A premier Queen Street Mall retail site has had its land value slashed after its owner appealed against the Valuer-General’s decision to double its value.

The real estate, which was once valued at $59.5 million, has been cut to just $35.1 million.

The appeal by ISPT property against the Valuer-General hinged on whether the “highest and best use” for 170 Queen Street was the existing retail use or some mixed-use commercial tower with some retail.

The US and China are expecting to sign a significant part of the trade deal in Chile. 

President Trump said he hopes to sign the agreement with China’s President Xi Jingping at a summit in Chile next month and agricultural products are said to be a major point of discussion.  

Mr Trump said “We are looking probably to be ahead of schedule to sign a very big portion of the China deal.”

A breakthrough in the fashion and textile industry will enable large-scale textile recycling.

Swedish company Södra has created a new technique that can separate cotton and polyester which enables them to make new textiles out of the left-over materials.

President of the company, Johannes Bogren said, "we are now redrawing the map for the fashion and textile industry by offering circular flows of textile fibres. A sweater can now become a sweater again. This will create added value for our customers, and especially the fashion industry.”

Hundreds of climate protesters gathered at the Melbourne Convention Centre to stop the international mining conference. 

Starting at 6 am on Tuesday, activists from 11 different groups began to block access to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in police-intensive conditions.

A video broadcast by the Nine Network showed a clash between the police and the protesters, protesters shouting and raising slogans calling for mining to be “shut down” as they tried to push back to the police line.

Scientists in Sydney claim to have found the ancestral home of modern humans in Botswana.

A vast wetlands area that covered most of the current country of Botswana is said to have supported humans 200,000 years ago, sustaining them for another 70,000 years.

The scientists then propose that a shift in the earth’s tilt and orbit brought rains to other parts of the continent, allowing humans to move on to new areas. 

Shorebirds in Moreton Bay and across Australia are under threat from housing development that is being built on wetlands.

Biologists have said the competition in estuarine environments is becoming deadly for an increasing number of species as areas are transformed for projects such as airports and developments.

Richard Fuller, who is a Professor in conservation biology at the University of Queensland, said, "sometimes we can adjust development proposals so they don't affect these ecosystems.

The Palaszczuk Government has released a discussion paper on the state’s tow truck reforms as part of its two-year review.

Measures to address community complaints about alleged shady practices and intimidating tactics used by some towing operators were introduced in 2018, following an independent investigation into the industry.

President Donald Trump has declared Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead.

The operation began on Saturday afternoon when a team of elite US troops flew into Syria’s north-west.

Baghdadi fled into a subterranean area of the complex and into a tunnel, dragging three of his young children with him where he ignited his explosive vest and died, along with his children.

Mr Trump said, "the United States brought the world's number one terrorist leader to justice.”