SBS News in Easy English 1 Sep 2025

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TRANSCRIPT:

A man has been arrested after ramming a vehicle through the gates of the Russian Consulate in eastern Sydney.

New South Wales Police allege the 39 year old man accelerated through the gates of the consulate in Woollahra after being approached by officers.

They'd been called to the property to check reports of an unauthorised vehicle in the driveway.

A 24‑year‑old constable sustained a hand injury during the incident.

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There have been ugly scenes across Australia during anti immigration marches held in major cities.

In Melbourne, video has shown up to 30 men in black attacking an Indigenous protest camp known as Camp Sovereignty, with the men using flagpoles as weapons.

"Stop. Jesus. Stop. What's wrong? Stop."

Police have reported a number of arrests too: six taken into custody and two injured officers in Melbourne alone.

In Sydney there were three arrests - one a woman in Hyde Park who was allegedly being belligerent, and later in the evening two men who were arrested at a bar for assaulting a police officer.

Three people were charged in Perth, while in Adelaide, three were arrested, while a placard showing accused police killer Dezi Freeman sparked outrage.

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A flotilla of 20 boats has set sail from Barcelona for Gaza in what organisers have called the largest bid yet to break Israel’s blockade.

Activists with the Global Sumud Flotilla have demanded safe passage and a humanitarian sea corridor, saying that over half a million people face catastrophic hunger.

Participants from 44 countries are on board, among them Steve, who has withheld his surname for security.

He says he felt he had no other choice but to join the flotilla.

“It’s just gotten to the point where I can’t sit by and not do anything any more. I feel like really the fate of humanity is on the line and I need to do something, so I’m here.”

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At least nine people have been killed in a 6.0 magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan.

Officials say the quake hit near Jalalabad, near the Pakistan border.

Another 25 people have been reported injured in Nangarhar province.

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The United Nations has urged Australia and Turkiye to resolve a long-running tussle over who will host the COP31 climate summit.

Climate chief Simon Stiell has called the delay unhelpful and unnecessary.

Environment Minister Murray Watt says the federal government is still working on a bid for Australia to host the summit in Adelaide.

Mr Watt has told Sky News the Labor government is very keen to host the event.

"Unfortunately, we haven't seen Turkiye withdraw its bid, despite the fact that I don't think there's a single other country around the world who supports their bid, whereas Australia has huge support, particularly given that we are looking to host this in conjunction with countries in the Pacific as well."

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The federal government is to waive the social security debts of domestic violence survivors.

Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek has confirmed Services Australia will be given extended powers to cancel debts.

She says the policy will apply to debts accumulated through coercive control or financial misconduct.

Ms Plibersek says the measure is an important step to help stop perpetrators using Commonwealth systems to abuse their partners.

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The latest figures on overdose deaths in Australia show that more middle-aged and older Australians are dying in this way.

The 2025 Annual Overdose Report has found there's been a 300 per cent increase in the representation of older Australians aged 50 and over in the statistics.

It has also found the rate of unintentional overdose deaths remains persistently higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Penington Institute Research Director Dr Jake Dizard says more needs to be done to address these rates.

"We emphasise that every death is preventable, and no death is acceptable, in areas like the road toll and areas like tobacco. And the same applies to overdose. Every overdose death is preventable... We have spent enormous amounts of money on law enforcement. Billions and billions on law enforcement against drugs, and of course that has had some effect, but we haven't spent nearly the money that we need to, and not invested nearly the resources we need to, to bring the overdose toll down."

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