Townsville may become second Queensland capital and more 11AM Zedlines

Prisoner tries to escape in the Sunshine Coast A barefoot 23-year-old man has escaped custody in the Sunshine Coast. After appearing in front of the Maroochydore Magistrates Court, the man fled the courtroom, leading to an intense 30-minute police hunt. The prisoner was recaptured and was recharged for trying to escape. Queensland may have to position Townsville as second capital city With the rising growth in population, Queensland has been warned it needs to decentralise or come to a grinding halt due to it’s looming inability to supply jobs. Leading demographer Bernard Salt says the easiest way to combat this is to reinstate former Premier Anna Bligh’s plan to position Townsville as a second capital city for the state. He also says other city centres such as the Gold and Sunshine coasts as well as Ipswich need to become genuinely self-contained cities with enough employment to for their own growing populations. Man dies in South Australia after unloading stock A man has died in South Australia while unloading stock from a truck in the town of Strathalbyn. He was flown to the Flinder Medical Center but his injuries were too severe and he died not long after. Safework South Australia has started investigating on the the incident. Digital illiteracy on the rise, may push to digitally native workforce 6 million Australians will need to be retrained to be digitally literate by 2025 for Australia to compete globally, according to CSIRO Chairman David Thodey. Mr Thodey stresses the importance of transitioning towards a digitally native workforce to alleviate the Australian economy’s dependence on natural resources and allow for more commercialisation opportunities. Across the CSIRO, the consensus is this training should extend as far as early childhood education and should be reinforced as a key subject throughout primary and secondary years, as well as being introduced to the current workforce. Scientists confirm link between genetic mutations and stuttering, disputes age-old claims Scientists have confirmed the link between a genetic mutation and stuttering by measuring the vocal frequencies of mice fabricated to have the particular gene. Researchers at Washington University found that mice with genetic mutation associated with human stuttering vocalise abnormal patterns of speech, reminiscent of human carriers of the gene. This discovery refutes the theory that stuttering is a symptom of nervousness or stress. Flash floods kills dozens in the Middle East Flash floods have caused dozens of deaths across the Middle East. In Saudi Arabia, 18 people were killed and over 900 people were rescued from their vehicles from the unusual heavy rains over several days. In Yemen, heavy rainfall leading to widespread flooding killed at least 16 people, and caused the collapse of small dams. In Iran, flash floods have killed two people.