Extinction Rebellion protests continue in Brisbane CBD
Ten Extinction Rebellion activists have locked themselves to a pink catamaran in Brisbane’s CBD on day four of rolling protests.
About 20 police were working to remove the vessel which blocked George Street and slowed traffic to one lane on Elizabeth Street.
Extinction Rebellion sung ‘power to the people’ as they demand 100 per cent renewable energy and giving nature legal rights.
The group has vowed to hold protests every day in the city this week.
Firefighters gather to honour fallen colleagues
Queensland Fire and Emergency services will pause for a moment of silence today to honour fallen colleagues.
Craig Crawford, Fire and Emergency Services Minister, said Firefighters Remembrance Day, is an opportunity to honour the 53 firefighters who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty since 1877.
“As we’ve seen recently with severe fires around the state, it’s evident our firefighters put life and limb on the line to help protect local communities,” Mr Crawford said.
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[Image: Matt Watson]
Facebook removes pages for ‘inauthentic behaviour’
Facebook has removed a total of 443 pages and 125 Instagram accounts from Indonesia, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt for engaging in ‘coordinated inauthentic behaviour’.
Facebook’s head of cybersecurity policy Nathaniel Gleicher says there were ‘networks of accounts’ created to ‘mislead others about who they are and what they were doing’.
Facebook's global lead for threat disruption David Agranovich says the pages were difficult to distinguish as fake.
Turkey prepares to cross Syrian border
Turkey says it is ready to advance into northeast Syria following US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from the Turkey-Syria frontier.
A build-up of troops and tanks near the border is continuing and a security official claims one of the main goals is to cut off a transit route between Iraq and Syria often used by Kurdish armed groups before the operation in Syria.
US President Donald Trump has denied that his decision to withdraw troops is a betrayal of US allies the Kurds.
Chinese billionaire gave ex-Labor boss $35 000 in a wine box
An inquiry by the Independent Commission Against Corruption has revealed that a Chinese billionaire gave a wine box containing $35 000 in cash to New South Wales Labor boss Jamie Clements to help him cover legal bills to fight allegations of sexual harassment.
Mr Clements faced allegations that he tried to kiss a 27-year-old Labor staffer in parliament house office in 2015.
Mr Clements said he was not surprised at being given the money.
Melbourne-Cup winning horse trainer charged with animal abuse
Melbourne Cup-winning horse trainer Darren Weir and two other men have been charged with animal cruelty offences following raids on Weir’s stables in Ballarat and Warrnambool in January.
Mr Weird was charged with nine offences including three counts of ‘engaging in the torturing, abusing, overworking and terrifying’ of a racehorse and three counts of ‘causing unreasonable pain or suffering to a racehorse’.
In February Racing Victoria suspended Weir for four years after police allegedly found electrical devices used to shock horses, known as "jiggers", in the raids.
Heritage-listed Queensland landmark faces closure
Caretakers of a heritage-listed Queensland landmark are calling for outback tourism funding as the site faces closure for the second time.
Tour guide Bob Willow says closing the country’s last remaining wool scour in the central-Western town of Blackall would be a tragedy for outback tourism.
Mr Willow says the wool scour was promised at least $18 000, but a lack of funding has resulted in low visitation.
“They said they would pay our big expenses like maintaining our steam engine and our diesel supplies,” Mr Willow said.
Extinction Rebellion protester stops trains at Bowen Hills
Police removed an Extinction Rebellion climate activist who chained himself to train tracks at Bowen Hills station yesterday.
Trains were delayed for half an hour while the man was on the tracks holding a sign that read ‘Australia has the worst record of species extinction in the whole world’.
Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk says the government is asking for legislation aimed at increasing penalties for radical protesters to be brought forward in response to the latest action by Extinction Rebellion.
Hans Zimmer at Brisbane Entertainment Centre
If you’re a fan of Christopher Nolan, Pirates of the Caribbean or superhero movies, you shouldn’t need much introduction to the work of German film composer Hans Zimmer. Since the 80s, he’s raked up a staggering 150 film compositions and is considered one of cinema’s finest modern composers.
At the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on October 3rd, Zimmer was already commanding an audience as I sat in congested traffic, sweaty-palmed and trying to find a park. Luckily, I was saved by a ten-minute delayed start time!