​ Australia and EU agree sweeping trade deal in face of global uncertainty. 1 hour ago. Lana LamSydney. Getty. Australia and the European Union have agreed a sweeping free trade deal after eight years of negotiations.. The deal, worth about A$10bn ($7bn; £5.2bn), was signed on Tuesday with Australia’s prime minister and the head of the European Commission describing it as a mutual “win-win”.. As well as removing almost all tariffs on trade, the two have also agreed to increase co-operation on defence and critical minerals.. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the deals as having a focus on “collective resilience” in a world that is “deeply changing”.. “A world where great powers are using tariffs as leverage and supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited in our story,” she said – a nod to US President Donald Trump’s use of tariffs, as well as China’s control of the critical minerals market.. She added that “trust matters more than transactions”, noting Australia and the EU had a “unique relationship” that was “built for the long term”.. What’s in the deal? Beef, wine and defence. Under the deal, almost all EU tariffs will be lifted on Australian agricultural products such as wine, fruit and vegetables, olive oil, seafood, most dairy products and wheat and barley.. This will mean a saving of about A$37m for local wine producers and exporters, the government said.. For Australian consumers, the deal will mean cheaper European wine, spirits, biscuits, chocolates and pasta.. The deal means Italian-style sparkling wine made in Australia can still be sold as prosecco domestically, though the name will be phased out over 10 years for exports.. Australian producers can also continue to use names including parmesan though feta will be subject to “grandfathering and lengthy phase-out periods”.. The issue of food naming rights is sensitive in both Europe and Australia and Australia is now the only country outside of Italy to have secured EU permission to use the name prosecco.. Referring to the matter, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese noted the country’s modern history was built on migrants.. “That’s why whether it’s Greeks coming here and creating feta, or Italians coming and doing parmesan or people from Eastern Europe doing kransky sausages – it’s a connection with Europe.”. The trade agreement was a “perfect balance”, von der Leyen said, as it will be easier for Australians to export to the EU while more EU-made goods will be available in Australia.. But Andrew McDonald from Meat and Livestock Australia said the deal on meat exports was not a fair outcome for Australian farmers who had wanted an annual quota of at least 50,000 tonnes – the deal allows for about 30,000 tonnes, up from 3,389.. “This is unquestionably a missed opportunity for Australia’s red meat producers, processors and exporters,” he said.. The new security and defence partnership will see greater co-operation in the defence industry, counter terr  

​ China dials back on fuel price hikes to ‘reduce burden’ on drivers. 2 hours ago. Gavin Butler. Getty Images. China has dialled back on planned fuel price hikes in a bid to “reduce the burden” on drivers, as energy costs surge amid the Iran war.. The local price of petrol has jumped by about 20% since the start of the conflict, which has seen Iran effectively close one of the world’s busiest oil shipping channels, the Strait of Hormuz.. Gasoline and diesel prices were initially set to rise by 2,205 yuan (£239; $320) and 2,120 yuan per tonne respectively – but after government adjustments, the increases will be nearly halved to 1,160 yuan and 1,115 yuan, starting Tuesday.. More than 300 million people in China drive cars that run on petrol or diesel, with Gulf countries a major source of the country’s oil.. Long queues of cars had formed outside petrol stations in multiple Chinese cities over the weekend, with some stations having to post notices that they had run out of fuel.. The latest price hike was the country’s fifth and largest of the year so far – even with the reduction.. On Tuesday, the price of Brent crude oil jumped above $100 a barrel – a day after prices plunged, as conflicting accounts of potential talks between US and Iran emerged.. Beijing has over the years taken advantage of lower crude prices and the abundance of supply from Gulf states to build one of the world’s biggest oil reserves, Ole Hansen, Saxo Bank’s head of commodity strategy, told the BBC last week.. In January and February of this year, Beijing bought 16% more crude compared to the same time period a year earlier, according to its customs administration.. Iran, whose oil is sanctioned by the US, has been a key supplier of cheap crude for China, with reports suggesting that Beijing buys more than 80% of Iran’s oil exports.. Hansen said that estimates show China has built up reserves of around 900 million barrels – just under three months’ worth of imports. Figures from Columbia University, cited by Chinese state media, said China had petrol reserves of some 1.4 billion barrels.. Despite its reserves, Beijing has shown signs of caution to manage its supplies in the short-term.. Authorities in China reportedly ordered its oil refineries to temporarily cease fuel exports, in an attempt to keep domestic prices under control. China’s government did not respond to BBC queries on the matter.. Barrels from Saudi Arabia and Iran account for more than 10% of its imports each, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).. “To mitigate the impact of abnormal increases in international oil prices, ease the burden on downstream users and ensure stable economic operations and public welfare, temporary regulatory measures have been adopted,” China’s state planner said in a statement on Monday.. The price hikes were implemented by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), which reviews petrol and diesel prices every 10 days and adjusts based on global p  

​ Colombian military plane crash kills at least 66. 5 hours ago. Ione Wells,South America correspondentand. Vanessa Buschschlüter,Latin America editor, News Online. A Colombian Air Force plane crashed shortly after takeoff in the south of the country, leaving at least 66 people dead and dozens injured, officials have said.. Air force commander Carlos Fernando Silva Rueda said 114 army personnel were on board, as well as 11 crew.. The plane, a US-made C-130 Hercules used for transporting troops, came down near the town of Puerto Leguízamo, in Putumayo province.. Emergency workers sent to the area were seen searching through the wreckage for survivors. The cause of the crash was being investigated.. Daniel Ortiz / AFP via Getty Image. Colombian Defence Minister Pedro Sánchez said the Lockheed Martin-built Hercules C-130 transport plane had suffered “a tragic accident while it was taking off from Puerto Leguízamo, transporting troops of our security forces”.. He described the incident near the border with Peru as “deeply sad for the country”.. Ammunition being carried on board detonated as a result of a fire on the aircraft, Sanchez later said.. A military source told AFP that 58 soldiers had died, along with six air force personnel and two police officers.. Two military sources also told Reuters that 66 people had died.. The incident was one of the deadliest accidents in recent history for Colombia’s Air Force.. Images shared by local media show a plume of smoke rising from the site and trucks carrying soldiers heading to the area.. Footage on local news sites also appears to show locals transporting what seem to be injured soldiers from the accident site to hospitals on the back of small motorbikes.. President Gustavo Petro wrote on X that “this horrendous accident … should not have happened”.. In the lengthy post, he also blamed “bureaucratic problems” for holding up his plans to modernise the armed forces’ equipment and their aircraft.. “I will allow no further delays, the lives of our young people are at stake,” he wrote, without clarifying what may have caused the accident.. Last month, a Bolivian Air Force C-130 Hercules transporting banknotes crashed in the west of the country, killing at least 20 people.. At least 20 killed after military plane carrying banknotes crashes in Bolivia. Aviation accidents and incidents. Colombia  

​ Ultimatums, diplomacy and a trip to Graceland as Trump eyes a deal with Iran. 3 hours ago. Anthony ZurcherNorth America correspondent. America may be a nation at war, but President Donald Trump’s activities over the past few days have been a mix of diplomacy and diversions – with the occasional swing towards the surreal.. On Friday, he said the US war against Iran was “winding down”. By Saturday night, he had given Iran a 48-hour deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face withering new American airstrikes.. The next day, he golfed and spent the afternoon at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.. By Monday morning, with global markets swooning, he said the Iranians were engaging in “constructive” talks with the US. Then he flew to Memphis, Tennessee, gave a speech and visited Graceland, music legend Elvis Presley’s historic home.. Meanwhile, US and Israeli airstrikes on Iranian targets are ongoing. The Iranians continue to fire missiles and launch drones against US forces and its Middle East allies. Traffic through Hormuz remains limited.. At the time, Trump’s Saturday-night ultimatum seemed clear: if Iran didn’t allow full access to Hormuz for international shipping, the US would plunge the nation into darkness by targeting its energy production infrastructure.. It was a stark warning. Iran replied that it would, in turn, target regional energy and water infrastructure. A new escalation of the three-week war, with potentially dire consequences for civilians, appeared imminent.. By Monday morning, however, Trump had called off the strikes – at least temporarily.. US contact with an unnamed Iranian leader – contact not confirmed by Iran – was enough to merit a five-day stay of the threatened attacks, the president said.. He struck an optimistic tone over the course of the day, as he flew to Tennessee for a visit he said had been planned weeks earlier.. The US and Iran have “major points of agreement,” he said from the tarmac before his departure.. “They want very much to make a deal,” he said. “We’d like to make a deal, too.”. A few hours later, speaking to gathered US National Guard personnel in Memphis, he said the US was having “very, very good discussions” with Iran.. “Iran has one more opportunity to end its threats to America and our allies,” he said. “We hope they take it.”. Then Trump headed to Graceland, Memphis’s most famous tourist attraction, to tout a drop in the city’s crime rate, which he attributed to his deployment of National Guard soldiers to its streets.. As Trump walked through Elvis’s home, observing the fashion and design tastes of the “king of rock’n’roll”, reports continued to filter in of a presidential phone call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and potential direct talks with Iranian officials later in the week.. Diplomatic wheels, it seemed, were in motion, even as the lack of detail left many around the world with suspicious minds, as Elvis once crooned.. Iranian state media, citing Trump’s Truth Social  

​ Inside the alleged Russian operation to trigger anti-government protests in Angola. 7 hours ago. Maria Jevstafjeva,BBC Global Disinformation Unit,. Ilya Barabanov & Investigations Team,BBC Russian and. Leandro Prazeres,BBC Brasil. Serviço de Investigação Criminal de Angola. Two Russians are due to go on trial in Angola accused of stirring up anti-government protests, conducting a campaign of disinformation, and attempting to interfere in next year’s presidential election.. Arrested last August, political consultant Igor Ratchin and translator Lev Lakshtanov are facing 11 charges, including terrorism, espionage and influence peddling.. The BBC has obtained a copy of the indictment that includes charges relating to an alleged operation aimed at changing the political course of Angola.. The Russians’ lawyers challenge the indictment on the grounds that it lacks “concrete and objective facts”.. According to the prosecution, the Russians acted on behalf of Africa Politology, a shadowy network of operatives and intelligence officers in Africa that emerged from the now-defunct Wagner Group, whose founder Yevgeny Prigozhin died in 2023 in a plane crash.. Political operatives linked to Wagner have been active across Africa for more than a decade, in particular in the Central African Republic, Mali, and Madagascar.. The Russians’ defence team says they are not connected to Africa Politology or the Wagner Group, were not acting on behalf of the Russian state, and were instead cooperating to create a cultural “Russian House” in Luanda.. Angola is a top African oil producer and diamond exporter. Its natural resources and strategic position make it a country of continued interest for Moscow. But while ties date back to the Cold War, Angola has been gradually drifting away from Russia’s sphere of influence.. Getty Images. Russian diamond mining company Alrosa and bank VTB were forced to leave Angola due to international sanctions imposed because of the Ukraine war.. Angolan President João Lourenço has pivoted towards the West, and has not met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin since 2019.. The Russian operatives in Africa were breaking new ground by moving into Angola, it is claimed.. “This is indicative of Russian anxiety of the direction of travel of Angola under the Lourenço administration,” says Alex Vines, Africa programme director at think-tank European Council on Foreign Relations.. “There’s clearly an element of Russian disinformation to try and build up more sympathy towards the Russian Federation.”. Alongside the Russians, two Angolans will also face trial for their alleged part in the Russian-linked influence operation.. The prosecution alleges the Russians hired sports journalist Amor Carlos Tomé and political activist Francisco Oliveira to conduct their activities in the country.. They are facing nine and five charges respectively, including terrorism, espionage, and influence peddling.. The legal team representing the Angolan defendants