Former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, has pleaded guilty in a federal court to charges he violated the civil rights of George Floyd, likely extending Chauvin’s prison sentence by several years after his earlier conviction for Floyd’s murder in state court.

The 45 year old former police officer had already been sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison in June after a jury convicted him for the murder of Floyd in 2020.

Screen Queensland today announced the first members of its Equity and Diversity Taskforce to develop a comprehensive, 3 year diversity plan to increase representation across film, series and games in the state.

Nominations were invited in June this year from individuals based across Australia, within and outside the screen industry, from under-represented backgrounds and with demonstrated experience in diversity action.

Two protected Australian lungfish kept illegally at a Gympie property have been given a new home, in a partnership between the Queensland Government and SEA LIFE Sunshine Coast Aquarium. 

Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol officers found the two lungfish in a backyard pond when they searched a Gympie property with the Queensland Police Service. 

Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries, Mark Furner, said Fisheries Queensland has donated the lungfish to the sunshine coast aquarium following a successful compliance investigation. 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make up almost 30% of all those hospitalised for domestic and family violence despite only making up 3.3% of the population, according to a recent examination of hospital stays. 

The Australian Institute of Public Health released a report detailing that those hospitalised for family and domestic violence were 1.3 times more likely to die than those hospitalised for other reasons. 70% of those hospitalised are female.

A group of Senegalese lawmakers in west Africa have drafted a law that would tighten their already repressive laws against same-sex relations, lengthening potential jail terms for those convicted of LGBT+ activities. 

According to a 2020 global review by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), arrests have risen sharply in Senegal, with the current law already targeting anyone who commits an "act against nature" with persons of the same gender. 

Recent data suggest that Queenslanders are the most reluctant in the nation to get a COVID-19 jab - despite opening its borders to interstate travelers on Monday.

Vaccine hesitancy has dropped from 11.5% to 9.6% across the nation in the last two weeks, according to the Melbourne Institute’s latest vaccine hesitancy tracker, while in QLD, 14.2% remain hesitant of getting the COVID-19 jab. 

E-scooter company, Neuron, a brand that has scooters across Brisbane, has implemented a raft of new safety features on their device in a trial intended to improve safety.

This comes after calls from the QLD ambulance service raised issues surrounding members of the public sustaining injuries during the use of e-scooters. 

Longreach Regional Council has recently signed off an application to rename one of its creeks because of its racist name. 

The change is set to rename current “Black Gin Creek” to “Watyakan Creek” meaning “Women’s creek,” paying tribute to those who historically camped near it. 

Indigenous language consultant, Des Crump, who was involved in changing the title, said that the current name was derogatory towards aboriginal women and he hopes that other councils would follow suit and change racist place names as well.