Cinema groups competing over the future of a Brisbane skating rink

Competing cinema groups are fighting over the future of the Red Hill Skate Rink site in inner city Brisbane.

A $10 million dollar redevelopment was proposed by Five Star Cinemas and given the green light last year, but Reading cinemas is seeking to have this approval overturned in the Planning and Environment Court.

The arena was burnt down on Boxing Day in 2002 and was added to the council’s heritage register in 2016.

World's oldest bread found in Jordan

Researchers have found the remains of the world’s oldest bread at a prehistoric site in north-east Jordan.

The bread was baked around 14,500 years, more than 4,000 years before early plant cultivation and farming societies.

University of Copenhagen researcher Amaia Arranz-Otaegui says they now must analyse the relationship between bread production and agriculture, as bread may have provided an incentive to begin farming.

 

Japan faces heatwave, 14 people dead

Japan is currently facing an intense heat wave, which has killed around fourteen people and hampered recovery efforts in flood-affected areas.

Temperatures over the weekend ranged from 34 to nearly 40 degrees, with temperatures of 35 degrees considered intensely hot days in Japan.

The Japanese Meteorological Agency says the heat wave is due to the layering of two high pressure systems, and is expected to last the rest of the week.

 

Forget carrots, eating oranges could improve your eyesight

Regularly eating oranges may improve your eye health according to new research from the Westmead Institute.

The Institute analysed the diet of 2,000 Australians over the age of 50 for a 15 years period focusing on how their diet related to their risk of age-related vision impairment, and it was the consumption of oranges in particular that stood out.

Lead researcher at the University of Sydney, Bamini Gopinath, said that while these results were exciting, more studies needed to be done to hone in on the the links to oranges and Macular Degeneration.

New drug treatment for ice addiction to be trialed

A new drug treatment for ice addiction will be trialed with around 180 people over a twelve week period.

Participants will take N-Acetyl Cysteine, a drug use for paracetamol overdoses, to reduce the urge to take crystal methamphetamine and other harmful substances.  

There is currently no approved medication to treat ice dependence, and most people with addictions must wait for access to counselling services and rehabilitation.

Brisbane set to have an over-water champagne and oyster bar in late 2018

Construction has begun in Brisbane on an over-water champagne and oyster bar, built as part of the $110 million dollar Howard Smith Wharves project.

The council’s infrastructure chairwoman Amanda Cooper said the construction of the bar was on of the final stages of the project and will feature a river lounge so consumers will be able to enjoy the spectacular river views.

The Howard Smith Wharves is on track to open in late 2018.

 

Sea Shepherd joins call for a rethink of shark nets

Following the release of a seven-meter humpback whale which became entangled in a net off the Gold Coast on Monday, an Australian environmental group called Sea Shepherd has joined the calls for the Queensland government to rethink its shark net problem.

The Australian managing director for Sea Shepherd, Jeff Hanson, says the current Queensland Shark Control program gives us a false sense of security.