On Saturday Australian Swimmer Shayna Jack revealed she failed a drug test, forcing her to withdraw from the national squad before the world championships in South Korea.

The Queensland swimmer says she doesn't know how the banned substance entered her body, and that it could be found in contaminated supplements.

Swimming Australia CEO Leigh Russell and Jack’s Manager Phillip Stoneman both defend the swimmer and believe she is innocent.

 Forty thousand litres of diesel oil has been spilled into the sea by the mining company CAP in a remote and pristine area of Patagonia, on Sunday. 

The spillage occurred in the Chilean section of Patagonia an area which is one of the planet’s most untouched and has important biodiversity. 

The Chilean navy has said it had deployed ships to the area to control damage from the spill and an investigation has been launched.

According to satellite monitoring data deforestation is on the increase again in the Amazon.

Brazil’s far-right president, Bolsanaro, who many blame for the increase of deforestation, has called the data ‘a lie’ during a breakfast talk with journalists on the 19th of July. 

His comments have caused a fierce backlash from the scientific community which feels under siege from the Bolsanaro administration.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has dismissed calls for council to call a climate emergency calling the planned motion “alarmist”.

Greens councillor Jonathan Sri will move the motion at Tuesday’s council meeting calling on the council to declare a climate emergency and develop a major climate plan.

There will be a rally outside the City Hall on Tuesday afternoon attended by Brisbane climate activists after the meeting.

Brisbane Casinos will remain exempt from trading hour restrictions and mandatory ID scanners as the Palaszczuk Government rejects recommendations regarding Queensland’s contentious laws for pubs and clubs.

The government rejected recommendations from ten 1000 page reports, which found the exclusion of casinos from the policy could undermine its effectiveness.

The review’s lead author, Professor Peter Miller from Deakin University, says violence in casinos, the use of illicit drugs and pre-drinking need to be addressed.

Owners of units in Sydney’s Opal Tower are seeking millions of dollars in compensation from Sydney Olympic Park Authority, a NSW State Government-controlled entity that owns the land in which the building sits.

The lawsuit claims a “breach of warranty”, and the $170 million apartment complex was not designed and constructed with “due care and skill”.

The claim states the tower was not reasonably fit for occupation, after it was evacuated on Christmas Eve when residents spotted cracks in the foundations.

90-year-old Lorna Prendergast graduated from the University of Melbourne on Saturday with a Masters of Ageing.

The focus of her Masters studies was music as a form of temporary relief for people affected by dementia.

Mrs Prendergast from the small country town of Bairnsdale, received her Masters degree accompanied by her granddaughters at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne.

China’s first ‘cyber-dissident’ whose website reported on sensitive topics including human rights, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for leaking state secrets.

Huang Qi ran a website called 64 Tianwang, named after the 1984 Tianenmen Square crackdown. 

Deputy director of research at the Chinese Human Rights Defenders, Frances Eve, stated his sentence sends a strong signal to others documenting abuses and will make it harder to know about the human rights abuses going on inside of China.

According to a climate scientist, extreme global temperatures are pushing the human body “close to thermal limits”. 

Record-breaking temperatures have swept through Europe this week with temperatures topping 40 degrees celsius and in areas of South Asia and the Persian Gulf temperatures are reaching 54 degrees celsius.

Dr Tom Matthews from Loughborough University says these high temperatures caused by climate could make certain areas uninhabitable.