OPINION: By Helen Clark, review co-chair In July last year, the Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) asked the former President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and me to be the co-chairs of a review of the…

A high-powered global panel convened by former prime minister Helen Clark has found failures at every step of the world’s pandemic preparedness and response.It’s now set out a range of fixes to stop the next disaster, including…

Images captured by two different telescopes are showing our solar system's largest planet in a new light.

Music festival Bluesfest has announced its return after being cancelled two years in a row.

Bluesfest 2021 was originally set to go ahead in the opening week of April, before NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard cancelled it due to COVID-19 concerns.

The festival was struck off less than 24 hours before gates were set to open at Byron Bay.

READ MORE: 'We're heartbroken': Byron Bay Bluesfest cancelled

It was also cancelled in 2020, during the height of the pandemic.

But this afternoon, the organisers announced the festival would take place in October.

"It's finally here! The announcement you have all been waiting very patiently for," the Bluesfest Byron Bay Twitter account posted.

"Bluesfest 2021 will be back this year over the October long weekend – Friday, 1st of October to Monday, 4th of October."

https://twitter.com/BluesfestByron/status/1392375382062419968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Ticketholders from the first event will take first priority.

"Current Bluesfest 2021 patrons will receive official communication from our ticket provider, Moshtix, and will be given options on how to redeem your rollover with an option to refund remaining available," the Bluesfest website states.

More details will be available closer to the event.

The pet industry is worth a staggering $13 billion dollars to Australia after a spike in ownership and the popularity of gourmet meals continuing to rise.

IBIS World predicts the pet retail industry will increase by 3.9 per cent this year, and at an even faster rate online where sales are expected to surge by more than 19 per cent.

Pet owner Jenny Karpin is among a growing number of people who want the best for their four-legged friends.

READ MORE: Woman stabbed in the chest in Newcastle cafe

"I want them to have the best food for their health," Ms Karpin told 9News.

"There's a lot of pressure out there to feed your dog high end raw feed," she said.

More than 60 per cent of Australian households have a pet.

The rise in pet ownership is anticipated to encourage greater overall investment in pet food, accessories and pet care services.

The growing humanisation of pets is also contributing to greater spending, and gourmet pet foods designed to appeal to human tastes are forecast to become more popular over the next five years.

Supermarkets are now fighting for a bigger share of the lucrative market, releasing their own premium products spelling trouble for speciality pet stores.

READ MORE: Genomic tests support theory Melbourne man acquired virus in quarantine

Amazon launched its pet supplies category in Australia in September 2018 and by October last year, had more than 100,000 products on offer including pet foods, litter supplies, toys, grooming products and pet beds, according to the latest IBISWorld report on the sector.

"Due to increasing competition, many specialist pet retailers will likely struggle to differentiate themselves from their competitors over the next five years," the report said.

"Remaining players are anticipated to shift towards large format retail centres and category killer superstores as they seek to leverage economies of scale to fend off competition from supermarkets."

The supermarkets in recent years have been introducing pet food brands made especially for them.

Woolworths has Baxters and Coles has also jumped on the band wagon releasing its new Elevate range covering both cats and dogs and dry and wet foods.

Brands like Elevate are being marketed as science-based premium pet food created by pet nutritionists and sold at prices significantly lower than an equivalent premium product sold from a speciality pet store.

Between the online businesses and the supermarkets now fighting for more market share, the competitive pressures could muscle out the smaller players.

Four men are now in police custody over a violent brawl at a Queensland children's rugby match that left a Brisbane dad in hospital with serious facial injuries.

Josh Jones is still awaiting surgery after he was allegedly pushed down a set of stairs and kicked in the head during the brawl at an under-13s game Wynnum on Sunday.

The 35-year-old's father Ricki Jones was in the crowd watching Wynnum Manly in the Under 13s match against Logan Brothers, sitting among parents from the opposing team.

READ MORE: 'Very dangerous' supercell lashes south-east Queensland

He witnessed the attack and told 9News the alleged aggressors rounded his son up "like a pack of wolves".

9News understands the violence erupted after Mr Jones allegedly got into a verbal altercation with some of the Logan supporters.

"All of a sudden, I saw a punch," the elder Mr Jones said.

"Their friends rounded my son up like a pack of wolves and attacked him."

The violent scuffle in the stands spilled out onto the field, ultimately leading to the 35-year-old being struck in the head.

"He's got multiple fractures," Mr Jones said.

A 59-year-old woman was also injured.

Two more men were charged today over the alleged assault.

Barry Sepulona, 24, is facing a charge of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm.

Solomona Solomona, 26, has been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.

Talapuse Tuialii, 36, and Griffith Lilomaiava, 19, were both charged with grievous bodily harm and two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm earlier this week.

The four men will face Wynnum Magistrates Court tomorrow.

Australian researchers are working on a ground-breaking new treatment to treat obesity which could avoid some of the harsh side effects of existing treatments.

Twelve and a half million Australian adults – roughly two thirds of the adult population – are overweight or obese and experts claim diet and exercise alone can't cure them.

Researchers are now working on a weight loss drug and believe they've found a promising new target that essentially burns "stored" fat.

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Over the years there have been promising new drugs to fight the bulge, but side-effects have led to many being withdrawn from the market.

"About 80 per cent of obesity medications that have reached the market have been withdrawn from the market because of the severe side-effect," Dr Yan-Chuan Shi from the Gavran Institute of Medical Research told 9News.

That's because many of them have targeted the brain to reduce appetite.

READ MORE: Study supports science-backed weight loss method

Garvan researchers are investigating a potentially safer therapy which targets the Y1 molecule found on the surface of fat cells and helps to store energy.

Instead of targeting the brain to suppress appetite researchers are blocking the Y1 receptor to help burn fat instead of storing it.

"We can actually increase the heat production, increase energy expenditure which significantly reduced weight gain," Dr Shi said.

When they trialled this on obese mice weight gain was slashed by 40 percent – compared to untreated mice- who were also fed a high-fat diet.

Despite the positive progress, pilot human trials are one to three years away.

Banning patched gang members, increasing the brightness of lights, and bringing back volunteer monitoring of CCTV cameras have been mooted as solutions to improve safety in Wellington. National list MP Nicola Willis hosted a public…

Once complete they will be the most exclusive buildings south of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and now developers are letting the general public see inside.

Lendlease has formally announced the launch of its second residential tower at One Sydney Harbour in Barangaroo, sharing artist's impressions of what the apartments in "Residences Two" will look like.

Previously only a select list of customers were invited to view the display suite, which has been exclusively offered via an off-market sales campaign.

READ MORE: Exclusive look inside Sydney's new luxury towers

Set to be complete in 2024, the Residences Two tower will stand 235 metres high and will comprise 322 homes across 68 levels.

Prices will start at an eye-watering $2 million for a one-bedroom apartment, and will rise in scale to more than $3.5 million for a two-bedroom flat and three-bedders expected to fetch more than $5 million.

Ben Christie, Head of Residential at Lendlease, said some buyers have already said they will buy multiple apartments and combine them.

"Pleasingly, we are also seeing high levels of interest from both customer referrals and repeat purchasers who know Lendlease will deliver an exceptional product and a customer-centric experience at One Sydney Harbour," said Mr Christie.

"Sales to date include several large apartment purchases, with some customers planning to amalgamate these into substantial homes."

More than 1,400 workers are currently employed on the project.

A 44-year-old man has been charged with criminally endangering public safety after a three-month investigation of an inferno at BP Bay View north of Napier.The man is understood to have already appeared in court, and is currently…