SBS News in Easy English 25 October 2024

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TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to SBS News in Easy English. I’m Greg Dyett.
At least 17 people have died in an Israeli strike on a school where displaced people were sheltering in the central Gaza Strip.
Thirteen children and three women are among the dead.
The Israeli military says it was targeting Hamas militants inside the school.
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Queensland’s leaders are making their final pitches to voters ahead of Saturday’s state election, with the latest polls suggesting Labor is on track for defeat after almost a decade in power.
A Newspoll conducted for The Australian newspaper indicates the opposition leads the Labor government after preferences, despite Labor and Premier Steven Miles clawing back ground in recent weeks.
But former Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has told Sky News he remains concerned for Opposition leader David Crisafulli’s prospects.
I’ve been pretty worried in the last seven to ten days because the polls that have come out have shown two things: one, a decline in his personal popularity, his net favourability. It’s quite marked. And also… the most recent polls are showing a primary for the LNP at about 41.
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An Australian man and two women have been arrested and charged with child abuse offences after an international investigation.
The 33-year-old man has been arrested by New South Wales Police in the Sydney suburb of Granville, while the women have been taken into custody after a raid on an address in Calamba City, Philippines.
The arrests are the result of a joint inquiry involving the Australian Federal Police, Philippines National Police, and the New South Wales Police Force.
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Two people have died after a truck crashed into a house in regional Victoria.
Police say the truck veered off the Princes Highway and slammed into the house at Tower Hill near Warrnambool just after 7am this morning.
The male truck driver has been taken to hospital where he is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The two victims of the crash have not yet been identified.
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Telecommunications businesses are warning customers they will be locked out of their networks as the 3G shutdown approaches.
Telstra says customers with devices that rely on 3G for emergency calls will be blocked from accessing its network from Monday and won’t have access to voice or data services until they upgrade to a new handset.
Tasmania will be the first state to have its 3G network closed, followed by the rest of Australia with the transition set to be completed by Monday 4 November.
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New loans for electric vehicles have soared for young buyers as Australians shift towards more Earth-friendly transport options.
Newly released data from the Commonwealth Bank indicates loans for new E-Vs for the 18 to 24 age group have quadrupled, while used car market borrowings have gone up an average of 52 per cent.
The data also indicates there has been a drop in prices.
The bank’s Joel Larsen says that’s being driven by more manufacturers entering the low emissions vehicle market in Australia.
“This additional supply is really driving down the price point. CommBank data shows that during the second half of FY24, the average price of an electric vehicle dropped by an average of seven per cent to just over $63,000 when compared to the same period last year.”
I’m Greg Dyett and that’s SBS News in Easy English.