Sydney is losing out on close to $16 billion a year due to its underdeveloped night-time economy, according to economic analysis

The city’s night-time economy, which is currently valued at $27 billion a year could be worth $43 billion, Deloitte Access Economics says in a report published by Sydney Morning Herald.

It found Australia’s night-time market represents 3.8 per cent of the domestic economy, compared to six per cent in the United Kingdom

A scientific review of insect numbers suggest that 40% of species are undergoing “dramatic rates of decline” around the world.

Researchers say that some species, such as houseflies and cockroaches, are likely to boom because of warmer conditions and because many of their natural enemies, which breed more slowly, will disappear.

American missionary Richard Daschbach, who founded children’s shelters that have operated for more than two decades in Timor-Leste, has been expelled from his Catholic congregation after admitting to sexual abuse of minors.

Media reports about the allegations have shocked the country, one of two predominantly Catholic nations in Asia along with the Philippines.

Australia’s Largest Pastoral Company says it has lost thousands of cattle in unprecedented flooding, including almost 30,000 head on one its Gulf of Carpentaria stations alone.

In a statement to the Australia Stock Exchange, the Australian Agricultural Company said its 2,500 square kilometre Woondoola station had experienced its highest flooding levels ever; forcing the evacuation of station staff from the property as water rose to the eaves of buildings.

A Queensland private school has banned mobile phones in a bid to force students to socialize face to face. Matthew Flinders Anglican College principal Stuart Meade said, “We don’t want to see phones in school grounds at all.”

The use of other digital devices, such as laptops and iPads are not permitted during break times, unless under supervision in the library.

The New South Wales Land and Environment Court turned down an appeal by mining company Gloucester Resources for an open-cut coal mine because of its potential contribution to greenhouse-gas emmisions and global warming.

The coal mine was planned to be built near the town of Gloucester in the Hunter Valley. It is the first time a new coal mine has been rejected in Australia, the world’s leading coal exporter, because of the potential contribution to global warming.

The royal commission investigating Australia’s aged care system has suggested the need for an national database of carers in order to prevent ongoing elder abuse.

From evidence on Monday, the inquiry has suggested this database needs to be formed to ensure employees who have abused do not have the opportunity to move between facilities or states to repeat the same behaviour.

Mars One, a Dutch company that planned to send humans on a one-way trip to Mars and start the first human colony on the Red Planet, has declared bankruptcy.

The declaration was made in a Swiss court on January 15th and posted online this past weekend, officially dissolving Mars One Ventures AG.

Bootleg liquor is being blamed for killing more than 100 people in northern India after alcohol poisoning sickened people in two states. Making it the worst outbreak of deadly booze to hit India in years.

Lauren Frayer a journalist for NPR reports, “Autopsies show traces of methanol, a chemical that attack the nervous system. Illegally made liquor is widespread in India, where many can’t afford brand-name alcoholic drinks.”