A proposed underwater graveyard could soon find Gold Coast residents spending their after-life underwater.

The city is seeking solutions to a shortage of burial plots, examining the construction of a site under the Broadwater or the Spit where cremated remains would rest.

The plan has been under investigation since January, with a site of a similar approach off the coast of Miami seems to be inspiration for the council.

The Brisbane-based company Microba has developed a new testing protocol for a range digestive problems.

The test involves taking a faecal sample and mailing it to a laboratory which can use DNA sequencing to reveal the state of gut microorganisms.

Senior scientist Dr Alena Pribyl says the process, which is an Australian-first, is similar to bowel cancer screening test, but though it is informative, it is not medically diagnostic.

A Human Rights Watch report has suggested Myanmar’s government “should promptly address illegal land confiscations, compensate aggrieved parties, and reform laws to protect people against future abuses.”

Myanmar government and military officials have seized land from farmers over the past 30 years “while providing them with no or inadequate compensation”, said the 33-page report on Tuesday.

Farmers who had protested the lack of compensation or refused to leave their land often faced criminal prosecution.

Israel has prevented gas and fuel deliveries from entering the Gaza Strip a week after shutting down the Kerem Shalom crossing, the only commercial crossing into the Strip.

Initially, only items deemed humanitarian were allowed into Gaza, including fuel; however the Israeli defense ministry announced will remain open only for food and medicine on a case-by-case basis.

The UN and Gisha, the Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement, describe the act as collective punishment, with Gisha further describing it as morally depraved.

The Federal Government’s cashless welfare card trials’ effectiveness is unreliable according to a report by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO).

In 2016, welfare recipients in parts of Western and South Australia were given cashless debit cards in an attempt to reduce alcohol, gambling and drug misuse.

80 percent of a person’s Centrelink allowance is placed on the card and is only to be used for essential items.

300 residents of the City of Clarence gathered last night to discuss concerns over the privatisation of Crown land on Hobart’s eastern shore.

The Clarence Council plans to lease the area to a developer to construct a multi-million dollar hotel in Rosny Hill, which residents describe as a sale and privatisation by any other name.

Tasmanian Conservation Trust director Peter McGlone also says the proposed developments would cover 40 percent of the reserve and threaten endangered plants.

A draft bill has been referred to a parliamentary committee to dissolve Ipswich City Council and to require a new election.

The laws would prevent Ipswich councillors from running as a candidate in any other local government election until 2020, and the act would expire on the 30th of June in the same year.

The bill comes after charges were laid against two Ipswich mayors; Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe saying, “There are 15 current and former councillors and officials facing almost 80 charges in Ipswich…”