Politicians Breach WeChat Policies
Australian politicians, including the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader, are using China’s largest social media platform, WeChat, to target Chinese-Australian voters in key marginal seats and, as a result, risk being kicked off the platform.
The politicians are using official accounts set up by Chinese citizens which means that not only does the practice appears to be a breach of the platform’s terms and conditions, but it also means Australian politicians are open to Chinese Government censorship.
Seismic Activity Detected on Mars
NASA’s InSight probe on Mars has detected and measured its first seismological tremor.
The InSight spacecraft was designed to study the deep interior of the planet in a two-year investigation.
Scientists are still examining the data to determine the cause but the trembling does not appear to be caused by forces above the surface, such as wind, but has originated from inside the planet.
Study finds female athletes targeted online more than male athletes
Advocacy group Plan International has found negative comments on broadcasters’ social media pages are three times as common for female athletes as their male counterparts.
Studying posts by broadcasters which received a significant amount of engagement, 27 per cent of comments on articles regarding female athletes, while only 8 per cent on articles regarding males were negative, with comments including remarks such as “stick to netball”.
9AM ZEDLINES
Good morning this is Maddie and Jack with your 9am Zedlines.
Road closures in Brisbane's CBD ahead of Anzac Day
This Anzac Day, road closures will be in place in Brisbane’s CBD from late Wednesday night until Thursday afternoon with parking arrangements across the city altered.
The Dawn Service at the Shrine of Remembrance in Anzac Square will begin at 4.28am Thursday morning to coincide with sunrise.
Brisbane City Council and the state Government have completed a joint refurbishment of Anzac Square in time for tomorrow’s event.
Brisbane welcomes thousands of athletes for the INAS games
Over a thousand athletes from around the world will gather in Brisbane for the INAS games in October, held for athletes with intellectual impairment.
Australian athletes including boxer Jeff Horn, tennis legend Pat Rafter and Commonwealth Games gold medalist Daniel Fox will be ambassadors for the game.
"We're pleased to confirm we've got support from all three levels of government now, so we've got a federal government grant, some state support and council support," Mayor Adrian Schrinner said.
Teenage Queensland army recruit dies from Good Friday training incident
A young Queensland army recruit has died in a Sydney hospital after suffering injuries in a training incident on Good Friday in regional New South Wales.
18-year-old Liam Wolf was at the Army Recruit Training Centre in Kapooka completing his basic training when he was involved in an incident that saw him rushed to Wagga Wagga Base Hospital before being transferred to Sydney for specialist treatment.
Teacher groups fight for religious education to be scrapped from high school
Principal and teacher groups are pushing for mandatory Special Religious Education (SRE) to be scrapped from high school after 43 per cent of students did not nominate a religion last year.
The number of New South Wales Public school students who do not identify with a religion has surged by 13 per cent in the three years to 2018, making non-believer the fastest-growing group, ahead of Islam and Hinduism.
Backlash against bidding war for Notre Dame funding
French billionaires Francois-Henri Pinault and Bernard Arnault are copping a mountain of criticism after they tried to outbid each other with pledges in the hundreds of millions of euros to fund the rebuilding of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
People are wondering why the billionaires were so quick to pledge funds to rebuild a cathedral when there are so many other issues that need to be fixed in France.
Search continues for missing people in Phillipines earthquake
Philippines authorities are still searching for survivors after a magnitude 6.1 earthquake on Monday killed at least 11 people.
ABS-CBN News reports five were killed while dozens are missing after a four-storey supermarket in Pampanga province north of Manila collapsed.
Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda told local radio, search and rescue operations are continuing at the supermarket where as many as 30 people are feared to still be trapped.