The 2018 Brisbane Festival kicking off on the 8th of September has released its program, fulfilling Brisbane’s desire for contemporary music and spectacle.

This year the festival has introduced the “River of Light”, a water fountain light and laser show taking place three times a night.

Artists such as Violent Soho, Ball Park Music and Eskimo Joe are also featured throughout the festival.

With Riverfire closing the 21 day celebration as the longest firework display in Australia, welcoming almost 500,000 spectators last year.

Mental health disorders are four to seven times more common for Indigenous adults compared to other Australians, according to research from the University of Queensland.

The school’s Director of Indigenous Health, Dr Maree Toombs, said the results exceeded expectations with disorders broken down into three groups - mood, anxiety and substance abuse disorders.

The contribution of mental health issues to the indigenous health gap and mortality rates have been dramatically underestimated, according to research fellow Professor Geoff Nicholson.

Victoria’s recycling system is to be provided with an extra $37 million in an effort to reduce the amount of recyclable material ending up in landfill.

This decision is set to alleviate the backlog of recyclable material left after China imposed strict contamination thresholds on recyclable material.

Victorian Environment minister Lily D’Ambrosio says the plan will create a more stable and productive recycling sector and improve the quality of recycled materials.

Two Darwin properties have been destroyed in a blaze, with 15 affected as fire crews prepare for further difficult fire conditions.

Water Bombing aircrafts were called in yesterday afternoon as the blaze stretched across 160 hectares of land along Darwin River.

Senior Fire Control Officer John Fischer reported further infrastructure had been damaged and livestock killed.

The blaze is now controlled but not yet extinguished.  

Protestors gathered across Poland on Monday in response to a new law which will force forty percent of Supreme Court Justices to retire.

The law, which reduces the age of retirement for justices, will allow President Andrzej Duda (Andrei Doo-da) to fill the vacant seats.

Organisers say the Supreme Court is another victim of the Law and Justice Party’s assaults on democracy, which began the night they were elected.

Sri Lanka have begun shifting its naval base to a port built and controlled by China.

Powerhouse governments across the world have expressed concerns China may utilise the port as a naval base.

Sri Lanka and China governments have denied any ties, with the contract explicitly stating the base cannot be used for military purposes.

A Thai soccer team were found alive nine days after being trapped in a cave during floods.

The rescues teams must now assess whether to wait for the water to recede or to teach the twelve boys and their coach to use basic diving gear.

The group’s medical condition remains unclear.

Australia will no longer provide direct aid to the Palestinian Authority.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says the funding was cut with aims to prevent politically motivated violence.

The 10 million dollars of aid Australia sends to Palestine will now be directed through the United Nations.