A US neo-Nazi who drove his car into a group of counter-protesters last year during a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, killing a woman and injuring dozens, was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday.

James Alex Fields Jr was found guilty of murder and other charges last week following a two-week jury trial which sentenced him to life in prison plus an additional 419 years.

Fields will be formally sentenced by on March 29 by Judge Richard Moor. The judge can reduce the sentence imposed by the jury but is not allowed to increase it.

A new bill allowing  terminally ill people a defence for using illicit cannabis has passed its third reading, edging closer to being assented into law

The bill sets up a defence within statute that allows those close to death within palliative care to use and consume the illicit substance

Google Maps and Street View has been used as evidence in a murder trial, making technology such as dashcams a critical element in policing.

In June NSW Police said they are specifically seeking CCTV or dashcam footage during an investigation into the suspected murder of Brazilian national Cecilia Haddad - footage that was was then used to corroborate the story of a witness.

State and federal treasurers will meet in February to discuss new population framework, combining up-to-date data on skills shortages with long term infrastructure planning.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australia's strong economic growth could be maintained if migration stayed at the same level but new migrants need to be spread around the country.

Australia at present accepts roughly 160,000 permanent migrants each year, despite having a higher cap of 190,000.

Telstra CEO Andy Penn has labelled Queensland government's suggestion that disaster warning texts be provided for free as "ridiculous" and "crazy".

Penn says the telco sent out over 1.2 million texts to Queensland residents during the recent bushfire crisis as part of a commercial contract signed by the state government.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the text were a community service, the technology was simple, and it shouldn’t have been expensive.  

Penn has rejected the notion that the service be free.

On the Moonie River in South - West Queensland, a team of Indigenous rangers have been setting specially designed fish nets to catch introduced European Carp.

These carp make up around 80% of the biomass in Australia’s river systems and cost the economy an estimated $500 million per year.

The Federal government have delayed a formal carp eradication program, dubbed ‘Carpageddon’, which involves the introduction of a carp herpes virus, giving researchers more time to plan, and better understand the virus and its impact on native species.

Pope Francis has removed two cardinals hit by sexual abuse scandals from his circle of close advisers, including his economy minister George Pell.

Pell has taken an indefinite leave of absence from his high-power job as head of the Secretariat for the Economy to defend himself from prosecution for historical child sexual offences in Australia.

Vatican spokesperson, Greg Burke, responded to questions over whether Pell was still economy minister, with Burke suggesting Pell was and there had been no announcement to the contrary.

A Stasi ID card used by President Vladimir Putin when he was a Soviet spy in former East Germany has been found in the Stasi secret police archive in Dresden.

Putin’s stasi card was found during research into the close cooperation between the KGB and Stasi.

Quarterly stamps on the card show it remained in use to the final quarter of 1989 when the Berlin Wall collapsed.