French police have used batons and pepper spray to clear Catalan independence activists who have been blocking a motorway between France and Spain in the hope of bringing the Spanish government to the negotiating table.

The protest, which had been due to last three days, was called by Tsunami Democràtic, an anonymous pro-independence group which co-ordinated the blockade of Barcelona-El Prat airport last month.

Catalan pro-independence groups have been actively protesting following the sentencing of nine high-profile independence leaders for sedition.

Hundreds of elephants and dozens of Zimbabwean lions will be moved by the country’s wildlife agency as part of a major operation to save the animals from a devastating drought.

More than 200 elephants in Zimbabwe have perished over the past two months due to a lack of water at the country’s main conservation zones in Mana Pools and Hwange National Park.

The animals will be moved from Savé Valley Conservancy, a major park in southeastern Zimbabwe, to three other reserves in the north of the country.

Victorians households have to pay $50 extra more for electricity next year as power distributors are suffering from increasing transmission costs.

The Australian Energy Regulator has signed off on allowing five Victorian power distributors, AusNet Services, Citipower, Jemena, Powercor, and United Energy to charge users more on network of poles and wires, which is just part of the bill, with other charges including wholesale cost margins.

Three Victorian trainers from Greyhound Racing Australia have been suspended after allegedly using possums as live bait but the GRV chief executive Alan Clayton has insisted that the case was an isolated incident.

The unnamed trainers used the possums as lures, a practice is known as ‘blooding’ that often results in dog attacking the animal to death as the prey drives them faster.

Greyhound Racing Australia and the RSPCA are now investigating the matter but have not yet laid charges on the men.

Women’s singles tennis world number one Ash Barty has been named Queensland's Young Australian of the Year.

The 23-year-old from Ipswich became a household name after winning her maiden grand slam singles title at the French Open this year and scaling the summit of women’s tennis.

Barty serves as the National Indigenous Tennis Ambassador for Tennis Australia, and has played an active role in helping young indigenous kids get into the sport, which she was commended for during the Australian of the Year Awards. 

A severe fire danger warning is in place for large parts of southern Queensland, with soaring temperatures and erratic weather conditions forecast for Wednesday.

Communities in the Darling Downs, Scenic Rim and Granite Belt are of major concern with a new fire front headed towards the five-star Spicers Peak Lodge at Maryvale on the Southern Downs, where the fire service has placed a “leave now” warning. 

Britain’s two major, Conservative and Labour, parties have both been hit by large-scale cyber attacks against their websites just weeks before millions of citizens go to the polls in the country’s national election.

British security services had warned that Russia and other countries could use cyber attacks or divisive political messages on social media to attempt to disrupt the December 12 election.

Hong Kong police fired tear gas in the heart of the Central financial district and at two university campuses to break up pro-democracy protests on Tuesday, as violence brought the Chinese-ruled city to what they said was the "brink of total breakdown".

The clashes came a day after police shot a protestor at close range and a man was doused in petrol and set on fire in some of the worst violence the country has seen in decades.