Commuters travelled for free yesterday after Brisbane’s Go Card reader system experienced a total failure on all bus and ferry services.

The technical issue has been resolved since, but it is unclear how much revenue Translink lost due to the outtage.

Brisbane City Council was estimated to lose up to an estimated 515 000 thousand dollars each day during the bus strikes of 2017.

New figures released today have revealed Australians are wasting up to 140 tonnes of plastic on single-use gift cards each year.

58 per cent of Australians who received a gift card in past 12 months have admitted they either left them to expire or have not redeemed them.

Paypal spokesperson Emily Curlewis said the research found that 57 per cent of consumers would prefer an environmentally friendly alternative to combat this problem.

Instagram influencers are now being employed by tobacco companies to glamourise the marketing of cigarettes in Australia, according to anti-smoking advocates.

A two year study has revealed tobacco companies are employing the same marketing tactics they’ve used for decades, only to an international and limitless audience through social media.

The study found evidence of major social media tobacco campaigns in at least 40 countries, with two beginning in Australia specifically targeting young people.

Two Reuters journalists in Myanmar have been sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of illegally possessing secret documents.

The journalists, who were reporting on the attacks on Rohingya Muslims, have denied these allegations.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said she was condemned the trial as a “travesty of justice” and advocated for their immediate release.

Indian citizens face a rat fever in the wake of flooding in the state of Kerala.

Rotting rat carcasses are believed to be contaminating the water and leading to widespread cases of leptospirosis across the state.

There have been an estimated 34 deaths since August, and 196 cases have been confirmed in the past 17 days.

Facebook shares have dropped over $160 Billion from its market value, considered a historic dive for the company.

End of trading on Thursday saw it slump to 19 percent, which is said to be the ‘worst single-day evaporation of market value for any company.

The slump comes after the ongoing privacy and security scandal with the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, in which 3 million accounts were closed.

Theresa May has promised the public that a second referendum on Brexit will not occur, declaring it a ‘gross betrayal of trust’.  

This comes as Brexit secretary Dominic Raab says he is ‘stubbornly optimistic’ about getting a deal with Brussels.

despite the fact that Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer vocalised that a second referendum should be on the table if the EU exit deal is rejected by parliament.

Westpac, Suncorp and Adelaide Bank are raising interest rates up to 17 points to all variable home loan rates and a 10 point increase to all business loans.

The banks have outlined that the interest-only loans will increase 40 basis points for investors and 35 basis points for owner-occupiers.

This information is important to mortgage holders, who may have to consider refinancing, or paying extra for a home loan.  

A Tasmanian man remains in a stable condition in the Royal Hobart Hospital after contracting a strain of the highly contagious Meningoccocal Disease.

The 64 year old man is recovering from the W strain, which is considered highly deadly. This is the seventh confirmed case of the disease in Tasmania.

An abandoned heritage pub, on Logan Road in Woolloongabba, was destroyed overnight by a devastating blaze that took crews half an hour to extinguish.

Deputy Premier Jackie Trad is calling on Brisbane City Council to ensure the Broadway Hotel is rebuilt to its original form if a development application on the site is approved.