Results from a landmark research project concerning driver awareness has shown 45 per cent of Australian drivers are distracted behind the wheel.

Filming hundreds of drivers inside their vehicles over nearly two million kilometres, results indicated every 96 seconds a driver was distracted by something other than the road.

Researchers in the study were shocked by these figures, stating that driver distraction such as this causes about 16 per cent of motor vehicle crashes.

Australia is the last major wool-exporter to have wool-growers mules their flocks, after the practice was banned in New Zealand last week on animal cruelty grounds.

Almost 95% of wool-growers continue to remove skin around the tails and breeches of merino lambs to prevent maggot infestation and blowfly strike, which they say is more humane after the introduction of anaesthetic.

Brazil’s election between presidential candidates [ jai- ear] [ bol-sar-nar-ro] Jair Bolsonaro and Fernando [ Haddad continue in a second round after Bolsonaro failed to reach 50 per cent of votes needed to win the election.

Bolsonaro questions the legitimacy of the results, having won 46 per cent of votes, and attributes inaccuracies to Brazil’s electronic voting machines.  

The second round of elections is scheduled for October 28th.

SpaceX has launched a Los Angeles observation satellite rocket into space, lighting up areas as far away as Phoenix and Sacramento.

Stargazers were shocked to see the night sky light up, leading some to even think it was an alien aircraft.

This is the first time SpaceX has landed a first stage booster back at its Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Experts from Sea World and the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries spent two hours untangling a whale calf trapped in a shark net off the Gold Coast this morning.

A citizen walking along Greenmount beach spotted the juvenile about 50 metres offshore at 6:00am, and an adult whale stayed with the calf until it was freed.

Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary zoologist Daniela Para watched the rescue from the shore, and said "It was fantastic to see healthy animals back in the wild."

The Crime and Corruption Commission has withdrawn their charges against whistleblower Paul Pluta, who publicly leaked information from Queensland Rail in 2016.

In light of the legal consequences faced following the leak, Mr Pluta said he wants to warn people about the dangers of being a whistleblower.

However, a CCC spokesman said the body does not discourage people from making public interest disclosures.

New wastewater testing reveals that the use of the opioid fentanyl has doubled in regional Australia in the past year.

The report released today shows that fentanyl use is at its highest since annual testing began.

Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission chief Michael Phelan said while the findings are alarming, the data will also help direct resources to areas of priority.

Victorian laws implementing safe access zones outside abortion clinics are being challenged today by anti-abortion advocates in the High Court.

Pro-life campaigner Kathleen Clubb is protesting these laws after being found guilty last year of breaching these zones in East Melbourne in 2016.

The laws in question make it an offence to communicate about abortion to those entering or leaving these centres “in a way that is...likely to cause distress or anxiety”.

Hurricane Michael is set to hit Florida tomorrow, after being upgraded from a Category 3 tropical storm.

Florida Governor, Rick Scott, has declared a state of emergency in 26 counties, with 1250 National Guard troops commencing evacuations and 4000 troops on standby.

After Florida, the storm is forecasted to move along the Atlantic Coast to the Carolinas, which is still recovering from Hurricane Florence last month.