New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has returned to work after spending six weeks away on maternity leave.

Ms Ardern, 38, gave birth to her first child in June, making her only the second world leader to give birth while in office.

The prime minister had continued to read cabinet papers and was consulted on significant issues during her leave.

Ms Ardern, who was elected in October, announced in January that she and her partner were expecting.

The Ebola virus has struck again just one week after the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Health Ministry reported the end of the viral outbreak.

The latest outbreak was the 10th time that Ebola has surfaced in the country.

The health minister, Dr. Oly Ilunga Kalenga, said in a statement that the authorities had notified his ministry on Saturday of 26 suspected cases of Ebola, including the 20 deaths.

Samples from six survivors were analyzed on Tuesday and four tested positive for the virus.

Trains will run every six and a half minutes in Melbourne’s north-east, with the Andrews government promising to duplicate single sections of track running through marginal seats if it wins the November election.

For $530 million, Labor has promised to rebuild Greensborough station and add three kilometres of extra track between Greensborough and Montmorency.

It will be built in 2020 and finished by 2022, benefiting commuters in the marginal, Labor-held seats of Eltham and Yan Yean.

New data from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has shown almost two million Takata airbags still need replacing.

While 1.1 million faulty Takata airbags have been replaced over the past 12 months, ACCC chair Delia Rickard says 1.8 million vehicles still have the recalled airbags.

"The airbags degrade over time and can become lethal by misdeploying and firing metal shards at the car’s occupants,” Ms Rickard said.

Queensland's July rainfall was more than 70 per cent below the long-term average and the driest since 2014, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

Despite it being the middle of winter, July was a month with an average temperature nearly 2 degrees higher than the long-term average.

In the second half of the month, some locations reported their highest temperatures on record, including Gatton, Amberley and Archerfield airport.

From the November 1 this year, there will be 230 refund points across Queensland where you can collect 10 cents for each empty drink container you return.

The scheme will be run by not-for-profit group Container Exchange and funded by charging beverage manufacturers 10.2 cents for each container they produce.

The goal is to reduce litter and marine pollution, increase recycling rates, and boost business and fundraising opportunities for community groups.

US President Donald Trump has ramped up his attacks on the Russia investigation by demanding it end "right now".

In a series of tweets, he said Attorney General Jeff Sessions must halt the inquiry into alleged election meddling.

Trump also labelled special counsel Robert Mueller, who leads the probe, "totally conflicted".

His remarks are notable because he himself has previously acknowledged the US Department of Justice should be free from political interference.

Scientists in the UK believe 30m “rogue” waves could be why so many boats have been sunk in the mysterious Bermuda Triangle.

The infamous body of water in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean stretches over 700,000 square
kilometres between Florida, Bermuda and Puerto Rico, and has claimed more than 1000 lives over the past 100 years.

Appearing on the documentary The Bermuda Triangle Enigma, scientists used simulators to re-create the monster water surges.

Regional bank customers are heading to Parliament House to appeal to crossbench senators, making short pitches on their plight to support a bill to extend the time the royal commission spends on regional lending.

Just four farmers spoke at the banking royal commission's hearings into farming issues in Brisbane and Darwin last month.

Tanya Hargraves was not one of them.

She ended up losing her farm just outside Canberra, commercial properties and her business.