With September’s Week For Leukemia on the horizon, Leukemia Support Queensland (LSQ) has launched a campaign to build a state-of-the-art pathology lab at Redcliffe Hospital, Caboolture Hospital or North Lakes.

Currently it can take up to 5 days for a Moreton Bay patient to receive blood results after a serious diagnosis of Leukemia or other life threatening diseases, and with the region having two of Brisbane’s largest hospitals, LSQ President Jane McMillan has said it is time the region has consulting pathologists.

The Federal Health Department has faced criticism after the ABC discovered that the government’s advice on Covid-19 was wrong in a number of languages on their website.

Culturally and linguistically diverse Australians were being given out-of-date information about vaccines.

Health professionals who checked the federal government’s website said these people were being told AstraZeneca was the preferred vaccine for over 50s, despite that advice being updated in June to reflect the risk posed by extremely rare blood clotting disorders.

Regional authorities in Sicily recorded temperatures of 48.8 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, which if confirmed would be a new Italian and European record.

A spokesman for Italy's national meteorological service said the result still had to be validated.

Sicily's governor, Nello Musumeci, called for a state of emergency to be declared for the mountainous regions which have been battling fires. 

Southern Europe has experienced intense heatwaves and fires this summer and experts warn climate change increases the intensity and frequency of such extreme weather events.

A cargo ship broke into 2 pieces after running aground in a northern Japanese port.

The ship survived hitting the seabed, but suffered a crack which later widened and ultimately split the ship.

All 21 Chinese and Filipino crew members were safely rescued by the coast guard.

Officials said that they are still trying to clean up the oil spill from the 36,200 tonne carrier.

Sandgate and Hercules Road State School students were treated to a LEGO Masters competition during last week’s lockdown by local chaplain Nathan Grady with students building Olympic themed creations.

The competition is designed to boost the mental health of students while they grapple with the ever changing circumstances of the pandemic.

Mr Grady said his role and hosting fun activities is more important than ever right now, ensuring parents, teachers and students feel supported and know there are patient ears available to listen. 

Three tradies in training from the Australian Industry Trade College in Cleveland will represent Queensland at the WorldSkills Trade Olympics competition this month.

Brayde Turrall-Poulter, Levi Ehue, and Ryan Thomsen will be competing at the Alexandra Hills TAFE campus where they will be battling it out for a spot in the international level of the event.

The competition is a skills Olympics which showcases skills from more than 50 trades, and the international level will be hosted in Shanghai in 2022.

Moreton Bay Regional Council is fighting back against illegal dumpers who are costing ratepayers more than $6.5 million in clean-up fees every year.

Mayor Peter Flannery said last financial year there was 263 tonnes of waste illegally dumped.

That equates to roughly 7,000 wheelie bins worth of waste that includes hazardous waste like asbestos, which needs to be cleaned up and processed by Council at the cost of ratepayers.

Mr Flannery said the new state-funded technology, called the MicroPhazir Asbestos Analyser, is a game changer when combating illegal dumping.

Western Australia has joined the other states by introducing a law which will make protesting outside of abortion clinics illegal.

The law will allow for safe access zones for women accessing abortions and will prevent people from protesting within 150 metres of facilities that provide abortion services.

Family planning healthcare provider Marie Stopes says the new law will stop women facing harassment from protesters who spent almost 2,300 hours each year outside their clinic where even staff had also been targeted.