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SBS News in Easy English 22 August

A high-angle photo shows a small inflatable boat with people in it, positioned next to a large whale. The whale is partially tangled in a fishing net, and a rescue effort appears to be underway.
Rescuers help a whale caught in a shark net off the coast of Queensland. Source: AAP / Jerome Delay

SBS News in Easy English


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SBS News in Easy English


Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will today receive advice from the solicitor-general to find out if former Prime Minister Scott Morrison breached any rules.

Mr Morrison secretly appointed himself to ministerial portfolios.

He took on the Health, Finance, Treasury, Home Affairs, Industry, Science, Energy and Resources portfolios between March 2020 and May 2021.

Mr Albanese says he wants to stop such actions from happening again.

A new survey shows Australians are more worried about China attacking their country than even people from Taiwan.

One in ten people surveyed by the Australia Institute believes China will attack Australia.

That's double the number in Taiwan who fear a similar attack.

And one in four Australians surveyed feel China will attack Taiwan the near future, compared with only one in twenty people surveyed in Taiwan itself.

The federal government will launch the start of National Skills Week today to reveal what it believes will be the top ten in-demand professions over the next five years.

The government says the most sought after professions will be: construction managers, civil engineering professionals, early childhood teachers, nurses, business and systems analysts, software and applications programmers, electricians, chefs, child carers, and carers for the aged and disabled.

The list is partly based on projected growth in employment over the next five years, and data on job vacancies.

A Jobs and Skills summit will be held next week.

A strike is underway at Britain's biggest container port.

Almost 2,000 workers at the Port of Felixstowe, about 150 kilometres north of London, are striking over pay.

The port handles almost half the U-K's incoming shipping freight.

This is one of several strikes by transportation workers recently that have disrupted economic activity across the country.

But union leader Mike Hubbard says these are not co-ordinated.

"It's nothing to do with a national strategy or anything like that, it is something that has happened here at a local level and it reflects what's happening elsewhere because people all over the country, I think, are feeling the same way. That's why it appears to be coordinated, because people everywhere are feeling the same way and coming to the same conclusion. Enough is enough, we are not going to take this anymore."

Sex between men in Singapore will be decriminalised.

In making the announcement, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong did not give a date as to when this will occur.

But he says Singaporeans, despite being part of a conservative society, have become more accepting of gay people.

"Singaporeans still have differing views on whether homosexuality is right or wrong. But most people accept that a person's sexual orientation and behavior is a private and personal matter, and that sex between men should not be a criminal offence."

Under current laws, offenders can be jailed for two years.

However, Mr Lee has ruled out same-sex marriage being legalised.

In motorcycle racing, Italian Francesco Bagnaia has won the Austrian Grand Prix.

It's his third consecutive race win, after he won the races in Britain and the Netherlands recently.

He's finished around half a second in front of championship leader Fabio Quartararo, with Australian Jack Miller finishing third.

Bagnaia admits his choice of tyre for his bike made this victory harder.

"I am very happy about today because it was one of the hardest of the year because I did the safer choice for the front tyre but in these conditions today finally it wasn't the best choice."


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