Today is International Cochlear Implant Day, celebrating more than 40 years since the advent of the 'bionic ear’ by Australia’s Professor Graeme Clark.

The small device provides a person with moderate to profound hearing loss and a modified sense of sound.

Professor Clark's invention is used by over 600,000 people worldwide.

"It's wonderful to see the young children who are having the implants, even before the age of one, growing up with normal speech and language," Professor Clark says. 

Neighbours say an approved redevelopment of Eagle Street Pier would have an "unacceptable impact" on the area.

A neighbouring building owner says the 2.1 billion dollar proposal was not properly assessed by the Brisbane City Council.

Their court appeal says the redevelopment does not comply with the council’s planning legislation, including the city’s neighbourhood plan and a host of other codes. 

Maiwar Queensland Greens MP Michael Berkman is calling upon the Queensland Government to stop the 'war on drugs' following International Family Drug Support Day yesterday. 

Mr Berkman says the government is failing to reduce harm or support people affected by drug misuse, addiction and overdose.

"People struggling with addiction, and their families, don’t need things to be any tougher. It’s tough enough already," says Mr Berkman

He is consequently advocating for a harm minimisation approach towards drugs to be utilised.

A statewide rescue mission has seen 70 black bats released back into the wild after carer groups from across Queensland united in their rescue.

Hundreds of bats died of starvation in Rockhampton back in December following a random mass abandonment. 

Carers have successfully hand-raised the infants and they are now being released into wild colonies.

Citizens in Georgia are protesting the arrest of opposition leader Nika Melia and other party officials. 

Newly named Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has justified the arrest stating, "We are building a democratic state and everyone in the country, no matter to their taste and political views, must obey the law,"

There is political unrest in the European nation, with claims of voter fraud in last October's election. 

The federal government's landmark media bargaining code has passed through the Senate with amendments yesterday after the government reached a mutually favourable deal with Facebook. 

Under the new deal, Facebook will still have to pay publishers for news but forced arbitration will be the last resort.

The amended bill is set to go back to the House of Representatives for final approval. 

The Australian Government has announced a new hotline for employers to report JobSeeker recipients who refuse a job offer. 

The announcement was made as the government revealed JobSeeker welfare payments will increase by $50 a fortnight when the coronavirus supplement stops in March. 

The Australian Council of Social Service chief executive Cassandra Goldie said a better alternative was for the government to look for solutions to create more jobs for the future.

Campers in Noosa are at risk of getting fined $266 dollars if they continue to camp in the Noosa National Park carpark. 

Noosa resident Julie Ember said,  "What I see every morning is a community of people that wake up and have coffee and they're happy". 

The campers have paid over $1300 dollars in fines collectively this year. 

The Disability Royal Commission has entered its final day of Public Hearing 11 in Brisbane today.

Public hearing 11 hears the experiences of people with cognitive disability in the criminal justice system.

The Brisbane hearing room will be closed to the public but will be live-streamed on the Royal Commission website, with live captioning and Auslan-English interpreting.