A bushfire has broken out at Peregian Beach on the Sunshine Coast, forcing locals to be evacuated and roads to be closed, as the blaze produces smoke which is billowing across main thoroughfares. 

The fire which is spanning about 100 metres, is currently burning inaccessible bushland near Emu Mountain Road, north of Coolum State High School, and is heading north toward David Low Way.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has revealed at a joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, that Russia and Turkey have agreed to establish a “safe zone” in Northern Syria.

Russia and Turkey agreed on Tuesday to ensure Kurdish forces withdraw from areas close to Syria’s border with Turkey and to launch joint patrols, in a deal hailed as “historic” by President Erdogan.

Abortion and same-sex marriage have been offically legalised in Northern Ireland after a group of local lawmakers failed on Monday in a last minute bid to prevent the London-ordered liberalisation of the laws.

Abortion had been illegal in the British-ruled province unless the mother’s life was in danger, but was decriminlised at midnight on Monday, with service providers to be allowed to operate next year.

The headmaster of an elite Melbourne all-boys private school has apologised for the "misogynistic attitudes" of a group of his students who performed an offensive chant on a tram. 

Headmaster Stephen Russell wrote to parents of St Kevin’s College in Toorak on Tuesday expressing his frustration and anger about the behaviour, saying that the attitudes of the boys could not go unchallenged.

He said the students were mainly in years 10 and 11 and were travelling on the tram to an athletics competition.

Australian teenagers are reporting increasing rates of psychological distress, according to a study commissioned by Mission Australia and the Black Dog Institute.

The study of 28 000 Australians between the ages of 15 and 19 has found that almost one in four teenagers are now reporting mental health challenges, with rates twice as high in girls and young women.

A state parliamentary committee has approved the government’s crackdown laws on protestors using “dangerous” devices to lock themselves to roads and train tracks in Queensland.

Brisbane has been subject to months of environmental protests where protestors stuck themselves in fences, roads, and bridges, halting the traffic.

The proposed law will not only allow police to search and capture people using suspected devices that are going to prevent the protestors in public areas but will also include fines for using such devices.

The State Parliament Ethics Committee has forced Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to apologize for her threats to remove Katter’s Australian Party’s resources, after they refused to denounce Fraser Anning’s’ speech for a Muslim immigration ban.

Robbie Katter said he did not think one should use his privileged position to bully people in another position, but he still claimed that the Premier's apology was ‘highly qualified’.

Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath also said her apology was ‘swift’.

Researchers have found the whitebell bird, Procnias albus’ mating voice reaches peak levels of 125.4 decibels, hitting the human pain threshold, and taking over the title of the worlds loudest bird.

The researchers say they are impressed that a small bird weighing 25 grams manages to make such a loud noise.

They have also found that shorter birds are able to make a louder voice due to their better ability to control airflow in their respiratory systems.