Bushfires rage through QLD residences
Fires continue to burn in the Herberton and Watsonville area near Cairns, with crews working to battle the blaze overnight.
Meanwhile, a bushfire destroyed a Mount Beppo residence in Brisbane’s west, late yesterday afternoon.
Twenty-five crews worked to put out the blaze, which moved east from the Brisbane Valley Highway area, towards the Somerset Dam.
8 am Zedlines
This has been Juanita and Angus with your 8am zedlines.
Image source: ABC, 2018
Underwater Sand Castles to Prevent Rising Sea Levels?
As climate scientists seek new ways to prevent rising sea levels, researchers suggest underwater structures may be an option to maintain underwater glaciers.
Scientists say the magnitudinal operation would be simple in design, involving erecting sand and rock barriers 300m in height, underwater.
Japanese PM Shinzo Abe on track to become longest serving
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is on track to become the country's longest serving PM after a landslide leadership contest victory.
Abe won 553 votes out of a total 807, and it's predicted his six-year reign will be unchallenged until November 2019, where he will overtake early 1900s Prime Minister Taro Katsura as the longest serving.
Familiar to Australian politics today, the average lifespan of a Japanese Prime Minister in the aftermath of World War II was just two years.
Con Artist on Bail Steals Student's Money
A notorious con artist is continuing to scam foreign students in Australia despite being out on bail for 22 counts of fraud and misleading conduct.
Korean-born businessman Eddie Kang has been offering students 457 visas that he never issues and refuses to refund the students’ money.
Students paid Mr Kang’s company tens of thousands of dollars to secure visas and jobs.
TechGiants to hand over encrypted information to Security Agencies
Tech Giants will soon be required to hand over encrypted information to security agencies under draft laws introduced to federal parliament this week.
Home Affairs Minister, Peter Dutton says encrypted information was relevant to 90 per cent of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation cases.
This would include apps such as WhatsApp where messages can only be seen by the sender and receiver.
$680 million dollars cash splash for QLD private schools
Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace is demanding an equal funding boost to state schools after the Morrison Government announced a $680 million dollars cash splash for private Catholic schools.
The latest announcement makes a total $4.6 billion national funding deal for the education sector, however, the money will only be spent on Catholic schools, and independent schools.
Mr Morrison says the fund will target rural and regional schools affected by drought, however details of how the fund will work are yet to be revealed.
Lady Cilento's Children's Hospital Name Change
It has been confirmed this morning that Lady Cilento's Children's Hospital will be renamed at an expected cost of half a million dollars to the taxpayer.
Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles proposed the name change after it was revealed a significant number of people wrongly believed Lady Cilento's to be a private hospital rather than a public one.
After gathering the support of 900 hospital staff, as well as the Board and it's fundraising arm, the hospital will be renamed ‘Queensland Children's Hospital’.
The Aints: The Church Of Simultaneous Existence
- By definition, there are a lot of new releases reviewed around here - so many that it can be hard for one to really stand out from the crowd. But this next release is one that I reckon is something so special that in decades to come it may well be recognised as an iconic Australian album. It is both brand-spanking new, and also four decades old. A new musical combination with a familiar voice reviving, refreshing and revealing a sound whose power has managed to be maintained, literally, across centuries.
Villagers: The Art Of Pretending To Swim
- The Art of Pretending to Swim is the fourth album by revered Irish band Villagers. For all intents and purposes, the solo project of Conor O’Brien, Villagers have carved out a name on the basis of his exemplary songwriting and lyrical acumen. Endowed with an obvious knack for the craft, O’Brien’s almost quaint approach is obfuscated by the complexity of the production. This is the case more than ever on The Art of Pretending to Swim, which is far and away the most experimental album in Villagers’ burgeoning catalogue.