While many are preparing for the gradual opening of the Queensland-New South Wales border, three new cases of COVID-19 found in New South Wales may postpone that even further.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk had initially proposed the border would begin opening on November 1st if New South Wales could reach a 28-day benchmark of no community transmission COVID-19 cases.

The Queensland Institute of Medical Research Berghofer has released findings from a new study on the causes of skin tumours, suggesting that alcohol and tobacco can be as dangerous as the sun when it comes to skin cancers.

The study is the largest of its kind, involving over 40,000 Queenslanders and spanning four years, yet the advice gleaned from it is shockingly simple.

The Coalition has come under criticism for allocating only $46 million to Aboriginal community-controlled organisations in the 2020-2021 Federal Budget.

The money is set to support Aboriginal community groups to reach Close The Gap targets, but Indigenous groups are criticising the budget for being too small to stretch over the next four years.

With the decision to also allocate $39 million to a non-Indigenous sports initiative for boys, the Coalition is facing further backlash for not budgeting appropriately for both Indigenous boys and girls.
 

A team of researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne have made a breakthrough in developing treatment for motor neuron disease, a deadly neurodegenerative disease.

While the condition is incurable, lead researcher Seth Masters’ animal studies of the treatment have suggested it could lead to longer life expectancy and slow down progression of the disease.

Pham Doan Trang, a Vietnamese writer and blogger who advocates for democracy, has been arrested for carrying out anti-state activities.

This closely followed the US-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue, with Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International having demanded the release of Ms Trang as she faces up to 20 years of jail if convicted.

The one party communist state has a history of jailing critics and dissidents, who in the age of social media have been able to share their pro-democracy views in Vietnam, which heavily controls press and media. 
 

Dan Levy, the co-creator of Canadian television sitcom Schitt’s Creek, has criticised India’s Comedy Central channel for censoring a kiss between two male characters in the show.

At the recent Emmy Awards, the show received many accolades and has been a fan favourite in Canada and the US for its positive portrayal of LGBT+ relationships.

Facebook says it will move to ban groups that openly support QAnon, an unfounded conspiracy theory relating to the existence of a supposed child-trafficking ring run by celebrities and government officials that can only be stopped by US president Donald Trump.

The ban will extend across both Facebook and Instagram with all Facebook pages and groups and Instagram accounts spreading QAnon-supportive content to be removed, regardless of whether they encourage violence.

The Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced further financial support for a $1.8 billion project to extend the national electricity grid into the outback north-west of the state.

Palaszczuk said her Government had signed an agreement with proponents of the CopperString 2.0 project to proceed to the next level, declining to reveal the exact size of the new investment.

CopperString 2.0 involves the construction of a 1,100 kilometre high-voltage transmission line from Townsville to Mount Isa and is expected to create 400 construction jobs.