The designer of the Indigenous flag has spoken out against policing the authenticity of Indigenous art.

Harold Thomas has worked in the art world for more than 50 years and says the only truly authentic indigenous art would be ochre colours on bark.

Thomas said it is important not to allow control of what is and is not Aboriginal art to be policed by a non-indigenous body such as the federal government, who is currently conducting an inquiry into sales of “fake” aboriginal art.

Up to sixty residents are expected to show up to a protest in support of improved safety at an intersection in West End this morning.

The protest is planned to block traffic through the Montague Road and Victoria Street intersection from 8 to 8.30am.

Greens Councillor for The Gabba, Jonathan Sri, says the intersection is “extremely dangerous” and needs traffic lights.

The first of this year’s NAPLAN tests began nationwide on Tuesday.

Each year, the controversial test is supposed to collect data on students’ performance at different schools to be published online, and used to allocate resources.

This comes just as several schools were found to have been encouraging students with below average results to pull out of the test, so as to not affect the school’s data.

Health professionals are planning an urgent move to incentivise an increase in pneumonia vaccination rates among older Australians.

Statistics show a decrease of 50 percent in the number of seniors who take the vaccine to prevent the disease, a disease that claims 200 elderly lives each year.

Pneumonia can be caused by virus, bacteria or fungi causing the small air sacs of the lungs to fill with pus and fluid, making breathing painful, causing coughing and limiting oxygen intake.

More than 40 people are dead after a new wave of sand and thunderstorms hit northern Indian on Sunday according to local authorities.

Emergency officials also confirmed the catastrophe brought down walls, trees and power pylons in Uttar Pradesh state, killing at least 18 people.

The deaths come just 10 days after a sandstorm left more than 130 dead in the same region.

At least five students have been killed and dozens more reported missing after a bridge collapsed at a tourist site in the Pakistan region of Kashmir.

The structure, located in the mountainous Neelum district, reportedly gave way as dozens of university students crossed it to view a waterfall.

Although local authorities cannot confirm an exact figure, they believe 20 to 25 persons were standing on the footbridge when it collapsed.

According to the latest poll by The Australian, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s approval rating has seen its biggest jump since 2016.

An eight-point jump in his approval rating has taken the Liberal leader to 46 per cent, while Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has slipped three points to 32 per cent.

The gap between the government and Labor has widened as well with the coalition trailing 46 to 54 per cent, from 48 to 52 per cent, in two-party terms, according to the survey.