A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability. Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts.
TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to SBS News in Easy English. I'm Haylena Krishnamoorthy.
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Foreign Minister Penny Wong has called footage of Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir berating bound pro-Palestine activists shocking and unacceptable.
Penny Wong says she's asked Australia’s Ambassador to Israel to reiterate calls for the release of the detained Australians and for Israel to ensure no ill treatment of any detainees and to act in line with international obligations.
Australia joins an international chorus condemning the actions, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says are not in line with Israel's values and norms.
It's not clear if the group of bound activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla includes Australians.
NOTE: More than 400 activists, including 11 Australians, have been trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza.
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Unemployment has risen to 4.5 per cent.
The number is up 0.2 per cent on March's figure, with the number of employed people falling by about 19,000 people in April.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics says the rise in unemployment has been driven by a drop in female employment.
It's the first fall in female employment since August 2025.
Those people who were still working in April worked longer, with the hours worked per person rising by 0.9 per cent.
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Dozens of tonnes of medical supplies are being sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo and other African nations fighting an Ebola outbreak.
The World Health Organisation says the outbreak is bigger than initially reported due to infections that went undetected for three weeks before confirmation tests were conducted and the outbreak was declared.
Humanitarian organization Mercy Corps is working in Ituri to prevent further spread.
Vice President of Emergency Response, Whitney Elmer, says building community trust and the rapid mobilisation of resources are critical to stopping the outbreak.
"You need to prioritise the protective equipment, you know, the medical supplies, the training for healthcare personnel, all of that sort of medical side of things, with community engagement, with awareness messaging, with, you know, prevention work. That is sort of the softer side of the response, but equally as important to be able to curb this, to be able to get people to go into health centres and those health seeking behaviours."
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NSW's first Migrant Workers Centre is officially open after a ceremony in Sydney today (21 May).
The Centre is expected to support 2,000 at-risk workers per year through culturally sensitive, community-connected support.
The center’s office will be in the Sydney CBD and will offer outreach to migrants in regional, rural and remote communities.
The state's Labor government has allocated $6.5 million over four years to deliver these services.
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Opposition leader Angus Taylor says he wants government revenues from oil and gas to increase through industry expansion, not increasing taxes.
Mr Taylor is at the Australian Energy Producers conference in Adelaide where he criticised the federal government's net zero policy.
He says his policy will be one of 'energy abundance' claiming more energy will mean energy is cheaper.
Mr Taylor says it will lead to an increase in revenues for government.
"Australia is receiving $22 billion of tax revenues from the oil and gas industry, I want that number to go up, I want that number to go up, but let me tell you how I want it to go up, I want it to go up because there's more investment and more production of oil and gas in this country, more investment, more jobs, more opportunities for Australians, that's how we do it."
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In football, Southampton have failed in their appeal against the club's expulsion from England's Championship playoff final.
Hull City will now play Middlesbrough on Sunday (24 May) in London for the right to play in the next English Premier League season.
Southampton were kicked out after being caught spying on a Middlesbrough training session in the lead-up to their playoff semi-final earlier this month.
They'll also be deducted four points to start next season.
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