A daily 5 minute news wrap for English learners.
Welcome to SBS News in Easy English. I'm Greg Dyett.
Major flooding in Northern New South Wales and Queensland has seen thousands of properties inundated.
In New South Wales, the Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for the Northern Rivers and parts of the mid-north coast and Northern Tablelands with the potential for life-threatening flash flooding.
In Queensland, the Brisbane river peaked at four metres with large amounts of debris, boats and reports of small homes seen floating down it.
Emergency services received more than 2,200 calls for assistance overnight.
Across the south-east of the state, thousands of homes have now been evacuated and thousands of schools closed.
The federal government says financial support is being made available to 17 local government areas in the flood-hit areas of Queensland and New South Wales.
Federal Emergency Management Minister Bridget McKenzie has told Network Seven, authorities are acting quickly to help those impacted.
"Everyone must stay home. Do not go through floodwaters. Even if you think it is safe. Because we don't need any more tragedies occurring."
United States officials have condemned the Russian President's nuclear alert, saying it represents a dangerous escalation.
Vladimir Putin has ordered Russia’s nuclear forces to be on high alert.
He says the decision is a response to actions by NATO and Western countries, which he described as "aggressive" and "unfriendly".
The U-S ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas Greenfield says she will be attending emergency UN Security Council meeting later today*.
"Putin has tried every means possible to actually put fear in the world, in terms of his action. And it just means that we have to ramp up our efforts here at the United Nations and elsewhere to hold him accountable."
Ukrainian authorities will hold talks with Russian counterparts on the nation's border with Belarus, as Russian troops advance into Ukraine's second-largest city on day four of its invasion.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he does not expect any solid results from the discussions.
"But let them try so that that not a single citizen of Ukraine has any doubt left that I, as President, used every chance to stop the war, even a small one."
President Vladimir Putin says he’s prepared to authorise talks about Ukraine adopting a “neutral” status, a premise Kyiv has rejected.
Liverpool have won the League Cup for a record ninth time as they edged out Chelsea 11-10 in a penalty shout out after a nil all draw at Wembley.
Victory for Liverpool marked the first domestic Cup triumph from their German manager Jurgen Klopp.
I'm Greg Dyett and this is SBS News in Easy English.
