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SBS News In Easy English

A high-angle photo shows a small inflatable boat with people in it, positioned next to a large whale. The whale is partially tangled in a fishing net, and a rescue effort appears to be underway.

Rescuers help a whale caught in a shark net off the coast of Queensland. Source: AAP / Jerome Delay

A daily 5 minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability.


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Presented by Catriona Stirrat

Source: SBS News


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A daily 5 minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability.


Welcome to SBS News in Easy English. I'm Catriona Stirrat.

Labor's legislation that would make it easier to deport immigration detainees will be sent to a senate inquiry.

The bill would impose a prison sentence of up to five years on people refusing to cooperate with their deportation, with a mandatory sentence of one year.

Home Affairs Secretary Stephanie Foster fronted a two-hour senate committee hearing last night after the bill passed in lower house opposition support.

Opposition Home Affairs Spokesperson James Paterson says they haven't got the answers they need about the legislation.

"They couldn't explain how or when they would use this legislation or who it would apply to in light of that it's very difficult for the coalition to support such a rushed passage of this legislation. We are very concerned about unintended consequences."

US authorities say six people missing after the Baltimore's Francis Scott Key bridge collapsed are presumed dead.

A search for the missing workers, who were part of a construction crew filling potholes on the bridge when a direct hit by a cargo ship caused it to collapse, has been suspended.

The cargo ship issued an emergency alert after it lost power moments before the crash, enabling authorities to limit vehicle traffic, but two survivors were later pulled from the water, with one taken to hospital in a serious condition.

Following an extensive and dangerous search, the US Coast Guard says it does not believe it will find the six remaining workers alive.

"We've got very difficult water temperatures, you have structures from the bridge that are in the water that can move with the tide and currents, making that dangerous for divers and people in the water to actually try to do recovery, and we do not want to injure any of these first responders in this recovery effort."

The UN's special rapporteur, or independent monitor, for the Occupied Palestinian territories has told its top human rights organisation there were “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel had been carrying out genocide in Gaza.

In an independent report requested by the Human Rights Council, Francesca Albanese has accused Israeli military forces and government leaders of having intentionally violated the laws of war.

Israel, which has repeatedly denied claims it is carrying out genocide, the subject of an ongoing case at the International Court of Justice, has said the report brings “shame” to the council.

It has criticised Ms Albanese, who was banned from entering Israel last month after a post on social media in which she said Hamas' October 7 attacks were caused by what she described as Israel's oppression of Gaza.

She has told the Human Rights Council Israel's offensives in Gaza are "the most extreme stage" of a historic oppression.

"For over 76 years, this process has oppressed the Palestinians as a people in every way imaginable, crushing their... their inalienable right to self-determination demographically, economically, territorially, culturally and politically. Israel has attempted to displace them, expropriate their land and other resources, and ultimately replace them."

The federal government is trying to push through reforms which it says will get Australia's once world-leading National Disability Insurance Scheme "back on track".

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten has introduced the bill, which addresses recommendations made by an independent review late last year, to parliament today.

State and territory leaders have called for a delay to the introduction of changes, which aim to protect participants from illegal and unethical conduct, and ensure funding goes to the right people.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has said the reforms could lead more people to seek state support at a cost unknown to his government.

But Mr Shorten says the reforms would provide life-changing outcomes for future generations of Australians with disabilities.

"While the NDIS has absolutely changed hundreds of thousands of lives for the better, it its not working well for everyone. Participants have spoken about how every interaction with the NDIS can become a battle. They voice their frustration at having to prove year after year that they are still blind, that they still have Down Syndrome, or Willi-Prader or quadriplegia or motor-neurone disease."

That was SBS News in Easy English. I'm Catriona Stirrat.


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