The Eastern European country of Georgia faces civil unrest after accusations of corruption plague their recent leadership poll.

25,000 Georgians protested vote buying, voter intimidation and ballot stuffing in front of the capital’s parliament building Sunday.

Civil wars, mass demonstrations and unrest have continued to plague the small country since its independence in 1991.

The outcome of the vote could determine Georgia’s entry to the EU and NATO.

News corp stands against Google and Facebook today as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission hands down its preliminary report into the fairness of competing print and digital platforms.

Google’s parent company expects to top $120 billion US dollars this financial year, while print media’s revenues are falling, leading to the loss of thousands of jobs nationwide.

The ACCC will rule on whether multinational digital servers are abusing their market power and exploiting the work of local journalists.

Rising electricity prices in Tasmania are resulting in increased pressure on small businesses, with many owners admitting costs are passed on to customers.

Farmers may be forced to sacrifice labour and feed costs to account for power and irrigation, according to Tasmanian Energy Consultant Marc White.

John Dabner, the general manager of Tall Timbers, an accommodation and tourism business in Smithton, said his annual power bill jumped by about $50,000 in the past year to $150,000.

Preliminary works have begun on the redevelopment of a former bakery site in Carina, despite concerns raised on habitat loss in the koala corridor.

Truck loads of debris were removed from the Fursden Road development site on Friday, as an excavator dug up concrete on a neighbouring, heavily vegetated site acquired as part of the redevelopment.

A freshly resurfaced road in Annerley has been cut up for gas works just two days after the new bitumen laid.

Residents on the street expressed frustration at witnessing Gibson Street being cut into in several locations for gas works on Thursday and Friday.

A council spokeswoman says because gas works are organised and managed by the utility provider council was not notified. She confirms the utility provider is now required to resurface the road.

The Swedish town of Kiruna is about to disappear into the world’s largest iron ore mine.

Over the last century miners tunnelled so deep under the city that the structural integrity of the town has been compromised, creating an increasingly large sink hole.

Rather than abandoning the town, the mining company plans to spend millions compensating villagers and relocating every building to a nearby valley currently controlled by native reindeer herders.

Russian president Vladimir Putin refuses to release Ukrainian sailors seized in the Sea of Azov last week.

Putin says further investigation is needed to establish whether the Ukrainian navy deliberately provoked the coast guard during their attempt to cross Russian held waters.

The Ukrainian government is accused of inciting war to distract from its economic failures, though accounts of the incident vary greatly between the two countries.

New amendments to the Births, Deaths and Marriage Act propose an advancement in rights for transgender and intersex people in Australia.

The Labor opposition and Greens party are putting forward a document which would allow Australian citizens to delete or change their gender on their birth certificate and remove the requirement for transgender people to undergo sexual reassignment surgery before their gender is recognised.

The ban on single-use plastic bags implemented by Australia's two largest supermarkets has prevented 1.5 billion bags being introduced into the environment over the last three months.

Although the decision by Coles and Woolworths midway through this year was met with endless public backlash, it has translated to an 80% drop in the consumption of plastic bags nation-wide, according to the National Retail Association.

Thousands of additional seats for commuters will be available on trains today when six-car units replace three-car units on Queensland Rail services.

The change has been made possible by the roll-out of 35 New Generation Rollingstock trains onto the network.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey says the new services will increase carrying capacity by more than 46,000 seats a week across the south-east Queensland network.