SBS News in Easy English 22 December 2022

A group of students in a university courtyard.

Harvard University is the latest institution to come under fire from United States President Donald Trump. Source: AP / Charles Krupa

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


In Queensland, a man has died after his boat turned around in water in Moreton Bay, off the coast of Brisbane.

Another man and his daughter were on the boat, but they survived.

The three people were on a fishing trip near Cleveland when their boat started filling with water.

The father and daughter reportedly clung to an esky that was floating, and then they could swim to the shore.


In the United States, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy got a promise from President Joe Biden.

The United States says it will transfer a Patriot system to Ukraine in support of its defence against Russia.

The Patriot is a missile launcher, and its missiles are made to destroy other missiles.

The announcement has been made during a surprise visit to the White House by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

This is apparently the first time Mr Zelensky travels outsie of Ukraine since the beginning of the war.

The Ukrainian president has welcomed the news, and said it will strengthen the air defences of his country 'significantly'.

President Joe Biden says the US will continue its financial, military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

"Today I'm announcing the next tranche of our security assistance in Ukraine, a $1.85 billion package of security assistance. That includes both direct transfers of equipment to you that Ukraine needs, as well as contracts to supply ammunition Ukraine will need in the months ahead for its artillery, its tanks and its rocket launchers."


A man who allegedly controls a worldwide drug traffic operation has been extradited from the Netherlands to Melbourne to face trafficking charges.

He is named Tse Chi Lop and he will face Melbourne Magistrates Court today.

The Australian Federal Police alleges the man, who is a 59-year-old Canadian citizen, has played a key role in an international conspiracy to traffic 20 kilograms of a drug called methamphetamine.

Police says it happened between 2012 and 2013, and the drugs could have been sold for as much as $4.4 million.

Krissy Barrett is the AFP Assistant Commissioner for Southern Command.

"This investigation is another example of the AFP being doggedly determined to ensure in Australia is a hostile environment for organized crime. And it is testament to years of commitment, patience, resilience and tenacity from a very impressive group of investigators over many years and I thank them for their outstanding effort."


The United Nations has decided the U-N peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo will stay.

The U-N troops in Congo are known as the Monusco, and they have been in the area for more than twenty years.

Recently, there has been talks that it would leave, under the pressure of the Congolese population who says the Monusco is not really protecting them.

But the United Nations Security Council has voted unanimously to keep the Monusco in the Eastern part of Congo.

There is a lot of violence in this region because of armed rebel groups.

Many in the local population are upset, like Georges Yalala, who lives in the Congolese city of Goma:

"I don’t see how MONUSCO can have another mandate when it hasn’t done anything. It’s been 22 years; there’s no protection. In Rutshuru, people die while MONUSCO is there to protect civilians."


In Brazil, doctors are pessimistic about the health of football legend Pele.

They say his health has become worse while he is staying in a hospital for cancer.

The Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo says Pele's colon cancer is getting worse and he also has kidney and cardiac issues.

Kely Nascimento, one of Pele's daughters, says he will remain in the hospital over Christmas.

Pele has won the World Cup three times, and he was hospitalised last month.

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