China’s trade talks with the US are still set to be held despite Trump’s tweets announcing an increase in trade tariffs.

The president tweeted he would raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods from 10 to 25 per cent.

It comes after an apparent reneging in commitments to a deal made by China, which occurred in the last week, according to US trade representative Robert Lighthizer.

A new study has revealed climate change may be helping spread a fungus that attacks bananas.

Black sigatoka, commonly known as “black leaf streak,” can reduce the fruit produced by infected plants by up to 80%, according to the study published on Monday.

The US Department of Agriculture says the fungal disease is virulent against a wide range of banana plants and increases production costs with fungicide necessary to maintain crop yields.

Germany thinks it may have found a way to overcome the issues surrounding trucks diesel consumption polluting towns and cities leading to climate change by using overhead lines to power big rigs.

According to the German government, a system that allows trucks to draw electric power from overhead cables began operating on 10 kilometres of the autobahn on Tuesday.

Singapore has now criminalised the sending of unsolicited intimate images, known as “cyber flashing”, as part of a major crackdown on online sexual harassment.

The reforms to its criminal law were approved on Monday by the city state’s parliament, including other new offenses for upskirt photography and “revenge porn” which are punishable by up to five years in prison.

Emails sent by academics of Murdoch University show the university had been warned repeatedly about international students struggling to pass courses.

The investigation by the ABC’s Four Corners revealed Murdoch, as well as many other Australian universities had been accepting international students with English below the acceptable standard.

Three academics say they were initially afraid to speak publicly about the issue as it put their jobs at risk, but had no choice after making several complaints about academic misconduct.

An impressive dust storm turned day into night late yesterday afternoon at Mildura in north-western Victoria as a huge red cloud swept through the area.

The Bureau of Meteorology captured the storm via webcam as it passed over the Mildura Airport at about 5pm yesterday afternoon, drastically reducing visibility as conditions deteriorated.

Preston woman Lisa Guarnaccia was driving to Mildura when she got caught in the dust storm, describing the scene as “very apocalyptic and very scary”.

The rising population of middle-aged men in Lycra has led to a spike in hospitalisations and a doubling in the number of deaths for cyclists aged over 45.

The study by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare showed the number of cyclists aged 45 and over taken to hospital grew by nearly 500 per cent from 728 to over 4000, more than a third of all cycling incidents.

Labor’s member of Parliament for Griffith Terri Butler has been accused of snubbing a debate last night.

The debate, held in West End, was the only one organised for the electorate in the lead-up to this election.

Missing were also the members for the LNP, One Nation and Palmer’s United Australia Party.