8am Zedlines
[Image Source: ABC News/Tim Swanston]
Australia's first electric car
A German engineer has built Australia’s first manufactured electrical car.
Queensland start-up company ACE EV built the two-seater electric van in a warehouse south of Brisbane.
The van took three years to build and designers managed to keep costs down by manufacturing parts in China and Taiwan.
Managing director Greg McGarvie said he hopes the company can build 100 cars by the end of the year.
Brisbane Lord Mayor replaced
Deputy Mayor Adrian Schrinner has been picked to replace Graham Quirk as Brisbane’s Lord Mayor.
Following his announcement to step down, Councillor Quirk revealed his last day on the job will be the 7th of April, where Councillor Schrinner will be sworn in on Monday the 8th of April.
Councillor Schrinner has big plans for the city, including five new green bridges estimated to cost $550 million.
Labor promises equal treatment for women
Labor leader Bill Shorten promises to promote more women to senior positions and give them a better chance at equal opportunities under a federal Labor government.
The Labor government commits to appointing a woman as the next governor-general and introducing gender-neutral job applications to ensure there is no gender bias.
Shorten said, “if we did nothing else in the next 10 years but achieve the equal treatment of women in Australian society, we would be the richest, most successful country on the planet.”
NRMA calls for a petrol and diesel ban
The NRMA has called for a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars as early as 2025 to encourage the adoption of low-emissions vehicles.
UK and France have announced a similar plan to phase out and ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2040 with Germany and China indicating they intend to follow suit.
RACQ head of Public Policy Dr Rebecca Michael said the transport sector needs to play a role in meeting emissions targets for the Paris Agreement and clear government policy is needed to drive that effort.
#MeToo movement reached muslim majority
The #MeToo movement is spreading across Muslim-majority northern Nigeria using #ArewaMeToo.
Arewa is the general term used to refer to northern Nigeria - a conservative society with a majority Muslim population where issues surrounding sex and sexuality are rarely discussed publicly.
Betty Abah, the director of the Centre for Children’s Health, Education, Orientation and Protection NGO said she thinks “the bravery of the women [speaking out] is similar to a revolution.”
Rare lion cubs born
Rare white male and female lion cubs have been born in the Taygan Lion Park near Belogorsk in Russia.
This is the second time the mother of the cubs, Milady, has given birth since last year.
The cubs were born several days ago, and are few of the 300 white cubs left in the world, where most of them are kept in captivity.
Review: Dangerous Liaisons at QPAC
Liam Scarlett’s Dangerous Liaisons shows at the Playhouse Theatre, QPAC with Camerata - Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra from the 22nd March until the 6th April, 2019. This fantastic co-production between Queensland Ballet and Texas Ballet Theater that is currently showing at QPAC all began with Les Liaisons Dangereuses which was written by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. What a show and what an opening night to witness this fantastic contemporary take of a work originally from the 1700s.
Tiana Khasi: Meghalaya
- The neosoul scene in Brisbane has been growing in depth and maturity in recent years. One of its strongest players is a well-rounded performer, someone who’s covered a lot of ground while still young; just about everywhere you look in that scene you’ll find her and that person is Tiana Khasi.
Death Club 7: Fata Morgana
- Brisbane has a well-deserved reputation for being a punk paradise. Many will argue that punk was not only invented here but has been nurtured and affirmed for more than forty years. However, there are several other sides to Brisbane’s music scene and nearly all are bubbling away thanks to musicians, barely alive in the latter years of the twentieth century, championing genres that rose and nearly vanished before most of them were born.