Speaker 1: Today's biggest news from The Australian. I'm Claire Harvey with
Speaker 1: the Front's afternoon headlines. Tensions in Europe a sky high
Speaker 1: after the powerful NATO Secretary General Mark Rutter warned Russian
Speaker 1: President Vladimir Putin that his pilots could shoot down Russian
Speaker 1: warplanes if they stray over European territory.
Speaker 2: Our pilots know what to do, and if necessary, they
Speaker 2: can do the ultimate.
Speaker 1: Donald Trump has backed the call.
Speaker 3: I'm very dissatisfied with what Russia is doing and what
Speaker 3: President Putin is doing.
Speaker 2: I haven't liked it at all. Let's face it. We
Speaker 2: have trained and prepared for these situations and our fighter
Speaker 2: jet pilots know exactly what to do. For fifty years
Speaker 2: now from the Soviet days. Now is Russia. We have
Speaker 2: had these incursions before. They will assess the danger and
Speaker 2: if the danger is such that they feel they really
Speaker 2: have to take down the plane, then they can. But
Speaker 2: they also decided that there's no imminent threat, and then
Speaker 2: they will escort them. Signed off t airspace.
Speaker 1: Russia has in recent weeks sent drones over countries that
Speaker 1: are part of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which
Speaker 1: was formed after World War II by the US, Canada,
Speaker 1: and European partners. NATO was the catalyst for Russia's invasion
Speaker 1: of Ukraine after Ukraine's campaign to join NATO in order
Speaker 1: to gain the protection of its famous Article five, which
Speaker 1: obliges all partners to protect one another if attacked. Russia
Speaker 1: says the shooting down of one of its military aircraft
Speaker 1: would be an act of war. Donald Trump has slapped
Speaker 1: a one hundred percent tariff on foreign made pharmaceutical products,
Speaker 1: meaning American consumers will have to pay double the cost
Speaker 1: for their drugs. Australia sends two billion dollars worth of
Speaker 1: pharmaceuticals to America perannum, mainly blood products like plasma and vaccines.
Speaker 1: On social media, Trump said from October one, the tax
Speaker 1: would be slapped on any branded or patented pharmaceutical product
Speaker 1: unless the manufacturer has already begun building a factory in America.
Speaker 1: The White House says the tariffs could rise to two
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty percent. The presidents also slapping new taxes
Speaker 1: on heavy trucks, kitchen cabinets, and bathroom vanities imported into
Speaker 1: the US. It's all part of Trump's bid to bring
Speaker 1: manufacturing home. The Federal Opposition says it's a catastrophe for
Speaker 1: exporters and is blaming Anthony Albanesi for not being able
Speaker 1: to secure an exemption for Australia. Bart Australia's biggest farmer company, CSL,
Speaker 1: says it's not worried as it already manufactures in the
Speaker 1: US and is building more capacity in its American laboratories.
Speaker 1: The Trump administration wants better access for American made drugs
Speaker 1: to Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, which makes prescription medications much
Speaker 1: cheaper to Australian patients through a combination of taxpayer subsidies
Speaker 1: and negotiations with manufacturers. Drugs have to be approved before
Speaker 1: being allowed for sale here, and that means some American
Speaker 1: farmer companies believe they're being unfairly locked out. Here's Health
Speaker 1: Minister Mark Butler.
Speaker 3: None of these latest announcements for the US administration make
Speaker 3: a jot of difference to our determination to protect the PBS.
Speaker 3: We are determined to do everything to protect that PBS.
Speaker 3: I guess our job now is to protect the interests
Speaker 3: of Australians and also to do what we can to
Speaker 3: support Australian companies who might be hit by what we
Speaker 3: regard as unfair, unjustified tariffs after twenty years of free trade.
Speaker 1: Check out those stories live right now at Beaustralian dot
Speaker 1: com dot au and come back to the front first
Speaker 1: thing in the morning for a look at an artist
Speaker 1: you should know about, the superstar of Indigenous art Archie Moore,