Brisbane City Council has requested citizens’ metadata from telecoms companies, prompting calls of "Big Brother" from the council's Labor opposition.

According to the telecoms industry, the BCC is among more than 100 bodies making thousands of requests for details of numbers called by phone users, their location, the length of calls, email addresses and other information telcos are obliged to keep for two years under national security laws passed in 2015.

Indigenous women in Canada allege they were coerced into sterilisation, according to a class action lawsuit filed this week.

The women say their fallopian tubes were tied, burned, or cut in public hospitals when they were unable to give sufficient consent.

Amnesty International has announced it will lobby the UN committee against torture to increase pressure on the Canadian government to act on the breach of human rights.

US president Donald Trump has refused to listen to audio tape of the murder of Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, while saying the killing was “vicious”.

In an interview with Fox News Sunday, president Trump told presenter Chris Wallace: “I don’t want to hear the tape, no reason for me to hear the tape.”

The Fairfax media name may outlive the proposed 4 billion dollar takeover by Nine Entertainment.

Former chief executive of majority Fairfax owned real estate site, Domain, Antony Catalano, has made a last minute bid to block the merger.

In a letter to Fairfax chairman, Nick Falloon, Mr Catalano offered to acquire up to 19.9% of Fairfax Media.

The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance support the block, saying the merger will reduce coverage of public national interest.

According to fresh data commissioned by CommSec, Australian homes build in the past financial year were the smallest in more than two decades.

The figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that the average floor size of newly built houses and apartments was 186.3 square metres in 2017-18, meaning new homes were 1.6% smaller than the previous year, and the smallest they’ve been since 1996.

CommSec chief economist Craig James says the shrinking house size is due to the rise in number of apartment developments.

An analysis by Brisbane Times shows the Brisbane River has made an estimated $70 billion worth of contributions to Brisbane.

If the city had no river, it would mean 5.4 million more car trips, bus rides and train journeys for Brisbane commuters, pushing the city’s transport infrastructure to the limit.

More than $1 billion has been invested into new infrastructure such as moorings, tour-boat stops, fishing platforms, over-water bikeways and the ferry network.

The Queensland Government has commenced work to place sandstone blocks under the Kurilpa Bridge on the South Bank side, halting it from being used as a place for homeless people to sleep.

Fences were set up around the site in recent weeks, prompting protests from Brisbane City Council Greens councillor Jonathan Sri, who called the works cruel and disgusting.

Nine leading pro-democracy campaigners go on trial today in Hong Kong.

Members of the Umbrella Movement occupied Hong Kong’s central business district in 2013, demanding a democratic vote for the city’s leader.

Beijing’s appointment of Hong Kong officials is contrary to the one-country, two system plan negotiated by Margaret Thatcher.

Protesters face seven years jail time if convicted.

The UK faces another two years of Brexit negotiations, in a proposal by the EU that could cost billions of dollars.

Europe’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, raised the idea during a special meeting with ambassadors from the EU’s 27 member states.

The plan would mean the UK follows EU rules and pays into its budget for six and a half years post-Brexit vote.

Both sides hope to finalise extension negotiations during the summit on November 25.

US vice president Mike Pence has announced America will partner with Australia and Papua New Guinea to develop the Lombrum naval base on Manus Island, amid rising anxiety about China's power in the region.