A daily 5 minute news wrap for English learners and people with a disability.
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TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to SBS News in Easy English. I'm Catriona Stirrat.
The Federal Opposition has questioned Penny Wong's call for the recognition of a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution.
Senator Wong says recognition is an important step towards that goal and says a two-state solution is the only hope for long term peace and security for Israel.
But Coalition Senator Simon Birmingham has told the ABC Senator Wong needs to clarify her position.
"These things are easy to say but to be simultaneously urging for a ceasefire that would seem to leave Hamas in place is, of course, not going to achieve the type of outcome or environment that could give you a secure environment for a two-state solution to be negotiated."
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Millions of Muslims across the world are celebrating Eid Al Fitr, known as the festival of breaking the fast to mark the end of Ramadan.
It's known as the holiest month in the Islamic calendar where Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.
In a statement, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said many Muslims in Australia will mark the festival with sorrow due to the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
He says it's a difficult and anxious time for many.
And politicians were not invited to attend the Islamic celebration, Eid-Al-Fitr at a prominent mosque in Australia due to the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Secretary of the Lebanese Muslim Association, Gamel Kheir says it was important for politicians to not attend the Lakemba mosque in Sydney.
"Absolutely no politicians, regardless of what persuasion, regardless of what position they've taken. We want to show unity, and we're calling on our politicians to do the same. There is no unity. There's no question of unity when it comes to a ceasefire and humanitarian crisis that we're suffering at the moment. And if politicians want to play politics well they're not invited to our mosques."
According to Gaza's health ministry, more than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel retaliated against Hamas' attack on October 7 that killed 1200 people and resulted in more than 200 taken hostage.
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Adults who recruit children under 18 to commit crimes will face prison sentences of up to 15 years' under changes proposed for South Australia.
Attorney-General Kyam Maher says the changes have come about after engagement over a discussion paper proposing to raise the age of criminal responsibility in SA and not in response to any specific event or a rise in youth crime.
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An expert in environment and climate change law says a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that found Switzerland's government violated the right of its citizens because of climate change inaction sets a new precedent for litigation.
The case involved a group of more than 2,500 elderly Swiss women arguing that the government's climate inaction violated their human rights because it undermined their health and quality of life.
Professor Annalisa Saveresi says the ruling is very significant within the Council of Europe, but also across the world.
"This shows that there is a truly global movement here that uses human rights law as a tool to hold states to account for doing what they said they would do under the Paris (climate) agreement. So this is actually giving teeth to an international instrument that has been criticised by many for being not enforceable enough. Clearly here we have human rights court stepping up to the plate."
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In football,
Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson says fans can expect to see the side to go hard in their friendly underway against Mexico in Texas.
Speaking before the match, he told Channel 10 the encounter will be good preparation for the Paris Olympics.
"We might take some hits and learn from that but we're going to get some good pictures as well so we're going to be extremely brave on the ball tonight and aggressive in pressing when the period is there to do that. So, you're going to see a very, very brave Matildas on the ball tonight."
