The UK ambassador to the US,Kim Darroch, has resigned after Donald Trump criticized the ambassador about leaked memos to the British Press. 

In the memos, Mr Darroch described the Trump administration as inept, President Trump over twitter described Mr Darroch very stupid and ex prime minister Theresa May as foolish.

British trade minister, Liam Fox explained that the Trump administration plan was to have been to hurt the two nations' relationship, or Darroch.

The Federal Government is under pressure to make changes to the age pension as baby boomers will leave the workforce in the next decade.

The Parliamentary Budget Office predicts the aging population will require an increase in spending of over $15 billion in the next ten years.

The qualifying age to get Age Pension has been increasing by 6 months every 2 years and will continue until it reaches 67 years on 1 July 2023.

During NAIDOC week, the National Peak Body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services is calling on the Federal Government to retain the Indigenous Legal Assistance Program, known as ILAP.

In the Federal Budget the Government announced that from 2020, funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services would be mainstreamed into a national mechanism, abolishing the ILAP.

A total of 15 rural businesses in Queensland have received $3.3 million under the first-round of funding for the RED Grants program. Overall, these 15 projects are expected to create over 600 jobs across the agricultural sector in regional Queensland.

The recent State Budget locked in funding for the remaining rounds of the program, taking the total amount of grants available up to $10 million.

Funding for Round 2 of the RED Grants will be announced later this year.

A fresh round of protest about climate change will begin this morning from the group Extinction Rebellion who were a part of the canoe protests two weeks ago on Victoria Bridge.

The group says the protests will be happening today between 7.30am and 10.30am, they plan to block Brisbane roads with swarming tactics to cause congestion and disruption.

 Extinction Rebellion also explained they will be supporting another two members of the group who were apart of the canoe protests at Roma Street Magistrate Court.

An Essential Poll has found only 38 per cent of Australians agree that stronger laws are needed to protect those who express their religious faith in public, in the wake of Israel Folau’s dispute with Rugby Australia. 

Of those polled, 58 per cent believe employers should not have the right to dictate what their employees say outside of work, but 64 per cent agreed “people should not be allowed to argue religious freedoms to abuse others.” 

Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have adopted the name ‘Eco’ for a planned single currency to be used in the region. 

The 15 member group announced the planned launch of the currency in 2020 with six member countries, including Nigeria, Liberia and Ghana, potentially swapping their national currencies for the new Eco. 

Researchers in Saudi Arabia have created a device that can produce electricity from sunlight while simultaneously purifying water, an invention they say could solve two problems at once. 

The team found the device can be used to purify saltwater as well as seawater to safe drinking standards as per World Health Organisation regulations, while producing energy from a solar panel at 11% efficiency, on par with regular solar panels. 

Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has ruled out selling the NBN to Telstra when the rollout of the $51 billion project is completed. 

Mr Fletcher says safeguards within existing laws prevent retail telcos like Telstra from owning the network and doesn’t foresee “any prospect of that restriction being changed.”

The rollout of the NBN is expected to be completed next year, but Mr Fletcher says the government is still "quite some way" from looking at any change of ownership to the taxpayer-funded network.