United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres says he plans to mobilise enough international pressure on Myanmar’s military to ensure the Myanmar coup fails.

His comment comes after China blocked a United Nations Security Council joint statement condemning Monday’s coup in Myanmar during a meeting on Tuesday.

The Myanmar army detained the country’s leader and others on Monday in response to alleged election fraud, however, António Guterres believes the election took place fairly.  

A study has found that International travel has had the biggest impact on COVID-19 related deaths for the pandemics first wave.  

The study looked at countries including Spain, France, the UK, America, Italy and Brazil. 

It found an increase of one million international arrivals being associated with a 3.4% rise in the mean daily increase in COVID-19 deaths. 

Researchers said this data will be used to inform future policies in preventing the spread of COVID-19. 

Thailand is urgently tackling a salt-water intrusion problem after the amount of sodium in tap water exceeded the standard level. 

The president in charge of managing the subcommittees said the water is deemed brackish.

Due to the drought this year the government could not afford to use large amounts of freshwater.  

The Thailand government has suggested making foldable water retaining walls to prevent seawater intrusion. 

Tourism operators are being encouraged to learn basic Chinese to help attract visitors after the pandemic. 

In July 2020, the Australian Chinese Business Council produced a report from tourism China supporting future growth. 

The report indicated the Australian Tourism sector lacks adequate language and cultural skills for dealing with Chinese tourists. 

The president of the Chinese Language Teachers Association in Queensland said staff need to be trained in basic Chinese language and culture. 

The Gold Coast is receiving a 3.7 million dollar firefighting and rescue boost.

The initiative is providing the Surfers Paradise Fire and Rescue Station with a new Combined Aerial Pumping appliance and Hydraulic Platform appliance today.

Minister for Fire and Emergency Services Mark Ryan says the new appliances would significantly increase Queensland Fire and Emergency Services capability across the whole region.

Queensland has reported zero new COVID-19 cases overnight. The state marks 29 days since registering a community transmission. 

Queensland health minister has said the state is calling on anyone who has visited the sites listed by Victoria Health to get tested and quarantine for 14 days.

The minister said they are not declaring Victoria a hotspot at this time but call on people to get tested in line with Victorian authorities.

Australia’s drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administer, rejected an application seeking to have two currently prohibited drugs rescheduled as controlled medicines.

The proposal aimed to make it easier for doctors to prescribe psilocybin and MDMA to people suffering from chronic anxiety, depression and PTSD.

However, the regulator did not rule out future use of psilocybin in treatment of mental illness, stating that more research was necessary to prove its safety and efficacy. 

International travel restrictions are impacting the mental health of Queensland fruit and vegetable growers.

Without the backpacker workforce that Queensland’s fruit and vegetable industry rely on to pick produce, crop losses from the labour shortage have doubled in the last month.

Peak body GrowCom has found that these losses have resulted in 25 per cent of growers facing a decline in mental health and 75 per cent experiencing financial stress.

Several federally-funded infrastructure projects will begin across South Brisbane and West End under the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure grant program.

The Davies Park upgrade will receive an additional $850,000 of funding in order to speed up works.

Kurilpa Hall will receive $50,000 to help complete important repairs. 

Musgrave Park Pool will receive a floating divider to separate the pool into two twenty-five metre sections to ensure swimming squads and training do not interrupt leisure.