‘Epidemic’ of trauma withdrawal syndrome affecting children on Nauru
At least 30 children on Nauru are suffering from trauma withdrawal syndrome, according to a report released by Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.
The rare and life threatening mental disorder causes bodies to shut down and can include complications such as organ failure and brain damage.
Psychiatry expert Louise Newman from the University of Melbourne says this epidemic is indicative of how traumatic the situation has become on the island.
PM’s plan to send migrants to regions for five years
New immigrants would be forced to settle in regional areas for up to five years under a federal plan to ease congestion in Sydney and Melbourne.
The move to impose regional settlement as a condition of migrant visas is in response to community concerns about urban pressures and social integration.
The Australian reported a decision on a time period for mandatory settlement was due to go to the Turnbull cabinet last week.
PM’s plan to send migrants to regions for five years
New immigrants would be forced to settle in regional areas for up to five years under a federal plan to ease congestion in Sydney and Melbourne.
The move to impose regional settlement as a condition of migrant visas is in response to community concerns about urban pressures and social integration.
The Australian reported a decision on a time period for mandatory settlement was due to go to the Turnbull cabinet last week.
Free wifi to be available at all city cat and ferry terminals by end of 2018
Free wifi will be available at all city cat and ferry terminals by the end of this year, thanks to a new roll out by the Brisbane City Council.
There are currently 5 terminals which have wifi, with 20 more to be installed.
Brisbane already has 275 free wifi hot spots across the city, including Fortitude Valley mall and Queen Street.
Queensland asylum seekers face deportation
The Australian Government turned away refugees who fled a sinking boat off the coast of Queensland’s crocodile country.
Refugee advocates confirmed fifteen people, believed to be from Vietnam, sailed into the Indian Ocean earlier this week.
The group arrived on Christmas Island yesterday, following a two-day manhunt near the mouth of the Daintree River.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has already declared swift deportation of the group at the first available opportunity.
Interpol: Marauder
- Venerable alt-rockers Interpol have released their sixth LP, Marauder, but do not ignore what your calendar says, it isn’t the early 2000’s again. Gaining prominence in New York City alongside The Strokes shortly after the turn of the century, Interpol earned themselves a loyal following on the backbone of their off-kilter indie rock. Although their sound hasn’t changed, their music hasn’t grown stale. This is probably due to the fact that they are almost incomparable to other bands.
White Denim: Performance
- When White Denim first emerged from Austin, TX some twelve years ago, it began a career of off-kilter music which combined progressive and psychedelic influences with the Southern rock elements of their native Texas. This has culminated in their eighth full-lengther Performance, which is one of the band’s more straightforward rock & roll records – but keep in mind “straightforward” for White Denim is still pretty out there in places!
Swiss company wins funding for technology to help limit global warming
Swiss company Climeworks has won over $40 million of funding for a new technology they hope will help to slow climate change.
High-tech fans and filters are used to suck carbon dioxide out of the air, which the company then sells to greenhouses as an airbourne fertiliser.
The awarded funds are being used for cost reductions as the technology is extremely costly, at $US600 per tonne.
German far-right and counter protesters clash in Chemnitz
A second night of violence has erupted in German city, Chemnitz, with right wing protests leading to several people sustaining injuries and a country dismayed over images of rioting.
The protests were described as reminiscent of civil war and Nazi programs- with mobs hunting foreigners through the city streets.
The premier of the state, Michael Kretschmer, said the riots were tasteless and upsetting and called upon Chemnitzers to stand by their foreign fellow citizens.
School funding looms for new minister
Education Minister Dan Tehan’s first day on the job is likely to be focused on a new education funding model.
Proposed by former education minister Simon Birmingham, the needs-based education funding aims to rejig how funding for schools is calculated.
According to former PM Malcolm Turnbull, the deal is the biggest-ever education funding reform and boosts schools funding to $23.5 billion over the next decade.
However the National Catholic Education Commission says Catholic schools are worse-off under the new deal.