Adani Australia has been ordered to pay a $2000 fine and make a public apology after losing a defamation case against an anti-fossil fuels activist, Scott Daines.

Adani was found to have falsely accused Scott Daines and other members of the Frontline Action on Coal of throwing rocks and damaging Adani workers’ cars after a protest in October last year. 

A Boeing 737 equipped with a water tanker is being sent to fire ravaged parts of Perth in WA. 

71 homes and 9,000 hectares of land have been destroyed since the fire started on Monday night. The bushfire is expected to worsen today because of changing wind conditions, with winds potentially reaching 70 kilometers per hour.

Brisbane City Council has announced the reconstruction of Vic Lucas Canoe Ramp which is crucial to recreational canoeing and sailing.

Yesterday the council finished its geotechnical investigations and will commence the works on 23 February. The council says the project finishes by Monday 22 March as planned.

The Refugee Action Collective are holding a rally this Friday 5 February in Kangaroo Point to call on the government to free medevaced refugees.

The medevac legislation was established in early 2019 and refugees have been detained in a kangaroo point hotel since, prior to that they were detained in offshore detention centres since 2013.

Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge says that after refugees have obtained their medical treatments they should return to their home countries.

Researchers at the Royal Brisbane and women's hospital in Brisbane are developing a new, more efficient test to detect gestational diabetes.  

Currently, testing for gestational diabetes requires women to fast for 8 to 14 hours, then take 3 blood tests in 3 hours. 

The new test was developed in response to safety concerns relating to coronavirus. Not only does the current test potentially put pregnant women at a greater risk of contracting the virus, it also takes up much needed pathology resources. 

The leader of a Russian opposition party has been sentenced in Moscow today as protests against the trial continue

Opposition Leader and Kremiln Critic Alexei Navalny will serve two years in gaol on charges of fraud.  This comes after days of protests outside the court protesting the charges which opposition figures have said are politically motivated.

The Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council has launched a class action against the federal government for loss of culture after the chemical contamination of Jervis (Jarvis) Bay water.

The residents of Wreck Bay, on the New South Wales south coast, allege Defence negligently allowed the harmful PFAS chemicals to leech into groundwater.

Traditional Owner James Williams says that he can’t teach the younger generation like he was taught, Defence has erected signs warning against fishing from waterways in the area.

The former Defence Minister Christopher Pyne’s lobbying firm have engaged in another weapons manufacturer called DroneShield.

Mr Pyne, as a former minister, was barred until November last year for lobbying on official matters previously dealt with in his portfolio.  Pyne’s lobbying firm is now directly courting federal MP’s. 

There is currently no law that prevents former ministers from lobbying after 18 months on previous portfolio matters once they have left office.

University of Queensland researchers are studying the unique digestion of marsupials in an effort to understand their low-methane-production.

Methane-producing archaea found in some native Australian herbivores like kangaroos, wombats, and koalas appear to be quite different to those found in other animals.

By understanding native animal digestion better, UQ researchers hope to reduce methane emissions in livestock, decrease greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector, and positively impact climate change.