TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to SBS News in Easy English. I'm Greg Dyett.
Seven additional sites in New South Wales have been identified as contaminated with asbestos, including a children's hospital and a fire station.
This brings the total number of impacted sites to 54, with 801 tests returning negative since bonded asbestos was found in recycled mulch at Rozelle Parklands in January.
Victoria's emergency services are preparing for more perilous weather conditions, a week after bushfires and storms razed properties and left half a million homes and businesses without power.
Temperatures are expected to top 40 degrees in parts of the state, with storms later today bringing 80 kilometre-per-hour winds and dry lightning.
Qantas has announced its underlying profit dropped 13 per cent in the first half as airfares fell.
The airline is reporting it made a $1.25 billion underlying profit after tax for the six months to December, down $183 million, or 12.8 per cent, from a year ago.
Chief Executive Vanessa Hudson says the airline's customer satisfaction levels have improved.
"This result is not only a good profit outcome, but we're also starting to see great customer satisfaction across all of our businesses. And it is not without the 25,000 people that we have across Qantas that delivers that result. So a massive thank you."
A martial arts instructor accused of violently killing a family in western Sydney has not applied for bail at his first court mention on three murder charges.
49-year-old Kwang Kyung Yoo was charged with the murders on Wednesday night as he remained under police guard at Westmead Hospital.
A new education program aims to boost the technology workforce.
The Virtual Work Experience program will allow people aged between 14 and 25 to grow their digital skills through online modules.
Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth says it will allow more people to get a taste of the tech industry.
"These modules will give them some exposure to what it's like. They will give them some skills to what it could be like for them and potentially open up an interest but in a really inclusive accessible way."
Dementia rates are expected to nearly double over the next three decades, making it the leading cause of death among Australians.
A study commissioned by Dementia Australia shows by 2054, without a significant medical breakthrough, the number of people affected by dementia is expected to surge by 94 per cent, impacting more than 800,000 individuals.
Melbourne premiership player Angus Brayshaw has been forced to retire due to the concussion he suffered in last year's AFL finals.
The 28-year-old informed the club he would be retiring immediately after extensive neurological testing.
I'm Greg Dyett and that's SBS News in Easy English.
