Victoria is set to open its first new mine in over a decade.

Despite promising to bring new jobs to one of the highest areas of unemployment in the state, local groups are concerned about the mine’s reuse of a dam that previously leaked acidic water.

Victorian National Parks Association spokesman Phil Ingamells said the development is a disappointing and concerning move.

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will resign Federal Parliament effective from this Friday, following his ousting as leader of the Liberal Party last week.

In a meeting with senior Liberal colleagues, he stated he will leave his seat of Wentworth in eastern Sydney, causing a by-election which could see the Liberals lose this seat.

Those in the running for the seat for Wentworth include former diplomat Dave Sharma, and sister of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Christine Foster.

A UN report is calling for the prosecution of Myanmar military chiefs following the mass killings and gang rapes of Muslim Rohingya with “genocidal intent”.

The report also blames the country’s leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner (Ong San Su Ki) Aung San Suu Kyi, for failing to protect minorities, particularly in the (Rahine) Rakhine State.

Ms Suu Kyi’s government has rejected these allegations.

Plans to build a multi-use port on Manus Island have garnered concerns that China may seek to gain a strategic foothold in the Pacific Island.

With China’s high levels of foreign investment in the country, Australian defence experts worry co-financing this multi-million dollar project will catch PNG in a so-called ‘debt trap’.

Manus Island community leader Ron Knight said China is ‘breathing down the neck of PNG, like Sri Lanka’, where the government was forced to surrender a major port after it was unable to service it’s $1.1 billion debt.

Vietnam is currently demanding that the US company Monsanto pay compensation to the victims of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War. The nerve agent was supplied to the military by Monsanto, with over 12 million gallons of the chemical sprayed throughout Vietnam during the war.

A spokesperson for Vietnam’s foreign ministry, has outlined the consequences still faced to this day as a result of the toxic chemicals.

The United Nations refugee agency has called for Europe to establish procedures for the proper disembarkation of people rescued while trying to reach the continent.

This comes after the UN declares the Mediterranean Sea standoff as over, after the Italian Coast Guard ship “Dicotti”  docked in Catania on Sunday morning.

Les Perelman and Walt Haney, two US professors claim that the nation-wide NAPLAN test is considered ‘limited use’ to teachers, students and parents.

The professors suggest that implementing a diagnostic assessment, which involves testing students on specific curriculum would be more efficient, and to deem the NAPLAN test irrelevant.

The Australian Curriculum and Assessment Authority however, assured the community that the test had merit.

The latest published Newspoll shows Federal Opposition leader Bill Shorten is ahead in a two-party preferred poll for Prime Minister.

The poll shows the Labor Party at 56% to 44% towards the Liberal National Party.

Newly elected Prime Minister Scott Morrison is also seen as falling behind Shorten as preferred leader, with Morrison on 33% compared to Shorten’s 39%, taking an 11 point downfall after Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s deposition.

A statistic by the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety Queensland has revealed that over 30 people are hospitalised for every one death on Australian roads.

The road toll is said to be larger than previously thought, with the Centre documenting that between 50 to 60,000 people are seriously injured each year in crashes in Australia.

The study also revealed that there are many more injuries than there are fatalities, with road trauma costing Australia up to $70m a day.