Thousands of students have skipped school in Belgium to take part in a protest demanding more action to combat climate change.

The Students banging drums and carrying signs gathered around the European Parliament to draw attention to the problem they feel is being ignored.

This is just the latest in a range of climate change protests across the globe, with school students in Australia skipping class last year for the same purpose.

Parliament in Angola has abolished a law which has widely been seen as a ban on homosexuality.

The Angolan government has prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation: including refusing employment, or providing services to those because of their sexual orientation.

Those who do could face up to two years in prison.

The recent Queensland drought has resulted in the closing of a free-range pork producers’ ethical pig farm due to the rising cost of grain and production.

The farm, located in Queensland’s North Burnett region, must now dispose of more than 500 breeding and specialty pigs.

This closure follows increased pressure on the pork industry as with many pig farmers across Australia  being forced to shut their production because they can’t afford to continue.

A new Indigenous Australian superhero will be launched in Darwin on Australia day through a web series. 

The series called Zero Point, is created by Darwin artist, Jonathan Saunders, who wanted to create a hero that reflected an Aboriginal man - wearing a headband and wielding a spear. 

Jonathan remarks that he has never seen an indigenous Australian depicted as an hero and he is “super excited to be involved in creating one and to see where it goes”.

A young girl has been rushed to hospital after being attacked by a goanna on a Brisbane beach on Thursday afternoon. 

The eight-year-old was left with wounds on her foot after it took 3 people to free her from the jaws of the lizard at a campground on South Stradbroke Island. 

Queensland ambulance operators described the attack as “nasty” and “savage” after taking the girl to the Gold Coast University Hospital for treatment. 

New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that Queensland has continued to show strong job growth with 6000 new jobs created in December last year.

This brings the total amount of jobs created in Queensland in the last year to over 35 000.

Deputy Premier Jacki Trad, says that the majority of these are full time jobs which ensures well-paid, secure work and opportunities for working people across the state.

Nissin, one of the world’s largest instant-noodle brands, has faced backlash after depicting Naomi Osaka, the half-Haitian, half-Japanese tennis champion, as white-skinned in their new anime-style advertisement.

The tennis player has not publicly commented on the backlash to the ad, but a Nissin spokesman apologised in an email on Tuesday for “the confusion and discomfort.

The Australian government has confirmed Australian-Chinese writer Yang Hengjun has been detained in China as Defence Minister Christopher Pyne flies in to Beijing to mend ties following rising tensions over the last 12 months.

The Chinese-Australian dissident and democracy activist became the latest Western citizen to be detained in China.

Research commissioned by life insurance company TAL has found just 36 per cent of Australians have had a skin check in the past 12 months, while 29 per cent have never had one.

Given that two in three Australians will be diagnosed with some form of skin cancer before they are 70, the results of the study are alarming.

Dr Sally Phillips says that a large proportion of Australians know that skin cancer is easily treated if diagnosed early, yet most people have not had a skin check in the last year.