Brisbane Festival and Riverfire are set to return in 2021 after its hiatus in 2020.

Organizers have promised the September event will make up for lost time as this year's festival will have performances involving musical acts, dance numbers, and more. 

Festival Artistic Director Louise Bezzina said, "It is really celebrating coming together all of the wonderful things we love and adore."

The Queensland Health Department is said to be in a crisis, as new data exposes the substandard state of the Emergency Departments in Brisbane Hospitals. 

The latest Queensland Health statistics show a dangerous blowout in the time Queenslanders are waiting for treatment in the Emergency Departments. 

Shadow Health Minister Ros Bates says the figures show the State Government is losing control of the health system.

Queensland Commissioner Katarina Carroll has launched a “thorough investigation” to find officers responsible for running a police Facebook page littered with sexist, homophobic, and racist content.

Carroll has addressed the ‘racist, sexist and homophobic posts that were made on the Facebook page and says at least half the people who run the page are current officers who work in the force. will suffer further disciplinary action. 

Peter Dutton has confirmed all of Australia's defence troops have now been withdrawn from Afghanistan, coming earlier than the original September deadline.

The Defence Minister said there had been 1,500 troops in the country, which was recently reduced to 80, and now they have all been withdrawn under the advice of the chief of defence.

North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, has criticised North Korean officials for their neglect in handling the COVID-19 pandemic and for their lack of long-term strategies in handling the virus.  

North Korea hasn’t officially confirmed any COVID cases, however, South Korean officials believe that due to the new restrictions in North Korea, COVID-19 may have been exposed.

Content warning for this next story which contains themes of Indigenous people who have passed away.

An Indigenous man has died whilst being held in custody last week.

The man is now the 9th Indigenous person to die in custody since the beginning of March this year. The man’s family came forward claiming he was completely healthy and that they’re in complete shock. 

A spokesperson for the NSW Government has said an investigation is currently underway and that they’re looking into the incident.

The Australian military is closely tracking a high-tech Chinese surveillance ship making its way towards Queensland ahead of large-scale military exercises which begin this week. 

Australian Defence Forces are expecting the vessel to arrive on Friday to monitor the Talisman Saber 2021 war games involving Australia and the United States, which will be officially opened today.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton confirmed that the Chinese ship poses no threat to Australia and that the same sort of vessel was sent from CHina for the same reasons in previous years.

A Queensland Police Officer has been stood down after using a warrant to access data from the Queensland Check In App in attempts to locate a stolen gun and taser. 

Officials are concerned the public confidence in the app may have been harmed after the government specifically promised it would only be used for contract tracing. 

An ethical standards investigation is now underway looking into the event.

A public health alert has been issued for Queensland residents after a positive case which was announced on Tuesday had their infectious period revised. 

A public health alert is being issued for more contact tracing locations in Kenilworth, Noosa, Eumundi and Sunshine Beach.

Queensland Health has urged all Queenslanders to monitor their symptoms closely and also check the list of exposure venues regularly.