The Federal Government is spending $220 million in subsidies to Optus and Telstra at more than 850 regional and remote sites across Australia.  

Towns such as Kalumburu, in regional Western Australia, have offered to accept the telecom roll-out and this will see mobile phone coverage in place of the town’s two public phone boxes.

Opinions in the community are mixed, with some residents saying it will improve daily life and connection and others suggesting children may become too focused on social media and texting.

American engineers are deploying a rubbish collection device to corral plastic litter floating between California and Hawaii in an attempt to clean up the world's largest garbage patch in the heart of the Pacific Ocean.

The 600-metre long floating boom is being towed from San Francisco to the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch' - an island of trash five times the size of Victoria, Australia.

At least 21 people have died in South Sudan when a small aircraft carrying passengers from Juba International Airport to the city of Yirol crashed into a lake.

The plane carried a total of 22 passengers, among them were three children.

One of the survivors, an Italian doctor working with an NGO, is in critical condition and undergoing surgery in Yirol Hospital according to State Information Minister Taban Abel. An eyewitness said bodies were recovered from the water.

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting a week of sunshine and warmth throughout Brisbane, Toowoomba and the Gold Coast Hinterland.

Warm springtime temperatures are expected after a weekend of light showers across certain regions of the state.

While there is a slight chance of showers on Thursday and Friday, it should stay sunny all week.

A Brisbane City Councillor has criticised Queensland’s current heritage protection laws, suggesting they are not properly enforced and leave chances for disaster.

Following the State Government’s stop order to prevent the Broadway Hotel from being demolished, Councillor Jonathan Sri said complaints he and constituents made to the Council and Government could have prevented the building’s blaze.

Labor will this morning attempt to refer Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to the High Court, regarding his eligibility as a Member of Parliament.

Doubts were raised under Section 44, due to the member being a beneficiary of a childcare centre run by Mr Dutton’s wife.

Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said Australia’s immigration system could be thrown into chaos if Mr Dutton is found  ineligible, as Dutton's decisions as Minister could face legal challenges. 

The New South Wales Liberal Party has been hit with a 29 percent swing against their primary vote in the Wagga-Wagga by-election, becoming the third largest swing against the party in state history.

Blame for the loss of the historically safe Liberal Seat is being put by the Party on the ousting of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last month, as well as allegations of corruption surrounding MP Daryl Maguire.

The New South Wales Premier also faced criticism from her Coalition partners, who said a Nationals candidate should have been allowed to contest the seat.

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day, urging Australian men to speak to their mates openly about mental health. 

Figures show suicide is the leading cause of death for men between the ages of 15 and 44. Instead of a minutes silence, Craig Martin from the Movember Foundation wants men to ask how their mates are doing.

If you or someone you know needs help, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

British backbencher Boris Johnson is in strife over comments on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plan, which likened the negotiations to ‘putting Britain in a suicide vest and handing the detonator to the European Union’.

Johnson’s comment, made in the Daily Mail, has been widely condemned by Government Ministers and colleagues, with Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan saying it’s the “most disgusting comment in modern British politics”.