Australian police have played a key role in an international drug bust that's prevented 700kg of crystalline MDMA from reaching Brisbane, possibly to end up with Schoolies.

Australian Federal Police and Queensland police worked with officers in The Netherlands and Belgium to intercept a huge haul of the drug in the Dutch city of Rotterdam in late August.

Other raids at 15 locations in The Netherlands and Belgium earlier this month uncovered secret drug labs and more drugs.

Oxfam has published a report calling out Australian-based brands for failing to credibly commit to living wages in foreign countries. 

Ahead of the Christmas season, the non-for-profit organisation has released a list of fashion brands that have failed to make commitments ensuring payment of living wages to women making their clothes in countries like Vietnam or Bangladesh.  

Some of the big names appearing on the list include Just Jeans, Peter Alexander, Jay Jays, Myer, Rivers, Katies and W. Lane and Big W.

It is easier to buy a home in most of Australia than it was 10 years ago, new research has found.

CoreLogic's Property Pulse study says housing costs have risen at the same pace as incomes over the last ten years.

But because mortgage rates have dropped to record lows, it is easier for homebuyers to pay off their homes.

Study shows that Brisbane, Perth, Darwin, regional Queensland and regional WA have become much more affordable in the past decade.

Thirteen anti-government protesters were killed on Sunday by Iraqi security forces in one of the “worst” days of clashes in the country’s south, as protests swept through the oil-rich area. 

Demonstrators are outraged by rampant government corruption and poor services and showed their anger by burning tires and blocking main-road arteries.

Security forces used live fire and tear gas to disperse the protesters. 

The watch towers, double-locked doors and video surveillance in the Chinese camps are there "to prevent escapes".

Uighurs and other minorities held inside are scored on how well they speak the dominant Mandarin language and follow strict rules on everything down to bathing and using the toilet, scores that determine if they can leave.

"Manner education" is mandatory, but "vocational skills improvement" is offered only after a year in the camps.

The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services or QFES authorities warned Biboohra residents in north Queensland to evacuate with caution from their properties,  as the bushfire began to travel east on Sunday. 

Residents were urged to have their bushfire survival plans ready as the area would be affected by the smoke- with power, water and mobile phone services potentially lost as firefighting crews worked to contain the fires.

The Brisbane City Council has revealed the designs of the new Metro vehicles which will be entirely electric. 

Brisbane-based supplier Volgren and electric-vehicle producer Hess will deliver the 60 bi-articulated vehicles that can carry 150 passengers each, after they were awarded the contract last week following a competitive tender. 

Traffic delays and congestion on busy road networks across Sydney's CBD are predicted to significantly affect the opening and performance of the new $2.9 billion light rail train line running through the central city.

Internal documents from New South Wales' transport agency disclosed complications in running 67-metre public transport vehicles across a busy area every four minutes.

Queensland employers are reportedly lagging behind the nation on most key gender equality indicators, with the gender pay gap worse than the national average. 

New data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency reveals QUEENSLAND’S gender pay gap is the worst in the country at 23.4 per cent, compared with the Australian average of 20.8 per cent.

Queensland is five per cent behind the national average for workplaces with gender equality policies or strategies at 70.1 per cent of workplaces.