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.

Mr Possingham says, “People are seeing, for possibly the first time in their life, how deeply policy is driven by science, and they’re far more engaged than they were before.”

Thousands of people marched at the LGBTQI+ pride march in Bucharest on Saturday ahead of planned legislation announcements.

Romania decriminalised homosexuality in 2001, but still bars marriage and civil partnerships for same-sex couples.

Lawmakers from two different parties - the junior ruling coalition ethnic Hungarian party (UDMR) and the opposition ultra-nationalist Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR) - says they plan to introduce legislation to ban so-called gay propaganda in schools when parliament reconvenes in September.

A welcome home parade is organised through Brisbane's Queen Street Mall on October 8 for Queensland-based Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the celebration, to be followed with a reception at City Hall, will mark one of Australia's most successful Olympic campaigns, with athletes bringing home 17 gold, 7 silver and 22 bronze medals.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner says parents and grandparents from across Brisbane should bring children to the parade and watch Queensland's amazing athletes be awarded the Keys to the City.

Although the Ekka was cancelled, there has been support and effort by many to keep the farmers, who look forward to the annual respite, a chance to share their produce.

The Queensland Farmers’ Federation chief executive, Georgina Davis, has urged the community to show their support by buying produce from the farm gate or farmers’ markets.

One of Australia's rarest mammals, the silver-headed antechinus has been found by scientists.

Close to extinction by the bushfire crisis of 2019, a third of its habit was destroyed by the fires, leaving scientists fearing the worst.

21 mammals were found alive and still breeding in burnt forest south of Gladstone.

The successful search and rescue mission was made possible through WWF's wildlife recovery program, set up in the wake of the nation-wide bushfires.

New South Wales police will enforce tough new COVID-19 regulations for the locked-down state after it recorded 415 new cases and four deaths on Sunday.

NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Mick Willing says from today, 1,400 Highway Patrol officers would be on patrol.

A test-and-isolate payment of $320 will also start this week for workers 17 and over who have symptoms of COVID-19 and live in government areas of concern.

Human rights groups and Afghans in Australia are urging the Federal Government to consider a special intake of refugees from Afghanistan fleeing violence from the Taliban.

Amnesty International's Australia refugee rights adviser Graham Thom said the federal government should consider options for Afghans in Australia who are on temporary visas to remain in the country without having to reapply every three years.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sunday said 400 Afghans who assisted the Australian Defence Force in Afghanistan have already been brought to Australia.

GRIS-Montréal a not-for-profit organisation is offering LGBTQI+ support for youths in rural Quebec.

The Vice president Andrei Pascu believes that lack of queer representation in small towns can make it easy to feel alone. This isolation is only compounded by bullying or passively homophobic remarks.

This is why GRIS-Montréal regularly visits rural high schools. Their goal is to show LGBTQI+ students that there are others going through the same thing. And, through honest conversations, to fight against anti-LGBTQI+ attitudes in these communities.