Two Brisbane massage parlours have been hit with more than $100,000 in penalties for failing to back-pay two massage therapists thousands of dollars.

The operator of the Brisbane City Thai Massage and Day Spa and Heavenly Asian Massage parlours in Brisbane's CBD was penalised $97,000 in the Federal Circuit Court this week.

A worldwide search to try to find the best companies to build Brisbane’s tunnels and metro vehicles is about to start.

Brisbane City Council is progressing with its $944 million Brisbane Metro, first announced in 2016, with plans to take the project to the market within weeks.

The council has said it wants a 25-metre-long metro vehicle that can carry 150 people, has Wi-Fi and can run through underground tunnels at the Cultural Centre and Adelaide Street.

Finally, in the UK, Prime Minister Theresa May has held off a revolt of Conservative MP’s, passing the EU (Withdrawal) Bill.

Peers in the House of Lords have accepted amendments to the bill sent from the House of Commons. Rebel MP’s had wanted the ability to reject a ‘No deal Brexit’.

Before the Commons vote, Dominic Grieve, leader of the would-be rebels, wanted to ensure MPs had the power to stop the UK leaving without a deal.

The New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has gone into labour with her first child at an Auckland hospital, early this morning.

The  New Zealand PM will be the second elected leader to give birth in modern times. Asked by reporters on how the couple had been faring on choosing a name, Ardern responded: “Terribly. Do you have any suggestions?”

One Nation Leader, Pauline Hanson has told the ABC this morning her party of two senators would support the entire three stage, seven year plan.

Senator Hanson has conceded that the reforms are a gamble, having previously argued that the third stage was unaffordable.

The third stage does not become law until the financial year 2024-25, six years away. She hopes that the government can “get the budget back on track”

Staff at the Baptist Church Op Shop in Vincentia, on the South Coast, were going through an anonymous donation when they discovered two timeless pieces of art.

Someone recognised the artist’s signature, Marian Ellis Rowan, and, after some Googling, they realised they had found national treasures.

The small watercolour paintings, Flowers on the banks of the lake and Ducks in the lake, are almost 110 years old.

Services will be temporarily cancelled from a ferry terminal in Brisbane's west so a multimillion-dollar upgrade can be completed.

A development application for the upgrade to the 1996-constructed Guyatt Park ferry terminal was lodged on Monday.

Brisbane City Council has been gradually upgrading its terminals to meet disability standards and increase flood resilience following the 2011 floods.

The maximum penalties for driving offences which cause death or grievous bodily harm have been increased under laws passed by the State Government.

The laws closely follow community outrage over the sentence handed down in December to the man who fatally struck Camp Hill woman Yasmin McAllister.

The driver, who pleaded guilty to one charge of careless driving, was handed a three-month wholly suspended prison sentence and allowed back on the road in six months.