Hello. It's Tuesday, April 5 and you're reading The Loop, a quick wrap-up of today's headlines.
Let's start here
US President Joe Biden has called for Vladimir Putin to face a war crimes trial over alleged atrocities committed in Bucha.
The comments came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the town, near Kyiv, where officials say hundreds of local residents had been killed by Russian forces while Chechen fighters controlled the area.
That destruction and those civilian deaths in Bucha looks set to galvanise the US and Europe into additional sanctions against Russia.
Something you’ll be hearing about today
Secret documents have revealed eyewitness accounts of New Zealand special forces soldiers who accused an Australian SAS soldier of brutalising the corpses of two militiamen in the aftermath of a fierce firefight in East Timor in 1999.
Here's the full story, or you can watch the full Four Corners investigation on iview — but a warning, these stories contain graphic content.
News while you snoozed
- The victims of a fatal landslide in NSW's Blue Mountains have been confirmed as a 49-year-old father and his nine-year-old son who were holidaying in Australia from the UK. A woman and a teenage boy from the same family were critically injured
- Two people have died in a helicopter crash in the Snowy Mountains overnight. NSW Police say the wreckage of the aircraft was found at Kiandra Flats just before midnight, and the identities of the two victims have not been confirmed
What Australia has been searching for online
- June Brown. The EastEnders actress has died, aged 95, after decades on screen. A spokesperson for the program told the BBC that there are "not enough words to describe how much June was loved and adored" and that Brown's "loving warmth, wit and great humour will never be forgotten"
- Peter Gutwein. In case you missed it yesterday, the Tasmanian Premier has confirmed he's resigning from politics, revealing the toll that the last two years of pressure from the pandemic had taken on him. He'll remain in the state's top job until the Liberal Party elects a replacement.
One more thing
Shein haul videos go wild on TikTok, and fast fashion has risen to global domination led by the Chinese company.
Its goods are super cheap — you can get a top for $5, or sunnies for $6 — but its means of achieving low prices for consumers has been criticised for being opaque, driving waste and leading to poor working conditions.
Shein has released its first Sustainability and Social Impact Report for 2021, addressing transparency complaints, and some of the findings include:
- 83 per cent of 700 suppliers had at least one major risk
- 12 per cent had major violations that threatened closure
- Underage labour was found in less than 1 per cent of nearly 700 suppliers where audits were conducted
- Investigators visited factories and found buildings with no fire exits, blocked hallways and bars on windows.
Here's some more on the report and responses to it, but a spokesperson for Shein told ABC's China Tonight that the company enforces a code of conduct for all suppliers and has strict audits using third-party firms.
Reports like this have caused Shein's Gen-Z consumer base to voice concerns over the fast fashion industry — but, for now, it's still one of Australia's most popular shopping apps.
You're up to date
Stay tuned for the PM edition of The Loop later on today.
ABC/wires
