Brisbane City Council is scheduled to meet today to formalise Brisbane’s bid to host the 2032 Olympic Games.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner fast-tracked the meeting to meet International Olympic Committee guidelines, meaning an official announcement could come as early as July.

The IOC has already named Brisbane as its preferred candidate to host the games ahead of cities such as Doha and Budapest.

A new $400 000 grants program to help Queensland export businesses grow overseas has opened.

The program will offer Queensland exporters that already have an E-Commerce deal up to $10 000, with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk saying it’s all part of her government’s economic recovery plan. 

Set to help the economy after the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the grant will assist Queensland businesses tapping into global E-Commerce channels.

Cancer Council Queensland’s Biggest Morning Tea hopes to reconnect the state after the effects of COVID-19. 

Cancer Council CEO Chris McMillan says between June and September last year, over 60% of cancer patients reported feeling isolated often since the start of the pandemic. 

The need to support the mental health of cancer survivors and patients is high and the hope is to raise over $7 million nationally to help everyone affected by cancer across Australia.

An extradition hearing for Russian-born, Perth-raised millionaire Zhenya Tsvetnenko has been delayed again after more than two years behind bars.

Accused of participating in a text scam in the US, 40-year-old Tsvetnenko was charged by New York authorities with conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud.

Due to face Perth Magistrates court on Monday his barrister successfully applied for an adjournment. The magistrate described the proceedings as a nightmare

A large fire has swept through Rohingya refugee camp Cox’s Bazar, destroying shelters and essential health and aid facilities.

The camp, located in eastern Bangladesh, is home to over 850 000 refugees fleeing a military-perpetrated genocide in their native Myanmar.

This is the second fire in Cox’s Bazar since the beginning of the year following a January blaze that the UNHCR says destroyed more than 550 shelters and displaced 3500 people

Saudi Arabian foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al Saud says his country plans to offer Yemen’s Houthi rebels a nationwide ceasefire agreement.

The agreement would halt fighting in Yemen’s six-year-long civil war and allow the airport in Yemen’s Houthi-controlled capital Sana’a to reopen.

While the Iran-backed Houthis have criticised the proposed deal, saying it brings nothing new to the table and fails to comply with several of their key demands, they say they remain open to peace negotiations.

New data shows 16 COVID-19 variants of concern have been found in Queensland quarantine hotels since the beginning of March. Genome testing is still underway on a further 27 cases detected since the 17th of March. The variants, which are more contagious and cause more serious symptoms than regular COVID-19, have caused several outbreaks in Brisbane hotels this year, however there has not yet been any widespread community transmission.

Australian first citizen science program, Soils for science is asking Queenslanders to dig deep as part of a research project looking to find a medical breakthrough. New antibiotics may be unearthed through collecting 100,000 soil samples from gardens and backyards. University of Queensland professor Ian Henderson says people can request a free soil collection kit and post samples back for analysis.

State laws requiring important government information such as mining leases and land use amendments to be advertised in print media publications are set to be changed this week. The information now only has to be published online, redirecting vital funds from Queensland’s struggling newspaper industry. Treasurer Cameron Dick says the move will cut costs without impacting access to information following the closure of twenty local news publications last year.