Content warning for this next story on euthenasia.

Assisted dying laws have come into effect in Western Australia, bringing relief for terminally ill individuals.

Western Australia and Victoria now have active voluntary assisted dying laws, with Tasmania and South Australia on the way.

About 60 terminally-ill West Australians are expected to peacefully end their own lives within the next 12 months.

Undocumented migrants in Belgium have sewn their lips closed in protest of their rights.

Hundreds of undocumented workers have been hunger striking for weeks to stress their demands for legal recognition and access to work and social services.

This week, four men have stitched their lips shut to emphasise the strike, but the Belgian government says it will not negotiate with the hunger strikers over their plea to be granted formal residency.

Brisbane and Moreton Bay regions will remain in lockdown for a further 24 hours.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuck made the announcement in a press conference today as three new locally-acquired cases have been recorded overnight.

Areas across Queensland will have the lockdown lifted in Noosa, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Logan, Redlands, Gold Coast, Scenic Rim, Lockyer Valley, Somerset and Townsville.

The Rail, Train, and Bus Union says that the Brisbane City Council are forcing bus drivers to work through the three-day lockdown or face getting stood down.

RTBU Assistant State Secretary Tom Brown says that two hundred and fifty bus drivers that are part of the union know at least six hundred other council workers who were sent home with full pay.

Councillor Ryan Murphy responds that all employees are essential workers and that sick bus drivers should seek to obtain a medical certificate or access leave.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she will travel to Tokyo and quarantine for fourteen days afterwards despite her government’s harsh criticism of international business trips during Covid.

State Deputy Premier Steven Miles the day before the Premier’s announcement said that people who can afford to charter flights for international business meetings were breaching international border restrictions and risking the health of the country.

A national cabinet has been convened today to discuss the COVID-19 situation, as there is a rift involved between Scott Morrison and some of the state and territory leaders in regards to the ability of younger Australians to access the AstraZeneca vaccine. 

The cabinet wishes to allow all under 40s to receive the vaccine with informed consent despite the risk of blood clots, with Queensland's Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young, “wouldn't it be terrible that our first 18-year-old in Queensland who dies related to this pandemic, died because of the vaccine.”

The Trump Organisation is being charged for tax-related crimes.

Chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg surrendered to Manhattan authorities yesterday, and is being charged with giving staff rent-free apartments and company cars without reporting it for tax purposes.

General counsel for the Manhattan district attorney Carey Dunne says the 15-year-long plot is “a sweeping and audacious illegal payments scheme”.

Mr Weisselberg and the Trump Organisation are pleading not guilty.

The United Nations have recognised record-high temperatures of 18.3 degrees in Antarctica.

This record was measured in February of 2020, but its verification yesterday has climate experts concerned.

World Meteorological Organisation secretary-general Petteri Taalas says the Antarctic Peninsula is among the fastest-warming regions of the planet.