South-East Queensland is set to receive a two-day heat reprieve as ex-Tropical Cyclone Trevor is set to bring much needed rain.

Brisbane’s maximum temperatures are expected to drop below 30 degrees today, tomorrow, and Friday before returning to temperatures in excess of 30 degrees again from this weekend and into early next week.

Brisbane City is expected to receive roughly 20 to 25 millimetres of rainfall daily on Wednesday and Thursday whilst Friday and Saturday are predicted slightly less with 10 to 20 millimetres per day.

Over 170 accounts of patients’ experiences of severe pain and suffering in years before their death have been submitted to the Queensland government, which seeks to gauge the level of support in the community for voluntary euthanasia.

140 of the 170 reports strongly urged a move by the state to allow medically assisted dying, provided there are safeguards put in place.

Australia is set to get a $6.5 million year-round freestyle ski-jumping facility in Brisbane after the initial plan fell through after a change of government in 2012.

The joint initiative between the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia, state and federal governments and the Australian Olympic Committee will see the facility being built adjacent to the swimming pool at the Sleeman Sports Complex at Chandler.

London’s natural history museum has handed aboriginal ancestral remains back over to elders in a ceremony yesterday.

Elder from a South Australian community, Doug Milera, travelled to London for the ceremony, and the remains will be kept in Australian museums until they can be repatriated to various sites around the country.

Milera reflected “the fact we are bringing [the remains] home now means the anger and frustration can subside”.

Oxycontin maker Purdue have reached a US $270 m settlement to resolve a lawsuit accusing the drug company of fuelling an opioid abuse epidemic.

Oklahoma Attorney-General, Mike Hunter, alleged Purdue, Johnson & Johnson, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, engaged in deceptive marketing, playing down the risks of addiction associated with opioids.

Two Melbourne ocularists are among just a handful of Australians who are making prosthetic eyes by hand.

Francesca Gelai and Nelly James are working in the niche art of ocular prosthetics, and are defying perceptions by making eyes that don’t take the shape of a real eyeball.

The front of the prosthetic eye is curved, however, it does not take the shape of a full sphere because each eye is individually designed to suit the person’s anatomy.  

Airbus has landed a major deal with China while rival company Boeing battles its 737 Max crisis.

The European plane maker has reached a deal this week to sell 300 passenger jets to Chinese airlines, with the planes worth roughly $35 billion altogether, based on Airbus’ list prices.

The company said in a statement the agreement shows strong demand from all areas of China’s rapidly expanding aviation market, including “domestic, low cost, regional and international long haul.”

European Parliament has approved new copyright laws on Tuesday that are confusing consumers.

The laws call for an overhaul of the bloc’s copyright laws that makes platforms like Google’s YouTube responsible for infringements committed by their users.

It will shift responsibility for protecting the rights of artists and writers directly to the platforms.

Tech companies have slammed the new laws saying the law is vague and badly written.

In an Australian first, schools have started using a new tertiary training model that allows prospective teachers to skip attending a university, and instead give them a “hands-on” in-classroom experience as paid employees.

The model includes on-site lectures, 1-2 days a week as well as being paid as assistant teachers throughout the duration of their four-year course, meaning students completely bypass a university campus.