There has been a positive response with New Zealand’s gun buyback scheme as over 10,000 guns have been returned in 7 days.

The buyback scheme, which compensates owners up to 95% of the original cost until December 20, follows the ban of semi-automatic firearms in April.

The scheme comes four months after a mass attack in Christchurch killing 51 people.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam says Chinese military intervention is possible if the local government cannot stop violent protests.

Protestors in Hong Kong wore face masks in defiance, after a colonial-era emergency powers were used to introduce new laws forbidding protestors from using face masks in protests.

The law marked the first time emergency powers had been invoked since 1968. The Hong Kong leader has also urged young people not to engage in political activities.

Australia's chief medical officer says that a ban on repeat prescriptions for antibiotics could be just weeks away.

Currently, antibiotics automatically come with a repeat prescription, but Professor Brendan Murphy, who chairs the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory, says that repeat options should be removed if they are not medically necessary.

New statistics revealed by the Federal Opposition, show that more than 95,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Australia by plane over the past five years, triggering fears over exploitation and slavery.

Labor's home affairs spokeswoman, Kristina Keneally accused the Government of mismanaging the borders, and said that people smugglers have shifted their business model from boats to planes.

Tourist spending in the Queensland outback has surpassed record levels, as the region welcomed over a million visitors from interstate and overseas for the first time.

State Tourism Minister Kate Jones hailed the announcement, attributing it to the Queensland Government’s marketing campaign

Queensland researchers are hailing a world-first breakthrough in for cervical cancer treatment, having killed off tumours in mice using CRISPR gene-editing technology.

Scientists say all the treated mice  had a 100 per cent survival rate with help from the technology, which changes the sequence of DNA to help correct gene mutations.

The withdrawal of US troops from northeast Syria has caused panic and confusion among the 66 Australian women and children who are stuck in refugee camps in the region.

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds confirmed that the Australian government is in no rush to bring them back, telling reporters on Tuesday that they “will not be endangering the lives of other Australians.”

The White House has slammed the door in a letter on Tuesday on any cooperation by President Donald Trump's administration with the Democrats' impeachment probe, calling it "constitutionally invalid."

The eight page letter to Democratic leaders, rejected the entire process underway in the House of Representatives, which is examining whether Trump abused his office by seeking a corruption probe in Ukraine of 2020 election rival Joe Biden.