Far right Germany politician resigns after converting to Islam

A far right politician for the controversial Alternative for Deutschland or AfD party has resigned, after it was discovered he had converted to Islam.

Surging to popularity before the 2017 election, AfD gained widespread notoriety for anti-immigration policy after Germany admitted more than 1.5 million refugees on a humanitarian basis.

This is the second far right politician to be caught converting to Islam, as the Dutch far right party expelled one of its own members over a pilgrimage to mecca.

 

Victorian educators criticise school curriculum changes

The Victorian opposition are being criticised by teachers and principals because of their plans to overtake state school’s curriculum.

The Liberal Opposition Leader Matthew Guy and opposition education spokesman Tim Smith have launched the “School Education Values Statement” today and say Victoria’s curriculum will be changed if the Coalition wins.

The statement does not go into much detail and contains no budget commitments, however, it does set out themes the Coalition wants to follow.

 

Sydney train strike starts today

Sydney commuters are feeling the pinch this morning as the latest train strike takes effect with commuters complaining of the packed conditions on social media this morning.

The timetable has been reduced to a weekend schedule, meaning trains will only run every fifteen minutes in peak hours instead of the usual eight.

Today’s ban on overtime comes ahead of Monday’s full day rail shutdown after workers voted to not take the government’s pay deal and take industrial action instead.

 

Queensland Chief Scientist in court

A Queensland Chief Scientist is in court on 31 new charges in relation to stealing funds from the state government.

Suzanne Miller allegedly used a state government funded credit card to buy $30, 000 worth of items, including a scooter, polaroid camera and a drone, for her own use between September 2013 and July 2017.  

However, this is not the first time the Chief Scientist had been charged over a $45, 000 private health insurance claim last July.

Protester shuts down coal line

Brisbane protester Tayla Jay Haggarty has been charged after she suspended herself from a tree yesterday morning 50 kilometres west of Bowen, next to an Aurizon rail line connected to the Adani-owned Abbot Point coal terminal.

The mining sector said the act was extreme and dangerous.

This is just a part of a long line of peaceful protests which have been conducted in the area against the Adani coal mine and related developments.

 

Study finds that obesity might be contagious

There is evidence of obesity being “socially contagious”, a study finds that a person is more likely to be overweight if they live close to obese people.

People are needing to pay more attention to balancing lived environments as within Australia alone 62.8 per cent of the adult population is overweight and obese.

Adults were more likely to be obese if they lived in regional areas as opposed to major cities.

China successfully cloned 2 monkeys, opening door to Human cloning

Scientists in China have successfully cloned 2 monkeys, becoming the very first primates to be cloned from a non-embryonic cell.

Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Neuroscience in Shanghai have stated the breakthrough should be of huge benefit when studying genetically uniform primates, eventually including humans.

The research underscored the focus China has been taking to remain at the cutting edge of Bioscience technology, and highlights the difficulties in ethical and moral boundaries around cloning.

 

Japan ski resort avalanche search suspended

Volcanic tremors have forced rescuers to suspend their search effort for victims of a deadly eruption and avalanche at a Japanese ski resort.

The eruption near Kusatsu ski resort killed one person and left eleven injured as volcanic rocks flew through the air.

The search effort for survivors trapped under the snow near the mountain will resume once conditions have improved.

Severe heatwave in south-east Australia

A severe heatwave is forecast for the large part of south-east Australia over the long weekend.

For the north of Tasmania, extreme conditions are expected with maximums 10 degrees above the January average in Adelaide, Melbourne and Hobart.

This is the second severe heatwave warning in south-east Australia in a fortnight.