UN says scores of Ethiopians drown on boat en route to Yemen

46 Ethiopians have drowned and 16 are missing after a human smuggler's boat carrying at least 100 refugees capsized as it approached Yemen.

The vessel left the port of Bossasso in Somalia on Tuesday with 83 men and 17 women on board.

The International Organisation for Migration director of operations and emergencies, Mohammad Abdiker, said the Gulf of Aden's migration tragedy was shameful.

“They are treated appallingly and go through horrendous conditions. This has to end," he said.

Queensland government is still considering upgrading Adani road

The Queensland government is considering funding a multi-million dollar access road for the Adani Carmichael mine, despite insisting no taxpayer funds would be used to prop up the project.

A Right to Information request revealed thousands of pages of documents relating to potential state government funding of the upgrade of the Elgin-Moray and Moray-Carmichael roads.

The pages were recorded as "official discussions" about Cabinet Budget Review Committee deliberations, while others were redacted because the matter was still being negotiated.

Victorian Parliament to vote on Australia's first Aboriginal treaty

The Lower House of Victoria’s Parliament is scheduled to vote in favour of negotiating Australia’s first Aboriginal treaty.

Thirty years since former prime minister Bob Hawke promised a treaty, Aboriginal leaders urged the Federal Government to reignite the idea.

Aboriginal Victorians said such an agreement could be a watershed moment.

Janine Coombs, chair of the Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations said a treaty would be "for the future generations."

Solar power surge is flooding the grid

The rising number of solar rooftop installations is creating concerns that too much energy is flooding into the electricity grid, and could cause blackouts as the system struggles to control the excess power.

"Solar spill", when high levels of energy are generated by rooftop installations in the middle of the day when demand is low, is becoming a problem for Australia’s electricity networks, according to Andrew Dillon from Energy Networks Australia.

Local welfare protest

A protest is scheduled in the Federal region of Hinker against debit cards, which control payments received by those on welfare.

The program is currently in a trial phase to gather data about benefits of putting welfare receivers on managed income.

Locals are gathering in Hervey Bay on Sunday the 16th of June at Boat Harbour Drive to protest against the planned roll out of the trial program in the region.

Organisers claim that it violates human rights, and causes suffering and humiliation for those put on the program.

Man's partner left him only her ashes

An Auckland man feels "betrayed" after his partner of almost 30 years died and left him only her ashes.

A decision in the Auckland High Court ordered that Steven Moon be paid $300, 000 from the estate of his former partner, Mary Doyle.

Their relationship lasted for 27 years with Doyle describing the pair as "friends" in legal documents.

Opposing counsel argued the two did not live together and had no shared assets.

Guatemala's Fuego volcano disaster

Authorities in Guatemala say the death toll from the Sunday's volcanic eruption has climbed to 75.

The national disaster agency has said 192 people are missing after the Fuego volcano erupted for the first time in more than four decades.

It is estimated that a total of about 1.7 million people have been affected.