TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to SBS News in Easy English. I'm Greg Dyett.
Homes in western Victoria have been destroyed by a large bushfire.
Thousands of residents from almost 30 communities near Ballarat have been told to evacuate while others have been warned to respond to any emergency alerts.
Approximately 1,000 firefighters and 15 aircraft are trying to put out the fire.
Communities in Western Australia's northwest are preparing for a powerful weather system.
Ex-tropical cyclone Lincoln is forecast to regain strength today.
The Bureau of Meteorology predicts it will make landfall near Coral Bay tomorrow as a category 2 system.
Meteorologist Miriam Bradbury warns of destructive wind gusts, heavy rain and flash flooding.
"Tropical Cyclone is likely to move southwards and continue intensifying to a category two system through the later part of Friday into early Saturday. as it nears the coast, we'll see rainfall picking up as well as those stronger winds."
The World Health Organisation warns infectious diseases in the Gaza Strip may ultimately cause more deaths among Palestinians than the ongoing Israeli hostilities.
The W-H-O has also confirmed a hepatitis-A outbreak with around 8,000 cases.
Christopher Lockyear is Secretary General of Doctors Without Borders.
"There is no health system to speak of left in Gaza. Israel's military has dismantled hospital after hospital. What remains is so little in the face of such carnage it's preposterous. The excuse given is that medical facilities have been used for military purposes. Yet we have seen no independently verified evidence of this."
Israel's national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has called for more restrictions on movement of Palestinians after a shooting attack near a West Bank settlement.
Three Palestinians started shooting at motorists near an Israeli checkpoint near Jerusalem, killing one person and wounding seven others.
The Minister says he expects to have more checkpoints and restrictions put in place.
"A very big disaster was prevented here, thanks to the fact that all police officers in the Israeli police are carrying weapons. I remind you, that six months ago I said clearly that the right to life outweighs the right to freedom of movement of residents of the Palestinian Authority."
The former bishop of Broome Christopher Saunders has been charged with a number of alleged sex offences.
The allegations date back to 2008.
This comes several months after the Catholic Church handed detectives a report detailing allegations of sexual assault and grooming against the 74-year-old.
The Catholic Archbishop of Perth, Timothy Costelloe, says the claims are very serious.
"Allegations against the former bishop of Broome Christopher Saunders are very serious and deeply distressing, especially for those making those allegations. It is right and proper and indeed necessary that all such allegations be thoroughly investigated."
Hockey player Blake Govers has returned to the Kookaburras line-up and scored twice in a 4-1 victory against Ireland in the FIH Pro League in India.
Australia remains undefeated with six wins out of six matches in the competition.
I'm Greg Dyett and that's SBS News in Easy English.
