Queensland’s energy minister, Anthony Lynham, has requested the coalition government brings its much debated energy market misconduct bill to the next energy minister meeting for discussion.

Minister Lynham has shown concerns for the bill, as he believes the proposed legislation will allow for privatisation of public power generators, which Queensland does not support.

Australian Defence officials have revealed two RAAF fighter jets were involved in a bombing mission in Iraq that led to the deaths of Iraqi civilians.

The US-led Coalition estimates there were up to 18 casualties in the 2017 attack; however, Australian officials say that it is not possible to determine if the civilian casualties occurred as a result of the Australian air strike or a nearby Coalition airstrike.

Australia's bombing mission in the region finished at the end of 2017.

Indigenous cultural burning has been reintroduced in central Victorian forests for the first time in almost 200 years.

While the cultural burnings aim to reconnect Indigenous people with their history, the practice will also assist in maintaining the land for future generations.

Scott Falconer of Forest Fire Management Victoria says creating positions for Indigenous people within organisations such as his is the way forward in helping to maintain public land.

Microplastics have been found in the guts of every marine mammal examined in a new study of the animals washed up on Britain's shores.

Researchers examined 50 animals from 10 species of dolphins, seals and whales and found microplastics in them all.

The number of plastic particles found in each animal was relatively low suggesting they eventually pass through the digestive system, or are regurgitated; however, researchers say the exact effect of microplastic on ocean life is still unknown.

Allegations four 12-year-old girls were strip searched for drugs at a school in upstate New York has prompted a full investigation into the case.

The African-American girls were evaluated on the 15th  January by a nurse at Binghamton’s East middle school.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has said the case raises “serious concerns of racial and gender bias.”

The average Queensland household power bill could fall by $60 from next year, and small businesses by $100, as Queensland’s publicly-owned energy businesses streamline network costs.

Energy Minister Dr Anthony Lynham says the savings came from Ergon Energy and Energex’s proposed reductions in distribution network charges from 2020.

The savings are in Energy Queensland’s network investment plans for 2020 to 2025 and could reduce household charges by around 10 per cent and small businesses’ by around 11 per cent.  

A health alert has been issued in Tasmania due to thick smoke from bushfires, as local communities could be impacted for weeks to come.

Tasmanian health authorities are urging people with health conditions to leave their homes as dense smoke blankets Hobart from bushfires burning in the state.

State Public Health Director Mark Veitch warns that smoke levels at Cygnet, south of the capital, and surrounding areas, could cause serious health issues, and that residents should minimise exposure.

Australian mining giants BHP and Rio Tinto are set to join the push for an Indigenous voice to federal parliament.

The resource powerhouses are expected to make a joint statement on Thursday supporting the 2017 Uluru Statement From The Heart.

The statement will call for a constitutionally-enshrined advisory body and a commission to oversee
truth-telling and treaty-making.

Doctors, businessmen and other workers protested in major cities across Venezuela on Wednesday, calling for humanitarian aid to be allowed into the country and for President Nicolas Maduro to step down.

Protestors claimed they were tired of not having accessing to medicine and of spending their days looking for food.

Millions have left Venezuela since 2015, fleeing hyperinflation, poverty and food & medicine shortages.

A British politician has been criticised for responding to concerns a no-deal Brexit would create food shortages at supermarkets by suggesting people go to a fish and chip shop instead.

Fellow politicians said Mr Wilson should be ashamed for making the joke about the impact of a no-deal Brexit.

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas took to social media to air her anger at the comment, before raising the issue in the House of Commons.