A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability.
Welcome to SBS News in Easy English. I'm Greg Dyett.
New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet and Opposition Leader Chris Minns are making their final appeals for votes on the eve of the state election.
Mr Perrottet will be aiming to earn the Coalition a fourth term, while Chris Minns is hoping to lead Labor to its first victory in the state since 2007.
More than 21 per cent of people have already cast their votes, with key issues being cost of living, housing and privatisation.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he is confident the Australian people will vote yes to a Voice to Parliament.
He is urging Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to make a stand and announce his party's position on the Voice and to stop asking for detail that has already been announced.
"It is nothing more than a tactic and it lacks genuineness to just continue to say 'we don't have the detail'. No matter how much detail is put out Peter Dutton will say 'what about more detail', that's the game that is being played here, and he should make a decision on where he stands on this issue."
The Reserve Bank of Australia is warning the prices of rental properties could remain high for years to come.
The bank says slow home construction and investment are the driving factors, continuing to force rents up and keep vacancy rates low.
Vacancy rates are below one per cent in all major capital cities.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has found rents increased by four per cent per cent over 2022, the highest rate in ten years.
Women in Afghanistan have gathered to break their fast, ending the first day of the holy month of Ramadan.
Ramadan is the name of the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, during which Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset while increasing prayer and acts of charity.
Nadia Arshi is in Kabul and says it's been somewhat overshadowed by the Taliban.
"Since the Taliban have come, our lives have changed, all people lost their jobs, and everybody lost their hope for living, especially women."
Protests are continuing across various cities in France for a ninth consecutive day, with train services disrupted, airport terminals blocked off and rubbish piling up on the streets.
There is anger over President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms that will lift the retirement age from 62 to 64.
A New Zealand runner, Zane Robertson has been banned from competing for eight years after testing positive to a performance-enhancing drug and falsifying documents.
The 33-year-old holds the New Zealand national record for the half marathon and marathon.
He tested positive for a performance enhancing drug called E-P-O at the Great Manchester Run in May last year.
E-P-O is banned in all sports because it boosts red blood cells, allowing athletes to work harder for longer.
I'm Greg Dyett and that's SBS News in Easy English.
