SBS News in Easy English 9 July 2025

SBS Australia

3 days ago

Victoria's new anti-hate taskforce has met for the first time following a series of incidents against Jewish institutions in Melbourne. Premier Jacinta Allan says the group heard from Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush, who says the force is ready to act. The taskforce has also listened to members of the Jewish community. The meeting follows the firebombing of East Melbourne Synagogue and an attack on an Israeli restaurant. The Premier says the government will respond to the incidents in a strong manner. "I will not rest - will not rest - and will continue to take every action necessary - to not just strengthen the law but to respond and lead, in terms of how we as a community need to act. To say very, very clearly that acts of hate, acts of violence, acts of antisemitism have no place here in Melbourne and Victoria." Millions of Qantas customers are being notified about the extent of a data breach that exposed personal details, including meal preferences, after a cyberattack on a third-party system used by an offshore call centre. The airline says 5.7 million customer records were compromised. Of those, four million had names, email addresses and frequent flyer details accessed. For the remaining 1.7 million, additional data was taken, including dates of birth, phone numbers, addresses, gender and meal preferences - around 10,000 of which were accessed. Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson says customers will now be contacted with details of the specific data affected and offered support services. The airline says there's no evidence the stolen data has appeared on the dark web, but cybersecurity experts are monitoring for any breaches. A member of the Rebels bikie gang has been charged over the alleged fatal shooting of a cat. The 29-year-old man is expected to face court today. New South Wales Police allege they discovered a video of the shooting after the man's phone was seized during a roadside stop in the Sydney suburb of Villawood in June. US President Donald Trump will visit a Texas flood zone on Friday that has now killed over 100 people. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has also planned to make another visit to Camp Mystic, the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp where at least 27 campers and counselors died during the floods. Officials say no one has been found alive since Friday. Sheriff Larry Leitha says dozens of children are among the dead. "As of 8:00 am central time, 87 deceased have been recovered in Kerr County, including 56 adults and 30 children. Identification is pending for 19 adults and seven children, with one additional person still unidentified. At present, five Camp Mystic campers and one counselor still remain unaccounted for." A man has been extradited from Queensland over his alleged involvement in so-called spiritual blessing scams that targeted people of Asian backgrounds. The 62-year-old is expected to face court today, charged with the alleged defrauding of a 77-year-old woman in Parramatta last month. Police say the scam involves elderly Chinese women being convinced that their families are at risk from spirits, and that their wealth needs to be blessed to protect them from curse or illness. Investigators have received reports of over 80 incidents across Sydney, with more than $3 million in cash and valuables stolen. Carlos Alcaraz has breezed into the Wimbledon semi-finals with a straight-sets win over Britain's Cameron Norrie, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3. He will face fifth seed Taylor Fritz in the next round. Top seed Jannik Sinner, who remains under an injury cloud ahead of his quarter-final against American Ben Shelton.
Sinner underwent an M-R-I on Tuesday morning and cancelled his planned training session that afternoon, raising questions about his fitness for the rest of the tournament.