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Quadriplegic Gold Coast spinal doctor is Queensland’s Australian of the Year

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The 36-year-old founder of Doctors with Disabilities Australia is Queensland’s 2021 Australian of Year.

Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM is senior resident at the Gold Coast University Hospital, a recent law graduate as well as the doctor for the Gold Coast Titans physical disability rugby league team.

Dr Palipana has built an international profile through his speeches with TEDx talks and has contributed immensely to spinal research in Australia.

He was named by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk at a special presentation on Tuesday night, ahead of the national Australia Day awards in January.

“Dr Dinesh Palipana knows no barriers,” Palaszczuk said on Tuesday night.

“He is a truly inspiring person and a much-deserved recipient of the Queensland Australian of the Year Award.”

Dr Palipana is the first quadriplegic medical graduate and medical intern in Queensland.

“As co-founder of Doctors with Disabilities Australia, he helped create national policies for inclusivity in medical education and employment,” Palaszczuk said.

“He speaks, writes and advocates for the equitable treatment of people with a disability and has contributed significantly to the advancement of treating spinal cord injuries and restoring functions for people with paralysis.”

Dr Palipana was seriously injured in a car crash on Brisbane’s Gateway Bridge in 2010 that robbed him of the use of his legs and left him with limited use of his arm.

In 2019 he began research on equipment that could – in the future – help people with disabilities walk, or even ride a bike again.

Dr Palipana and fellow researchers are working on a BioSpine which reads brain patterns, bypasses the spine and sends electrical signals to a patient’s legs.

Torres Strait Islander elder Aunty McRose Elu was named Queensland’s Senior Australian of the Year for her community advocacy and work in climate change management.

She negotiated to legally recognise the traditional customary adoption practices of Torres Strait Islander families, which led to the introduction of a landmark Bill to the Queensland Parliament.

Since 1980, McRose has been drawing global attention to the impact of climate change on the Torres Strait, including speaking at the United Nations and to business and political leaders.

Brothers Daniel, 24, and William Clark, 22, were named Queensland’s Young Australians of the Year for their work and fundraising efforts to protect endangered orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra.

Since 2008, they have highlighted the species’ plight and raised more than $900,000 to help protect the animals.

The funds have supported orangutan care centres and enabled investment in veterinary equipment.

Together they have also sponsored more than 50,000 hectares of orangutan habitat and adopted more than 100 animals.

Natasha Johnston, 47, the founder and director of Drought Angels, a group which supports drought-stricken Queensland and New South Wales’ families, was named Queensland’s Local Hero.

Drought Angels is described as a “personalised lifeline for farmers”, who often don’t reach out for help.

“Natasha’s work plays a vital role in reducing rates of depression and suicide, as well as helping to keep farmers on their land,” the judges said.

National Australia Day Council chief executive Karlie Brand congratulated the Queensland award recipients.

“The contributions of the 2021 QLD Australians of the Year are inspirational,” Brand said. – Brisbane Times

 



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One dead in US after being struck by taking off Frontier Airlines plane

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A Frontier Airlines jetliner taxis down a runway for take off from Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado [Aljazeera]

A person has died after jumping an airport perimeter fence in the US state of Colorado and being struck by a Frontier Airlines plane, according to authorities.

Denver International Airport said the unusual incident occurred late Friday, after the unidentified individual gained access to the tarmac.

It said the “pedestrian jumped the perimeter fence and was hit just two minutes later while crossing the runway”.

A brief engine fire followed the collision, which was put out by emergency responders, according to the airport.

It said that 12 of the 231 people on board suffered minor injuries, with five hospitalised.

The airport said investigators had examined the fence line where the individual entered and “found it to be intact”.

It added that the struck individual “is not believed to be an employee of the airport”.

“We are extremely saddened by this incident and express our sympathies to those involved,” the airport said.

Both local authorities and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were investigating the incident.

Airport safety in the US came under renewed scrutiny earlier this year amid a prolonged shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which temporarily left both Transportation Security Agents (TSA) and air traffic controllers working without pay.

While instances of people being killed on airport tarmacs are rare, Friday’s incident came a day after a Delta employee was killed after an airport vehicle struck an airbridge at Orlando International Airport.

In March, two pilots were  killed after an Air Canada Express plane crashed into a fire-rescue vehicle at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

About 225,000 people travel through Denver International Airport a day.

[Aljazeera]

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Showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the  Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, Uva, North-western and Northern provinces and in Anuradhapura district.

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WEATHER FORECAST FOR 10 MAY 2026
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 10 May 2026 by the Department of Meteorology

The low-level atmospheric disturbance in the vicinity of Sri Lanka is likely to develop into a low-pressure area around 11th of May. Therefore, the prevailing showery conditions over the island are expected to continue during the next few days.

Showers or thundershowers will occur at most places over the island, and cloudy skies are expected over the island. Heavy showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the  Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, Uva, North-western and Northern provinces and in Anuradhapura district.

The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

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Lanka Port City officials to meet investors in Dubai

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ECONOMYNEXT –Colombo Port City (CPC) officials will head to Dubai to meet with investors on June 11, as Sri Lanka’s most ambitious economic zone looks for further foreign investments.

“We are meeting people in Dubai and the Middle East in order to demonstrate that Colombo Port City can be a supplementary zone of investment,” Harsha Amarasekara, Chairman, Colombo Port City Economic Commission (CPCEC), told Economynext.

The meeting will be organised by CPCEC, China Harbour Engineering Company, Consulate General of Sri Lanka – Dubai, and the Embassy of Sri Lanka – Abu Dhabi.

Foreign investor meetings have been a consistent factor in marketing CPC, and identifying potential markets has been a priority for CHEC and CPCEC.

“We have shortlisted and identified primary markets and we have combed the globe in that to say have a rationale behind why you would want to do certain things, a road show in a particular country,” Thulci Aluwihare, Deputy Managing Director, CHEC Port City Colombo, told Echelon Media.

“Once we kind of shortlist on that, then we aggressively go and market Port City, first Sri Lanka I should say, then Port City.”

“Sri Lanka is known in the world as a tourist destination, not essentially for a doing business capital. That is the narrative that we are trying to change,” he added.

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