Daily News Roundup

MONDAY December 9

After going relatively quiet for the past two months, climate change activist group Extinction Rebellion is back and planning major Brisbane CBD disruptions this week. 

Plans included marching from South Bank across to State Parliament on Wednesday before shutting down the Go Between Bridge between Milton and South Brisbane on Friday. 

A spokeswoman for Extinction Rebellion, Emily Jane, said the group had recharged after a week of demonstrations in October and were ready for their upcoming protests. 

“One of the key principles of Extinction Rebellion is our regenerative culture, it is important to look after each other,” she said. 

“We were all tired and worn out after a week of civil disobedience. We needed to take some time and have a break. But we are not stopping and will continue to rebel.”

On Wednesday, students, academics and graduate from major Queensland universities will dress in their gowns and mortarboards and meet at the Brisbane Wheel at 5pm. 

They plan to march over the Victoria Bridge, through Queen Street Mall to Queensland Parliament where they will throw their caps into the sky. 

According to Extinction Rebellion, more than a dozen academics including QUT senior law lecturers and UQ public health experts will speak at the rally. 

The climate change group plans to shut down the Go Between Bridge during the morning peak hour. 

The blockage will begin at 8am with activists dressing in red and orange to symbolise the bushfires burning across the country. 

“We don’t know what to expect [in terms of climate change], but we can expect disruption on Friday as a result of the inaction from governments in addressing climate change,” Ms Jane said. 

“The climate crisis is not being taken seriously at all levels of government because we are seeing the opening of more mines as well as more investment in fossil fuels and coal.”

Extinction Rebellion demand zero emissions and 100 per cent renewable energy by 2025 and an end to land clearing and the promotion of climate change science. 

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Rapper Juice WRLD, who began his career on SoundCloud before becoming a streaming juggernaut, hitting the top of the charts with Lucid Dreams, has died after a “medical emergency” at a US airport.

The rapper, Jarad A Higgins was 21. Authorities have not released details about his cause of death at Chicago’s Midway International Airport early on Sunday. 

Juice WRLD’s Death Race For Love Australian tour went to Perth, Sydney and Melbourne at the end of November. 

The rapper was named top new artist at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards in May. 

Tributes from other musicians have flowed in, including Chance The Rapper, Lil Nas X and Ellie Goulding. 

After building an audience on SoundCloud, he signed a reported $3 million deal with Interscope, the label behind Dr Dre, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar. 

His debut album, Goodbye & Good Riddance was a platinum success, which featured the hit “All Girls Are the Same”, “Armed & Dangerous”, and “Robbery.” 

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Australian agriculture is rapidly breeding out diversity within farmed animals, which could one day be the key to stopping diseases and adapting to changing environments. 

The University of Western Australia’s Catie Gressier said while extinction and biodiversity were issues often associated with native species, heritage and rare breeds of agricultural animals were also under threat with many already been lost. 

“It’s really quite alarming,”she said. 

“Globally, since the early 90s, we’ve been losing a breed a month – it’s a really massive issue. 

“With the industrialisation of agriculture, there’s been a really strong focus on profitability and there’s been a real shift towards a small number of productive hybrids that now dominate the industry almost totally worldwide.” 

Dr Gressier said that most breeds had been lost over the past 30 years with market forces dominating what breeds were farmed for meat. 

“Having a biodiverse environment is so critical in order to have a responsiveness and adaptability to unforeseen changes occurring climatically [and] economically, in terms of consumer preferences and also in terms of profitability,” she said. 

Dr Gressier said the Rare Breeds Trust of Australia had a comprehensive list of animals lost, critical, endangered or vulnerable. 

It lists six breeds of sheep as lost, four of pigs and 10 of cattle.