International privacy groups and technology companies are scrutinising Australia’s incoming technology surveillance laws.

The proposed legislation is part of an initiative to allow authorities greater access to a suspects’ secure messages.

This international coalition, including Apple and Microsoft, opposes the new push, which “could have serious implications for online security overseas as well as domestically”.

Leaked copies of a new climate report said a swift withdrawal from coal and a global diet shift away from meat is needed to limit global temperatures rising.

Scientists and diplomats meeting in South Korea this week are scheduled to release the 400-page report describing a “complete transformation” of the current “climate mayhem.”

The draft suggests four pathways for policymakers to ensure carbon emissions peak no later than 2020, to allow the global economy to become ‘carbon-neutral’ by 2050.

A senior scientist working for the European Nuclear Research Centre, Cern, has been suspended after sexist comments.

Professor Alessandro Strumia was suspended after saying physics ‘was becoming sexist against men’.

A spokesperson for Cern has called the comments ‘unacceptable’.

India’s Supreme Court has ruled Aadhaar, the world’s biggest biometric identity database, does not breach citizen’s privacy.

Indian residents are unable to receive food rations without registering for the system, which requires mandatory iris and fingerprint scans.

Lawyer Shyam Divan said Aadhaar will enable the state to profile citizens, track their movements, assess their habits, and influence their political behaviour.

Over 105 non-for-profit organisations in Queensland have benefited from newly created shade structures as part of the 2018 SunSmart Shade Creation Initiative.

Schools, childcare centres, sporting and community clubs are among those who cater to children, allowing them to be eligible for the government scheme.

With more than 3,600 Queenslanders diagnosed with a melanoma annually, Cancer Council Queensland believes this initiative is vital for the state.

From 2016-2017, Queensland had the highest spend nationally on non-primary health care like natural medicines and physiotherapists, according to new data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

On average, our individual health costs the federal government just over $7000 per year, the third highest in the country.

Queensland also saw the most government money spent on research, ahead of New South Wales and Victoria who both had declines.

A bushfire threat in far north Western Australia has been downgraded overnight.

The emergency warning for the Wyndham-East Kimberley Shire has been lowered to a ‘watch and act’ alert.

However, the bushfire which started in the Northern Territory’s Keep River National Park, is still continuing and firefighters have warned those in the area of a 'possible threat to lives and homes'. 

Over 40,000 Subaru Liberty and Outback vehicles have been recalled nationally over potential brake issues.

This national recall for these models from 2010-2014 has been issued by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Affected owners will be contacted by mail and encouraged to return their vehicles to their local Subaru dealer,  otherwise they should visit the Subaru website.

A Swedish court has found the man who prompted the cancellation of this year’s Nobel Literature Prize guilty of rape charges.

72 yr old Jean Claude Arnault pleaded not guilty, but was sentenced to two years in jail.  

Arnault was previously known for violating century old Nobel prize rules and leaking the names of Nobel Laureates.