The government is being urged to state the use of any spyware in its intelligence gathering and to refuse to use surveillance products made by an Israeli security company.

Reports centred around software called Pegasus, produced by Israel’s NSO Group, which allows the user full remote access to a target’s smartphone.

Melbourne and Sydney citizens flee to Brisbane and regional areas due to the constant lockdowns only to be greeted with Queensland's first.

Melburnians are leaving the city and heading for cheaper housing and lockdown-free life in the state’s regions and other parts of the country as the coronavirus pandemic up-ends migration across the country.

A record net 11,800 people left the nation’s capital cities in the three months to the end of March, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Tuesday, with Sydney and Melbourne feeling the pandemic-fuelled drain.

The Indonesian navy and air force face renewed calls to cease invasive “virginity tests” for female recruits after the country’s army indicated it would abandon the decades-long practice.

Indonesia’s security forces have faced years of pressure to end the procedures, which they have defended as a way to select the best candidates. An Indonesian woman speaks of her shock at finding out the 'virginity test' needed to enter the military was to be conducted by a male doctor. 
 

CONTENT WARNING sexual harassment. 

United States President Joe Biden has called for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to resign after findings from a sexual harassment investigation.

State Attorney General Letitia James says that the 5-month independent investigation into Cuomo found that he sexually harassed 11 women and created a hostile work environment. 

Mr Cuomo said he was sorry if his behaviour was misunderstood by his accusers, but denied he had acted inappropriately and made clear he had no plans to resign.

Queenslanders are being told they could bring an end to the current coronavirus lockdown scheduled to end at 4pm Sunday by coming forward, and getting tested. 

But the easing of restrictions also depends on how many new cases the state records today.

It comes as Queensland hospitals are filled with dozens of sick children infected with the Delta variant.

Yesterday the state recorded 16 new locally required cases, with more than a dozen new exposure sites in Brisbane and Cairns. 

Paralympics Australia believes the 2032 Brisbane Games will deliver an immaculate societal change in the way we view disability in Queensland. 

Since those first Games, the Paralympics has grown to become far and away the world’s biggest event for promoting inclusion with a global showcase of the true value of sport.

Paralympics Australia President Jock O’Callaghan said, "The impacts of Brisbane 2032 would reinforce the Paralympic Movement’s strength in demonstrating what people with a disability can achieve and contribute in sport and beyond."

Researchers from the University of Queensland have refuted claims that coronavirus can enter a person's DNA. 

The researchers from the UQ Queensland brain institute said the claims have led to “scaremongering” and people should not hesitate to be vaccinated.

Professor Geoff Faulkner said his team’s research published in Cell Reports showed there was no evidence of COVID-19 or the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines entering DNA.

Faulkner said, “The evidence refutes this concept that is being used to fuel vaccine hesitancy”.

The Prime Minister has announced one billion dollars in over five years of new fund measures to “close the gap” in life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people in Australia. 

Lead Convener of the Coalition of Peaks, Pat Turner said “the investment includes some very significant initiatives important to our people's wellbeing like the breakthrough in providing reparations to survivors of the Stolen Generations in territories which was long called for but long denied until now.”

Dozens of Australian Churches and other religious institutions pocketed millions of dollars in JobKeeper payments while remaining in black during 2020.

Recent figures from the Australian Tax Office show 35,000 religious entities received over $6 million in JobKeeper payments despite seeing little financial impact from the COVID-19 economic shock. 

​​As an ongoing investigation ensues, only a fraction of the total amount of JobKeeper paid to religious groups can be traced because most religious institutions are exempt from financial transparency rules.