Welcome to SBS News in Easy English. I'm Biwa Kwan.
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Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister, James Marape, has become the first Pacific leader to address Australia's parliament.
In his speech, Mr Marape says democracy remains vital in PNG, ever since it gained independence from Australia in 1975.
He says he hopes Australia will continue to support its closest neighbour.
"I ask you, do not give up on Papua New Guinea. We have always bounced back from our low moments and we will continue to grow, learning from every low moments and every high moments. We learn from past experiences. In this regard, I want to indicate to this House - we are making structural reforms and trying our best to improve our public sector efficiency, to carry the country for the next 50 years."
Mr Marape is in Australia for a second time after a visit in December when a bilateral security agreement was signed, which included $200 million to help train PNG police.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says Australia and PNG have a strong relationship and that should continue.
"PNG is a very important partner in the Pacific, a very important part of our Pacific family, but more importantly than that, I think this is a profoundly important day. This is a day in which we really elevate our relationship with the Pacific. Prime Minister Marape is the first Pacific leader to speak to our national parliament. Just as Prime Minister Albanese was the first Australian prime minister to speak to the Papua New Guinean parliament. And that says something about who we are to each other."
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Members of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition have gathered outside of Parliament House in Canberra, calling on the federal government to do more to reduce emissions.
Thirty young people from every state and territory have shared stories of how large industrial projects and extreme weather has affected their lives.
This activist says the government needs to commit to ending new fossil fuel projects.
"We as young people want a government that's courageous we want a crossbench that's ambitious and we want an opposition party that can see beyond the political aisle to actually care and safeguard our futures and those to come in our world."
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Meanwhile, a new report by the Climate Council has found Australia's summer of floods, fires and humidity is a sign the planet is warming fast.
The 2023-24 summer has included the nation's driest three months on record from August to October, followed by a month of record rainfall in the eastern states.
The Climate Council says weather records have been broken in almost every state and territory as communities have been affected by cyclones, flooding rains, heatwaves and extreme fire conditions.
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The European Commission is recommending a 90 per cent cut to greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.
The 27-nation trading bloc is already working towards an interim target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by 2030.
The European Climate Commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, says taking more ambitious action will help lead the way for the rest of the world.
"We've just lived through the hottest summer on record and we've seen for ourselves the devastation that climate change brings, sadly ever more in human lives. As weather patterns become more unpredictable, become more extreme, this will also come with an increasing economic cost. Therefore it is important to note that inaction will lead to far larger and growing costs in the coming decades."
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An Optus network outage which left millions without phone and internet service led to an increase in complaints made to the telecommunications watchdog.
14,671 complaints were lodged between October and December 2023, an increase of more than 13 per cent compared with the previous quarter.
However, the 12-month comparison shows complaints dropped by nearly 18 per cent.
Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Cynthia Gebert told SBS it is good to see that 12-month drop, but there is still room for improvement.
"Other key issues for us that ongoing customer service issues remains a big concern for everybody, as well as ongoing billing concerns. One of the things that we are pleased to see is we have seen a drop in complaints that relate to providers not saying what they got not doing what they say they're going to do. And that's been a key concern for consumers for a long time. So I'm pleased that that has gone down this quarter."
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And to sports, France's oldest living Olympic champion says he is proud to be carrying the Olympic torch, 76 years after winning a gold medal in the men's team cycling pursuit in the 1948 Olympics in London.
Charles Coste who turns 100 today was born in 1924, the last time Paris hosted the Summer Olympics.
He says these days he has bad knees, but he is still hoping to do his bit for this year's Olympics in Paris.
"To carry the flame, I was called to be told that I had been selected. That's all I know today. Of course, I will try to do it despite my knee disability, which causes me a lot of pain. It is a great honour."
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I'm Biwa Kwan. This has been SBS News in Easy English.
