Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council (QSAC) has released a report showing current sentences for child manslaughter are inadequate and do no reflect community expectations.

The council made eight recommendations in its final report, including a new "aggravating factor" be applied when victims are under 12-years-old, forcing courts to consider the defencelessness and vulnerability of the victim.

Council Chair John Robertson said he hoped the report would provide some comfort to the families of victims.

The first ever “solid state” plane, with no moving parts in its propulsion system, has successfully flown 60 metres.

The propulsion system is entirely electrically powered, nearly silent, and with a thrust-to-power ratio comparable to conventional systems such as jet engines.

Long-term, the new technology could help reduce the harmful environmental impact of the aviation industry globally.

The impacts of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death in Istanbul last month continue to unravel with Turkey accusing the US of trying to turn a blind eye to his alleged murder. 

US President Donald Trump said the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, may have known about the plan to kill Khashoggi, a comment dismissed by Turkey as comical.

The CIA believes Khashoggi’s death was ordered directly by the crown prince, who is Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, but Trump has said the US would remain a “steadfast partner” of Saudi Arabia.

A major dust storm is sweeping across New South Wales, with authorities issuing an air quality forecast alert as “poor” and urging Sydney residents to stay inside if they experience breathing difficulties.

Wild westerly winds of up to 45 km/hr are set to hit Sydney, threatening to limit visibility for the city’s motorists.  

The dust storm won’t be as destructive as the one in 2009 which struck New South Wales and Queensland, but residents should still be aware of reduced visibility and high winds.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) owned HMAS Moreton barracks site in Bulimba has finally gone on the market.

In 2015, the federal government confirmed the ADF would sell most of the Bulimba site and in February 2017, Brisbane City Council formally adopted a master plan to allow developers to buy the site and build up to five storeys.

A Defence spokesperson said the 20-hectare waterfront development opportunity will deliver housing, waterfront access, and improved community amenity for the Bulimba and Morningside communities.

Plans for a solar farm just outside of Kingaroy in South East Queensland have been shot down by the South Burnett regional council, amid worries of wasting ‘Class A’ agricultural land.

Renewable energy company Terrain Solar have proposed an 80 hectare solar farm 3 kms outside urban development, predicted to generate over 100,000 megawatt hours each year, or enough to power over 15,000 Queensland homes.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) said the Closing the Gap strategy has “all but unravelled”, insisting the policy needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.

AMA president, Tony Bartone, said Closing the Gap needs root-and-branch reform and for Aboriginal healthcare to be placed in Aboriginal hands.

The doctors’ body said the failure of the Closing the Gap Strategy demonstrates that “a stubborn form of institutional racism” still challenges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population health.

The family of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who was cleared of Blasphemy in Pakistan, claim they are being hunted by extremists moving from "house to house" with their photographs.

Bibi spent eight years on death row, and since being acquitted three years ago in the country she has been offered asylum in Canada, Spain and France, with Germany and Italy also reportedly being in talks on the issue.