Dozens of airlines jointly sent a letter to the Hong Kong government earlier this month to seek exemption from airport charges as they struggled to cope with the economic impact of anti-government protests, which led to a sharp drop in passenger demand.

Ronald Lam the senior executive at Cathay Pacific Airways says there is a double-digit drop in passengers in August compared to last year and the situation is expected to worsen in the remaining months of the year.

A new independent high school in Sydney’s west will have no ATAR before graduation, no exams and no timetabled classes.

CathWest Innovation College will instead have students complete two terms of projects, build portfolios to apply for university and pitch ideas to businesses.

The school will also have a student-run cafe, a retail outlet and a hairdressing salon that students can work at as part of their curriculum. 

 A Sheldon author and her son have become ambassadors for this year’s Life’s Little Treasures Foundation’s Walk for Prems.

Michelle Worthington gave birth to her son at 28 weeks, and from this experience decided to write a picture book to help families of premature babies.

Ms Worthington says “being born premmie is a significant event for not only the babies but also the family”.

After the sudden collapse of British travel company Thomas Cook, thousands of passengers were trapped at airports around the world. The holidaymakers described the chaos and “carnage” from Spain to New York. 

In Germany, people in Frankfurt and Düsseldorf were told that if they booked tickets with Thomas Cook, they would no longer be able to travel on the German airline Condor.

In Croatia and Greece, the flight departure committee also scattered cancelled flights.

The Australian Antarctic Division has unveiled a specialist drill that will unearth evidence of the planet’s past climate conditions. 

Scientists based in Tasmania will dig three kilometres below the surface of Antarctica, to 1.5 million-year-old ice.

Glaciologist Tas van Ommen explains they are looking for tiny bubbles trapped between snowflakes in the ice, that are essentially “time capsules of past atmosphere”.

Last Saturday, protesters in Hong Kong threw gasoline bombs to police in the meantime police fired tear gas to the protesters.

Reporters say after thousands of people marched in the afternoon in Tuen Mun, a district in the northwest of the Chinese territory, the violence broke out, and at least one person arrested.

The protest against extradition law has lasted for four months now in Hong Kong. The violent protests occurred in every weekend.

Starving bats are posing a health risk in South-East Queensland as increased numbers are found lying on the ground.

The dry conditions are distressing bats and causing them to fall from the sky, prompting a 30% increase in rates of human contact with the animals.

Biosecurity Queensland principal veterinarian Janine Barrett says “this spring and summer I anticipate we will see a high number of people and pets being exposed to [Australian bat lyssavirus]”.