Italy’s La Stampa newspaper is reporting the Italian government is considering selling the country’s gold reserves in an effort to fund government programs.

The ruling League Party’s 2019 budget raised spending while ditching plans to raise Italy’s consumption tax.

The move was criticised by EU authorities concerned with the speed Italy’s national debt is growing.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk has called for electric scooter company ‘Lime’ to “step up to the plate” and ensure enough helmets are being provided for Brisbane riders.

Questioned by the Labor opposition in a meeting yesterday about injuries on the popular Lime scooters, Quirk maintains the regulation of helmet use and speed are state government issues.

Quirk said Lime needs to work harder to encourage riders to wear helmets, with at least one person per day being treated at the Mater hospital for scooter injuries.

Debate continues over whether Woolloongabba’s derelict Broadway Hotel can be restored, and who is responsible for this, at a meeting of state, council and private engineers.

A petition with 400 signatures has requested council compulsorily acquire the Broadway for community use, which has been vacant since 2010, and ravaged several times by fires.

City Planning Chairman Matthew Bourke, said he believes the hotel should be restored and made safe, however does not believe there is legislation that can force the owner to take these steps.

A Labor government would establish an independent body to oversee Australia’s universal healthcare system.

Opposition health spokesperson Catherine King says the Australian Health Reform Commission would focus on increasing access to public hospital specialists, while dealing with the health problems of Australia’s aging population.

The announcement comes as Labor attempts to position itself as a big supporter of universal healthcare ahead of the Federal Election.

NBN Co has copped criticism from a Sydney Councilor over its shoddy repair of heritage listed footpaths.

Independent Inner West councillor Pauline Lockie says the depression-era footpaths, which are laid by hand, had not been restored to their original condition after NBN Co ripped them up to install cable.

NBN Co said their restorations in some areas are only temporary, and permanent restorations will take longer.

17 people have died after a fire tore through a budget hotel in New Delhi yesterday at around 4:30 am local time, including a woman and child who jumped off the hotel’s terrace.

35 people were rescued by firefighters after 30 fire engines were dispatched to the scene, with 19 people taken to hospital for smoke inhalation and other injuries.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman has been found guilty of all counts at his drug trafficking trial at a federal court in New York.

The verdict could mean life in jail for the 61 year old, who was arrested in January of 2016, after escaping from a Mexican prison through a tunnel five months earlier.

Guzman was accused of being head of the Sinaloa drug cartel, which prosecutors say was the biggest supplier of drugs to the US.

Last night, the Federal Opposition, the Greens and several crossbenchers successfully passed legislation providing doctors more say over the medical transfer of refugees from off-shore detention centres.

The defeat for the Morrison Government was the first time a substantive vote has been lost by a government in the House of Representatives since 1929.

The Prime Minister is confident the crossbench will continue to support his government, despite their votes against him on the bill.