Venezuela’s Government has imposed a travel ban, frozen bank accounts, and approved an investigation into the self-declared interim president Juan Guaido.

The sanctions against Mr Guaido appear to be in retaliation for US sanctions against Nicolas Maduro.

Mr Guaido has been recognised as the legitimate head of state by several countries including the United States and Australia, while Mr Maduro has been backed by a number of other countries, including Russia.

Freezing conditions and a major snowstorm that proceeded a blast of Arctic air in America’s midwest has killed at least five people, according to US media.

The morning temperature in Chicago was -30 Celsius which is colder than Alaska's state capital and even colder than parts of Antarctica.

The cause of the sub-zero chill was a swirl of arctic air that broke away from the polar vortex that usually encircles the North Pole.

The Huawei executive implicated in the trade secrets theft scandal that allowed Huawei to covertly operate business in Iran established and oversaw the firm’s Australian operation.

According to corporate records, Meng Wanzhou was a director of Huawei’s Australian subsidiary between 2005 and 2011, and was allegedly engaged in a conspiracy to defraud international banks and US officials for four of the years she was an Australian director.

The Palaszczuk government has been warned against their plan to make life easier for drivers stuck with cars that have manufacturing issues by taking action against car sellers, as it could stretch the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal to breaking point.

The bold government proposal would raise the limit for motor vehicle defect claims in QCAT from $25,000 to $100,000 as part of its crackdown on ‘lemon’ vehicles.

Scott Morrison has intervened in the case of Melbourne-based refugee footballer Hakeem al- Araibi, urging Thailand’s leader to stop his extradition to Bahrain and release him from detention.

Mr Morrison wrote to Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, emphasising the importance of the case to him and the Australian people, noting returning Mr al-Araibi to Bahrain would infringe on his international human rights.

A survey has found parents spend more to send their children to government-run schools than any other Australian capital city.

In 2017, Brisbane was the third most expensive city in the country, however it has now jumped to the number one, with parents spending around $75,600 over 13 years to send a child to school, with Sydney at $66,470 and Melbourne at $74,604.  

Additionally, parents are having to buy other hidden school-related expenses such as uniforms, books and laptops.

Six large animals have died at South Africa’s largest national park after a devastating lightning storm toppled a power cable.

Park rangers discovered the two lions, two hyenas, a giraffe and a rhino who were all killed when the power line came down in Kruger National Park, which follow the deaths of four other large animals in the park in the last month from poachers.

The deaths of these animals are a significant loss to the park, with estimated rhino and lion numbers both falling below 2,000.