A daily five-minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability.
This is SBS News in Easy English, I'm Biwa Kwan.
//
Victoria's government says it will introduce legislation to ban the Nazi salute.
It comes after about 30 men repeatedly performed the gesture during an anti-transgender rights rally outside Victoria's parliament over the weekend.
The state's attorney-general, Jaclyn Symes, says it could still be months before the new legislation comes into effect - as consultation with various groups will need to take place first.
The new legislation would update laws that came into effect at the start of this year, banning the public display of the Nazi symbols to stop its use in spreading fear and hate.
//
Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow within the next 24 hours.
Mr Xi will be the first world leader to shake Mr Putin's hand since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader.
The discussions come as China seeks to position itself as a peacemaker, after earlier this month mediating a surprise deal to restore relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
China last month published a 12-point plan on the war in Ukraine, calling for peace talks.
US National Security Council spokesman, John Kirby, says US officials are suspicious of China's attempt to mediate the war in Ukraine.
"If coming out of this meeting, there's some sort of call for a ceasefire. Well, that's just going to be unacceptable because all that's going to do, Mike, is ratify Russia's conquest to date. All that's going to do is give Mr Putin more time to refit, retrain, remain, and try to plan for renewed offensives at a time of his choosing. We hope and we've said this before, that Mr President Xi will call and talk to President Zelenskyy, we believe the Chinese need to get the Ukrainian perspective here."
Ahead of the meeting with Mr Xi, Mr Putin made a surprise visit to the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
Russian state media released footage showing the president on his first trip to Ukraine's Donbas region since he launched a full-scale invasion last year.
A former adviser to the former US Army commander in Europe, Mark Voyger, says the visit is strategic.
"To the West the message is one of defiance, you know, especially, you know, with this visit coming on the wings of the ICC (International Criminal Court) decision, ruling in The Hague. Pretty much he's showing that he's unapologetic and he, you know, effectively he wants to show that he's above those legal developments. And also to his people, he's showing that he's in control."
//
Hundreds of overseas PhD students from countries such as Iran, China, India and Pakistan are waiting as long as three years to have their visas approved.
Academics say they're frustrated by the wait times with fully funded research on hold and students with grants stuck in limbo.
Academics who've approved PHD students still stuck overseas are also frustrated.
University of Sydney lecturer in computer science, Clement Canoone, says Australia risks losing crucial research and talent.
"It's it's definitely a wasted opportunity for Australia. These are brilliant students. It's also in the long term going to be, I'm sure very damaging. I'm not an isolated case. And I've already heard from people and from students from people saying they will probably not send their students to Australia because of that it's too much of a risk and from students saying they have other opportunities in Europe, in North America and it's just not worth even doing that in some cases."
The Home Affairs department says half of all postgraduate research students receive visas within four months. But it can stretch out to longer than year in one in 10 cases.
//
In Tennis, Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina has avenged her defeat in the Australian Open final by defeating Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets to win the Indian Wells title.
In January, Sabalenka beat Rybakina in three sets in Melbourne to win her first Grand Slam.
It is Rybakina's fourth career title, her first since Wimbledon, and pushes her ranking to a new career high of number 7.
Speaking on-court after the match, Rybakina says she is happy to finally defeat the world number 2 for the first time in five attempts.
Rybakina: Yeah, it's actually the first time it went my way so we see we will hopefully play many more finals.
Sabalenka: I will make sure it was the last one.
Rybakina: No, no, no. We'll see next time. It's been always a pleasure to play against you."
//
You've been listening to SBS News in Easy English, I'm Biwa Kwan.
Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts.
