SBS News in Easy English 22 March 2024

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A daily five-minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability.


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Welcome to SBS News in Easy English. I'm Biwa Kwan.

The Australian government has announced a $4.6 billion deal with UK industry to ensure Australia's new nuclear-powered submarine fleet arrives on time.

The money will boost capacity at a factory that builds the nuclear reactors that will eventually be installed into the submarines.

The vessels will be jointly built by the Australian Submarine Corporation and the UK company BAE Systems at the Adelaide Osborne shipyard.

UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps says the deal benefits both countries.

"This announcement today is extremely important, and it's going to mean that there are jobs provided both here, but also home in the United Kingdom as well, as we club together, as we pull our best people, our best brains, our best ideas together to build these nuclear powered submarines."

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he wants to see an end to the division over whether religoius schools should be allowed to discriminate against staff and students on basis of sexuality, gender identity or relationship status.

Since same-sex marriage was legalised in Australia in 2017, there has been a debate over whether federal laws should be changed to remove a blanket exemption for religious schools to discriminate against staff and students on the basis of their school's values.

A report by the Law Reform Commission says the blanket exemption should be repealed.

The government has yet to publicly release two draft bills that would enhance protections for LGBTIQ+ students and staff.

Mr Albanese says the government won't proceed with the bills, unless there is support from the federal opposition.

"I think Australians don't want to see the culture wars and the division out there. I want this to be an opportunity for unity going forward and that's why we've provided the legislation to the Opposition. Previously, the Opposition were briefed on this. And we've said as well, we're happy to engage across the Parliament on all of these issues."

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A New South Wales police officer accused of killing two men using his police weapon has been sacked from the force.

Beau Lamarre-Condon is being held in custody after being charged with murdering Jesse Baird and Luke Davies.

The off-duty officer allegedly used his police-issued gun to kill the couple after entering Mr Baird's home in the inner-city suburb of Paddington on February 19.

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The federal government has received a report on last year's Optus outage that left millions of Australians without phone and internet services.

But the findings haven't been publicly released.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland says the government will consider the report's recommendations and will make it public - along with the government's response - in due course.

The Optus outage in November left more than 10 million customers without phone and internet access for up to 14 hours - and triggered more than 900 complaints to the telecommunications ombudsman.

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United Nations experts say the problem with electronic waste - or e-waste - is out of control, after a report found countries are on track to produce 82 million tonnes of it by 2030.

The volume of discarded electronic devices, like mobile phones and batteries, is increasing by 2.6 million tonnes every year.

The products can contain toxic materials that present both environmental and health hazards, such as mercury.

Senior Scientific Specialist at the UN Institute for Training and Research and co-author of the report, Kees Balde, says wealthier countries are producing the most electronic waste.

"The richer you are, the more you consume, and the more you consume, the more products you are buying, all the batteries and the plugs, and the more e-waste you are generating. So, typically, a country in the European Union or the USA can generate up to 20 kilograms per inhabitant, per year. In developed nations it's a lot less. It could be ranging from two to five kilograms per inhabitant, per year. So that's a lot less."

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In sports, Dutch cyclist Marijn van den Berg has won stage 4 of the Volta a Catalunya.

Van den Berg saw his opportunity and capitalised, after France's Bryan Coquard started his sprint slightly too early.

Van den Berg says he is happy to achieve his first victory of the year.

"Yeah, I think I made a big step in the winter again. It was going really well in the beginning and then I crashed quite hard in Algarve (stage 3 of the Volta ao Algarve). I had a concussion, so I was out for a little bit. And I started competing last week in Milan-San Remo. And I came here to focus on getting in shape again. And see how the outcome would be in the stage like today. And now I back on track, I would say."

Tadej Pogačar retains overall lead, with Australian cyclist Chris Harper ranked number five in the general classification.

I'm Biwa Kwan. That was SBS News in Easy English.

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SBS News in Easy English 22 March 2024 | SBS News