SBS News in Easy English
Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he isn't telling anyone who to vote for.
It follows suggestions Mr Turnbull was encouraging Australians to vote for independents over Liberal party candidates.
It comes a month after the former Liberal leader wouldn't confirm who he will vote for.
Mr Turnbull says it's important to support democracy.
"You know what we have to do is support democracy. I'm not telling anybody who to vote for, but I think it's very important that we have a democracy that is resilient. It's not so long ago there was a mob, sent by the President of the United States Donald Trump, to undertake a coup, you know, like a coup, on the capital here in Washington. So you cannot take the endurance of our democratic institutions here for granted."]]
Thousands of schools students across New South Wales are missing a day of school to protest for action on climate change.
Students are calling for the incoming federal government to commit to no new coal, oil or gas projects and to find a just transition for fossil fuel workers and communities.
The crowd started at midday at the Sydney Town Hall,
School Strike for Climate Student Organiser Natasha Abhaywickrama says young people are angry over inaction on the climate crisis.
"We know that fossil fuels are the direct cause of the climate crisis yet the Morrison government, they give twenty thousand dollars a minute to the fossil fuel industry and with doing that they are throwing away our futures. They know the consequences of this and young people are angry and disappointed and we're here to say, we have an election coming up on May 21st and we're here to tell them that our communities are ready for climate and we're also here to plead with voters to vote for our futures."
The condition of a Queensland pre-schooler who was left for hours on a hot bus has improved, with her now stable and conscious.
The Three year-old was left in a critical condition after being apparently forgotten on a mini-bus outside her childcare centre for up to six hours as temperatures reached 28 degrees.
But police say the girl is now sitting up and responsive, as their investigations continue.
World Health Organisation officials say the true death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic is close to 15 million.
That's more than two times the official death toll of six million.
The figures include people killed directly by coronavirus, or by the pandemic's impact on health systems.
The WHO's Assistant Director-General for Data, Analytics and Delivery for Impact, Samira Asma, says the numbers can sometimes be controversial.
"Numbers are sometimes controversial. We have to recognize that the estimates are an approximation of a reality, as you also heard that there is variability in data availability and it has become very obvious during the entire course of the pandemic, there have been data that is missing or are unknown. There has been delays in reporting and basically all of us were caught unprepared."
In sport,
Australian NBA star Ben Simmons is set to return to the Brooklyn Nets training camp following successful back surgery.
Simmons had spent almost an entire year off court, citing mental health concerns.
The Nets have since released a statement on Twitter, saying he is expected to make a full recovery.
