A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability.
Welcome to SBS News in Easy English. I'm Greg Dyett.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong are meeting with leaders at the QUAD summit in Tokyo, hosted by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Mr Albanese has spoken about his government's priorities.
"Taking action on climate change and building and stronger and more resilient Indo-Pacific region, through better economic security, better cybersecurity, better energy security and better environmental and health security."
China has sent a message of congratulations to Mr Albanese.
The country's premier, Li Keqiang says China is wanting to promote a stronger relationship with Australia under the new government.
Independent M-P for the southwestern Sydney seat of Fowler, Dai Le, says she hopes her election to Parliament encourages people of diverse backgrounds to enter politics.
Ms Le says voters want politicians to reflect the communities they represent.
"I am of Vietnamese heritage and a refugee, but a lot of people can relate to me, and they know that I can relate to their journeys and their stories."
New South Wales is considering offering free flu shots as cases rise.
The state government is looking at whether the vaccines should be free for the general community and not just high risk groups like young children and people over the age of 65.
Queensland is already offering free flu vaccinations.
Health Minister Yvette D'Ath says the outbreak is serious with cases rising rapidly.
"Compared to the 2017 flu season hospital admissions, we are already at the admission rate that we were at the end of July in 2017, which means this is escalating very quickly."
"We expect in the next two or three weeks that our cases will end up at least doubling. So we could end up with hospitalisations well over 400 or 500 hospital admissions - and that won't be the peak."
Ukraine has announced an investigation into over 13,000 alleged Russian war crimes.
A Ukrainian court has already sentenced a 21-year-old Russian soldier to life in prison for killing a Ukrainian civilian.
Advocates for Afghan women are concerned about the limitations on the rights of women under the Taliban.
The Taliban is now requiring all female T-V presenters in Afghanistan to cover their faces while on air.
Maryam Zahid is the executive director of Afghan Women on the Move, and told SBS News she hopes the new government can do more to help her people.
"There is no right for Afghan women under Taliban rule. Tell me one thing that has been improved for Afghan women. It‘s only getting from bad to worse."
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has revealed household spending increased with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
All states and territories experienced a substantial increase in household spending in March compared to March last year with Victoria and Queensland recording the biggest increases.
I'm Greg Dyett and this is SBS News in Easy English.
