Australian alcohol consumption is at its lowest in more than half a century.

Research reveals Australians consumed 186 million litres of pure alcohol between 2016 and 2017, the lowest figure since 1962.

A drop in beer consumption has been the biggest contributor to the overall decrease.

A lobby group for the dairy industry is calling for the introduction of 10 cent milk levy to aid drought affected farmers.

The Queensland Dairy Organisation has also called upon milk processors such as Parmalat and Norco to guarantee the full levy would flow back to farmers.

QDO President Brian Tessman says that farmers have now come to “the end of their tether”, claiming it is a do or die situation for them.

Iraqi politicians have come together in an alliance to give a majority coalition in the new parliament.

Following their first election since the defeat of Islamic rule, Iraqi citizens have had to wait four months before their new government was confirmed yesterday.

The new parliament is set to rebuild the country after three years of war against Islamic state militants, and improve relations between both Iran and the United States .

Many of Nepal’s hospitals have been closed since Sunday, as doctors protest the recent criminalisation of medical negligence.

Health workers halted all services, except for emergency and intensive care, after a new criminal code detailed jail sentences of up to five years for the death of a patient due to negligence.

Nepal Medical Association President Mukti Ram Shrestha says his colleagues will resign en masse if the government fails to amend the laws, or arrests the protesters.

Globally endangered hammerhead sharks are under further threat by commercial killing in Queensland.

Former environment Minister Josh Frydenberg tabled an amendment to reinstate the targeted fishing of hammerheads within the Great Barrier Reef.

Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson is expected to introduce a motion against the legislation in the senate this week.

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.