Concerns rise for Afghanistan students looking to study in Britain

Students in Afghanistan fear that their scholarships to study in Britain could make them targets of the Taliban.

Prime minister Boris Johnson intervened to say efforts would be made to accelerate their visas, hours after the Foreign Office defended its decision to block their scholarships.

Gold Coast businesses hard hit from NSW border closures

As the border to New South Wales remains closed, and fears of Sydney's COVID outbreak spreading north rise, many Gold Coast businesses are facing the COVID fatigue.

Gold Coast hotel and laundry service operators are among those struggling to remain open and profitable despite the federal and Queensland government business support package.

Pleas for compassion as Voluntary Assisted Dying legislation looms

As Queensland’s Voluntary Assisted Dying legislation looms, there continue to be pleas for ‘compassion’ and ‘dignity’ in death.

Cathy Herbert, daughter of the recently passed Ursula Shepherd, has urged Queenslanders to consider and respect those who support voluntary assisted dying, after she witnessed her mother struggle for years in a body that could no longer function properly despite her retained mental clarity.

University campus set to be developed in Fortitude Valley

A university campus and student accommodation tower have been pitched to be built in the mostly derelict department store buildings in the Fortitude Valley.

A $180 million redevelopment to turn the buildings on the corner of Brunswick Street and Wickham Street into a Torrens University site hopes to be operational by May 2023.

Concerns arise over vaccination rates in western NSW Indigenous communities

State and federal health departments have been accused of abandoning Aboriginal communities of western NSW as vaccination rates in the region are among the lowest in the nation.

Less than 20% of the Aboriginal population aged 16 and over in western NSW had received one dose of any vaccine, and only 8% are fully vaccinated, according to the peak body representing Aboriginal community-controlled health organisations, Naccho.

National Scientific Literacy has risen due to COVID-19

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact our lives, one positive to come out of it is that national scientific literacy has considerably increased.

Queensland’s Chief Scientist, Hugh Possingham, is encouraged that along with being able to interpret scientific charts at a glance, overall more people are also placing more trust in science.