainfall.
The disaster authority says hundreds of houses, roads and bridges were flooded or destroyed with the full extent of the damage still unclear as many villages in the region have been cut off from the rest of the country.
The island nation of around 30 million people is regularly affected by severe weather.
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An international team of doctors has been horrified by a constant stream of wounded Palestinian children after visiting struggling hospitals in Gaza.
The World Health Organisation says there have been at least 410 attacks on health care in Gaza since October 7, and the United Nations says two-thirds of the region's 36 hospitals are non-functional.
Tanya Haj-Hassan, a paediatric intensive care doctor from Jordan who visited al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the town of Deir al-Balah, described the dire situation.
"It’s catastrophic. There are so many injuries, they have overwhelmed the capacity of not just this hospital but the entire healthcare system that has been targeted and collapsed months ago. And that on top of outbreaks of epidemics, malnutrition, you have a system that is clearly not coping. They’ve run out of the resources they need. There are hundreds if not thousands of aid trucks that are stopped there with the sort of aid that we need at this hospital that can’t get in."
Israel’s bombardment and offensive in Gaza have now killed over 32,500 Palestinians and wounded nearly 75,000 more according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The offensive was triggered by Hamas’ October 7 attack on southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people and abducted 250 hostages, around 100 of whom remain in captivity.
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And in sport,
The AFL players' association has responded to reports up to 100 players were involved in an illicit drugs controversy.
As week three of the season gets under way, the body representing players says only an incredibly small number were being protected by their club doctors.
AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon says the league is unapologetic about giving club doctors powers to withdraw players from games if they were in danger of testing positive on match day.
Chief Executive of the Player's Association Paul Marsh says there's been some miscommunication around the incidents.
"I've been doing this job for nearly 10 years, and there's always talk about the illicit drugs policy, and I think it's a policy that continues to be misunderstood in many quarters. I think a lot of people confuse the illicit drugs policy with the anti-doping policy at times, and I think that's something that despite everyone's best to explain the difference, it still doesn't get picked up. And that came through pretty clearly in some of the commentary."
Sport Integrity Australia says it's opened an investigation, but wouldn't comment further.
