A Japanese hotel has found a strange use for its unpopular room 8, which guests can book for about a dollar — if they agree to be filmed the whole time.

The hotel, which is dubbed the One Dollar Hotel, has a YouTube channel set up specifically to broadcast the goings-on in the room.

Owner Tetsuya Inoue, 27, said he had been looking for a “new business model” to reinvigorate the “very old” hotel, which he inherited from his grandmother.

Two pro-democracy protesters have been arrested as they emerged from a manhole on a Hong Kong road outside a besieged university, in a thwarted escape bid from inside the campus.

The group was arrested for offences including "taking part in a riot" and "assisting offenders," chief superintendent Ricky Ho said.

Dozens of protesters are believed to still be inside the university.

A father and son helped rescue a rare whale from shallow water near the Ted Smout Bridge, off Clontarf.

The father, Oli Forsey, said he originally thought the 4.5 meter long whale was a Minke whale, however after releasing photographs on social media many believe it may be a rare Brydes whale.

Mr Forsey said, “it was unfortunate to see it stuck like that but it was an amazing experience seeing it lift its eye to look up at us."

Major funding will be used to fast track upgrades to the congested roads in the Moreton Bay region.

Almost $40 million will be accelerated into the forward estimates to secure the delivery of the Linkfield Road Overpass and a further $113.6 million for the Pine River to Caloundra Corridor project.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, “we want these road projects delivered as quickly as possible so Queenslanders can benefit from better infrastructure, but importantly we want to boost the economy now.”

University of New South Wales researchers were presented with a JEC Asia Innovation Award for their work on a “shape adaptive marine propeller” promising more efficient propellers for marine applications.

A ceremony was held last week in Seoul whereby UNSW Engineering Professor Gangadhara Prusty accepted the award on behalf of the Australian Research Council.

Queensland Racing Minister Stirling Hinchliffe called on the Federal Government to create a National Horse Traceability Register.

According to Mr Hinchliffe the Morrison Government has contributed very little to the Australia-wide conversation regarding the treatment of race horses.

Mr Hinchliffe said, “a national register is needed for all horses, not just racehorses, right now to address the fundamental issue of the lack of data on horse populations in Australia”.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust with three separate cases.

In a televised speech, Mr Netanyahu said the police aren’t after the truth and called for the country to “investigate the investigators”.

Israel’s attorney general Avichai Mandelblit said, "law enforcement is not a choice. It is not a matter of right or left. It's not a matter of politics”.

More than £84,850 has been raised to support the families of the 39 Vietnamese people who died while attempting to enter the UK.

Despite Vietnam's government offering loans to relatives, families of the victims said this will only leave them further in debt. 

Pham Ngoc Tuan, brother of one of the victims, said, "we already had to borrow so much money, we had to mortgage what we had. I don't even know if we can borrow any more."