TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to SBS News in Easy English on the 24th January 2025, I am Camille Bianchi.
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Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong says International Holocaust Remembrance Day is a reminder of the need to come together against hatred.
Ms Wong is at an event in Poland, remembering 80 years since the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau was closed down at the end of World War II.
About 1.1 million people were murdered in the concentration camp before the 27 January 1945.
Ms Wong says the rise of antisemitism around the world today, makes the lessons of that time more relevant than ever.
"I would say at this time, we have to stand together across beliefs, across political difference. We have to stand against prejudice and hate and antisemitism in all its forms. Attending this commemoration is solemn and important. The memory of six million murdered and also the knowledge of what hatred can lead to."
Australia's Attorney General Mr Dreyfus says the event is especially important to him.
"Over a million Jews were murdered at Auschwitz. That number includes at Auschwitz a member of my own family. My great-grandmother, Ida Ransenberg, then aged 60, was murdered at Auschwitz on the 14th of October 1942. We’re attending the commemoration to remember the dead - and to say never again."
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The Country Fire Authority in Victoria is asking people who live in areas with a current fire ban, to prepare their bushfire plans.
An extreme fire danger rating has led to total fire bans for five areas of Victoria: Mallee, Wimmera, Central, North Central and Southwest districts.
An extreme fire danger rating has also been forecast for eastern South Australia, with possible thunderstorms.
Dean Narramore, from the Bureau of Meteorology, says a cool change is coming.
"So we're likely to see the cool change move through southern South Australia later this morning, including around the Adelaide in the metropolitan area and that will drop temperatures quickly. A cool change into western Victoria early this afternoon - and then central Victoria into the later afternoon and evening hours, sweeping across the rest of northern and eastern Victoria overnight - and southern New South Wales. Then that cool change will move through much of New South Wales Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday evening."
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New South Wales Police are asking for information, to find out who damaged the Police Wall of Remembrance in Sydney on Saturday morning.
Police want anyone with information or footage of the incident to come forward.
Sydney City Council is helping police fix the wall, which is dedicated to officers who were killed while doing their job.
The wall is part of the Domain, next to the Royal Botanic Gardens.
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US President Donald Trump says his government will put new fees on products that come from Colombia, after the country did not allow two US flights filled with Colombian residents to land in Bogota.
Colombia's president says his country will not accept these flights, which are for Colombians who are forced to leave the United States, until the people are treated better.
Colombian residents in Bogota, including Jenny Ortiz, are scared of what will happen to the economy there.
"It affects us, it will affect all people exporting their products. This will put a halt on Colombian commerce with the United States. This will completely affect us."
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In cycling, Jhonatan Narvaez has become the first rider from Ecuador to win the Tour Down Under.
He almost had a crash in the final kilometres, but he safely crossed the line at the end of stage 6.
He came second place in the event last year.
He says he is happy to finally win the title.
"I'm very happy because one year ago I came second. I think I now have a lot more confidence in myself. This is so important. I did my best."
Australian Sam Welsford won stage 6, representing his third stage win at this year's race.
That is SBS News in Easy English, I'm Camille Bianchi.
