Facebook announced on thursday that it has banned an Israeli company that was attempting to run influence campaigns aimed at disrupting elections in various countries and has cancelled dozens of accounts engaged in spreading disinformation.

Despite efforts to hide its’ own identity facebook has named the Archimedes Group,a Tel Aviv-based political consulting and lobbying firm as the alleged culprits of a number of disinformation campaigns primarily aimed at influencing people in Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Angola, Niger and Tunisia.

Bob Hawke, Australia’s 23rd Prime Minister yesterday passed away aged 89.

Mr Hawke led the country and the Labor party from 1983 to 1991, and his contribution to public life helped shape modern Australia.

Hawke’s wife, Blanche d'Alpuget [DAPOOSHAY] in a statement said he died peacefully at home" and that his three children, stepson Louis, and his grandchildren would hold a private funeral ahead of a memorial service in Sydney in the coming weeks.

At the National Mango Conference in Darwin this week, mango growers have been shown long-range climate projections, which suggest the north's mango growing regions will get a lot warmer in the coming decades.

David Karoly, head of the Government's Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub, said the last 10 years have seen temperature changes increasingly impact the mango industry and that based on the trends of increasing temperature mangoes may not longer be viable to grow in northern australia in the coming 30 years.

Construction of Queensland’s two newest women’s shelters is on track to be completed this year, taking the number of shelters in the state to 54.

Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence Di Farmer says the new shelters are being built on the Gold Coast and in the Caboolture area and are scheduled to be completed by December.

Ms Farmer says once all of these new shelters come online, there will be at least 319 places each night of safe temporary accommodation for women and children who need it.

Queensland’s Olympic hopefuls have received a major boost on the road to the Tokyo 2020 Games, with the Queensland Government committing $600,000 to the Queensland Olympic Council fundraising appeal.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will launch the campaign to raise funds for the Australian Olympic Team Queensland Appeal Committee, with the target of $1.1 million for Queensland out of a total of $8 million nationally.

Ms Palaszczuk says the funds raised will go towards preparing, outfitting and sending Queensland’s team to the Games.

The University of the Sunshine Coast is proposing a new trial to house students and aged-care residents in a decommissioned aged care facility.

Six students will live with aged-care residents at the Cooinda Aged Care Centre near the university’s Gympie campus in a program that follows similar schemes in the Netherlands, Germany and the US.

A report has shown that state school tuck shops and public hospitals are not required to comply with Queensland food safety regulations.  

Public hospitals, public aged care facilities, correctional centres, state school tuck shops and Queensland Rail are exempt from rules under the Food Act.

The audit office, who conducted an investigation into the issue, said Queensland is the only State or Territory in Australia that does not require government organisations to comply with food safety regulations.

Sigma Healthcare's chief executive Mark Hooper has told investors that the company takes its obligations to properly handle stock processed through its distribution centres "very seriously" and there were never any reports from its workers about the alleged mishandling of prescription drugs.

Western Australia’s quarantine officials have said novice travellers ignoring strict biosecurity regulations are putting the State’s $8 billion agriculture industry at risk.

The State’s Department of Primary Industries seized 20 tonnes of banned produce last year, some of which was infected with destructive pests such as mango seed weevil and codling moths, with the most commonly seized items being potatoes and honey.

The US has decided not to endorse a global pledge to step up efforts to prevent internet platforms from being used to spread extremist ideals, despite it being endorsed by a host of other nations.

The US cited respect for freedom of expression and freedom of the press for not following through on the agreement made at a meeting of world leaders and tech giants in the wake of the Christchurch attack.