Good morning, it’s Akash Arora here with SBS News’ Morning Briefing.
Nancy Pelosi accuses China of blocking Taiwan from world events
China has reacted to US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, with a burst of military activity in Taiwan's surrounding waters, summoning the US ambassador in Beijing and halting several agricultural imports from Taiwan. The news comes as Ms Pelosi warned China it cannot prevent leaders of the world from visiting Taiwan and . Sadly, Taiwan has been prevented from participating in global meetings, most recently the World Health Organisation, because of objections by the Chinese Communist Party," Ms Pelosi said in a statement. "While they may prevent Taiwan from sending its leaders to global forums, they cannot prevent world leaders or anyone from travelling to Taiwan to pay respect to its flourishing democracy, to highlight its many successes and to reaffirm our commitment to continued collaboration."
Move to encourage more Ukrainian students to come to Australia
Ukrainian students could be paying lower tuition fees than local students at Australian universities
, according to plans Ukraine's Ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, intends to negotiate with Education Minister Jason Clare. The suggestion aims at encouraging more students from the war-torn nation to arrive in Australia to study. "There's a huge difference in tuition for domestic and international, and those who come here as refugees," Mr Myroshnychenko told SBS News. "Australia has some of the best universities in the world, and we could definitely take advantage of that," he said. His suggestion follows moves in countries such as the UK, where tertiary institutions capped the fees for Ukrainian students to the level paid by domestic students, and Scotland, which waived the tuition fees for Ukrainian students from the academic year beginning in August.Sri Lanka's president says country is in "great danger"
Sri Lanka is "facing an unprecedented situation", with its people in "great danger", the country's new President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Wednesday. "Today we are facing an unprecedented situation that our country had never faced in recent history ... We are in great danger," the 73-year-old said while opening a new session of parliament. Mr Wickremesinghe was elected to lead the country after his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned and fled Sri Lanka following months of protests and political turmoil. Mr Wickremesinghe said that constitutional amendments were required to curtail presidential powers — indicating he would meet a key demand of protesters who forced out Mr Rajapaksa.
New NSW enquiry into teacher shortage
, weeks after thousands of public and Catholic schoolteachers walked off the job and protested in Sydney's CBD demanding better pay and conditions. NSW Independent Education Union of Australia secretary Mark Northam and NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos will appear before the inquiry on Thursday. In a recent Monash University report, more than half the teachers surveyed described their workload as excessive and unsustainable, saying they were planning to quit the profession. One of the researchers, Fiona Longmuir, will also be present at the inquiry. "Teachers don't mind hard work," she said. "But they do feel overwhelmed by the ever-increasing administration and standardisation being thrust upon them, which is arguably not benefiting students."
In other news
- Police are appealing for information over whose bodies were found in a Sydney unit in June.
- for her conscience and for her constituents, against the position of her party.
- as he remains in a UK maximum security prison while fighting an extradition ruling, with fears he may not survive the process.
