Pictures of a rare black leopard have been captured in Kenya, the first verifiable record of the animal in a century.

The images were captured by researchers from the San Diego Zoo who have been studying leopards in the Loisaba wildlife conservancy, as well as an independent photographer working in the region at the same time.

The last confirmed report was a photograph taken in Addis Ababa in 1909 which is stored in the Museum of National History in the United States.

Pensioners will soon be able to earn $300 a fortnight without it impacting their welfare payments under draft laws.

The proposed laws were cleared by the lower house of parliament at an overall cost of approximately $260 million over the forward estimates.

Social Services Minister Paul Fletcher said the bill gives retirees greater choice and flexibility when it comes to managing their finances in retirement.  

A Queensland woman has been found guilty of taking her two daughters to Somalia to undergo female genital mutilation – the first prosecution of its type in the state.

The prosecution relied heavily on evidence of a paediatrician who examined the girls shortly after their return and stated that “female genital mutilation has no medical benefits whatsoever”.

The defendant faces up to 14 years in jail.

The Queensland government is being urged to take up a new online resource aimed at helping teachers and students deal with children who have epilepsy.

The Epilepsy Smart School program is being rolled out nationally by Epilepsy Australia after a successful trial in Victoria.

The chief executive of Epilepsy Queensland Helen Whitehead said the program will supplement the work the state arm of the national body already does with Education Queensland.

Shark nets on Sunshine Coast beaches, from Rainbow Beach to Caloundra, will be removed today and tomorrow as rough weather approaches.

A Bureau of Meteorology spokesperson has said there is a strong wind warning for the Sunshine Coast over the weekend.

Shark control program manager Jeff Krause said the weather forecast will be observed over the next few days to decide when it will be safe to return the shark nets.

NASA has declared the Mars rover Opportunity dead after 15 years on the planet, and more than eight months after its final communication with Earth.

The space agency has tried to reconnect more than 1,000 times before finally giving up, having made “every reasonable engineering effort” to recover the longest-lasting lander.

Opportunity has been an icon in the field of planetary exploration, teaching NASA about Mars’ past as a wet, potentially habitable planet, and unveiling Martian landscapes.

Dolphin-hunting season is at its peak in Japan and Australian, and Japanese environmentalists have launched legal action in an attempt to end the internationally-condemned slaughters in Taiji.

Every year Japanese fishermen have permission to kill up to 20,000 dolphins and small whales as part of what they say are centuries-old traditions.

Australian environmental group Action for Dolphins has teamed up with a Japanese animal rights organisation, Life Investigation Agency, to challenge the legality of the killings.

Embattled Whitsundays council MP Jason Costigan has been banned from visiting schools in the region after a motion was passed by the Whitsundays council.

Whitsundays councillor Mike Brunker says he does not want Mr Costigan attending schools.

The move comes after harassment allegations were made against the member, allegations which he has repeatedly denied.