United States President Donald Trump says a US warship has destroyed an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz, after the aircraft threatened the ship by flying within 900 metres of it.

Trump says the USS Boxer took defensive action when the drone ignored multiple calls to stand down and was threatening the safety of the ship and the ship’s crew. 

Trump says this is the latest of many provocative and hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international waters.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison clarified during the Bush Summit in Dubbo, New South Wales, that the $3.9 billion dollar drought-proofing kitty won’t affect the infrastructure budget. 

The Future Drought Fund legislation will be on the government’s agenda when parliament resumes next week, giving farmers hope that the summit might help with regional Australia’s necessities.

Mr Morrison reaffirmed that no project within the infrastructure plan would be affected when the Building Australia Fund gets repurposed for future drought projects.

Former deputy prime minister and Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce is joining the calls to increase Newstart allowance for people in country areas. 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the government should instead focus on tax cuts rather than lifting payments, which he says are indexed every six months. 

About 723,000 Australians receive the allowance, and if they are single live on about $40 a day. 

Logan Police have come up with a new plan to stop car thieves matching stolen vehicles with stolen number plates, with a special safety screw.

In an area with over 30 Number plate thefts a week reported and more than 4000 since 2016, police decided to drive their own campaign.

Demand for the new screw was so high, Logan District Crime Prevention United has started taking online orders and now, the Logan Police is trialling the distribution of SAFE PL8 packs, which include the special screws.

Last night, a massive fire destroyed a paint factory and nearby house in Albion with projectile exploding paint tins sent flying through the air.

Ten fire crews were called to battle the blaze on Tate Street, around 11:30 last night.

The fire is now under control, but not completely out.

Emergency services were notified just after 10pm on Wednesday that a 2007 Cruise Craft 686 Outsider, with three men aboard, had crashed at high-speed in Rous Channel near Wynnum West.

Queensland Ambulance Service senior operations supervisor Jeremy Lawrance says a 40-year-old passenger suffered an abdominal injury and bleeding in his stomach.

He was rushed to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in a critical condition and given a blood transfusion on the way.

A seven-step toolkit designed by the Regional Australia Institute has been rolled out in rural and regional Australia to attract more skilled employees to the area.

The Regional Australia Institute (RAI), says there are currently more than 44,600 job vacancies in regional Australia that are proving hard to fill.

Chronic labour shortages have affected some regional areas, resulting in population decline and the closure of businesses.

An Australian researcher, is studying the possibility the infection  of gonorrhoea can be spread by kissing.

At the STI and HIV World Conference in Vancouver on Thursday, Professor Kit Fairley from Monash University will be arguing his case in a debate with Professor Emeritus H. Hunter Handsfield from the University of Washington.

In Australia, gonorrhoea rates have more than tripled between 2008 and 2017 from 36 to 118.