At least 17 people have died north-west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the Ebola virus being confirmed as the cause.

Health officials have confirmed that this is another outbreak of the Ebola virus, marking it as the 9th outbreak recorded in the DNC.

The health ministry said: “Our country is facing another epidemic of the Ebola virus, which constitutes an international public health emergency.

20 000 baby chickens were gassed at Brussels Airport as they were suffocating in a “baking-hot” cargo container.

After their flight to the Democratic Republic of Congo was cancelled, the exporter refused to take the chicks back.

A spokesperson for the Flemish animal welfare authority says the airport firefighters did not want kill them, so an independent team was called in to put the baby birds out of their misery.

Senators have warned that Indigenous rangers could be unfairly caught up in the Government’s crackdown on foreign political influence.

The Greens are calling on the Government to acknowledge that foreign influence legislation could cause problems for the Indigenous Rangers.

The rangers are partly funded by an American charitable trust which raises concerns that the proposed laws could harm this funding.

Beginning July 1st, a tax cut of $10 million for workers will begin under the new Turnbull government plan to win back middle Australia and prepare for an election.

The tax cut will take place over seven years and will create a single low rate of just 32.5 per cent for workers earning between $41,000 and $200,000 a year.

The overhaul is the centerpiece of a budget that forecasts a slim surplus of $2.2 billion in 2019-20.

The search for a Sunshine Coast man who is believed to have fallen off a fishing boat in Queensland has been called off.

The search for the thirty-five year old man began after it was reported he was missing from a 24-metre charter fishing vessel, the MV Night Crossing, on Sunday.

Queensland police were advised on Tuesday afternoon to suspend the search after expert advice indicated he couldn’t have survived that long in the water.

RSPCA Queensland say their wildlife carers are struggling to cope with the influx of injured animals and it’s Brisbane’s development and bushland destruction that is to blame.

Brisbane’s Wacol, Wildlife Hospital took in 21,000 native animals from 2016-2017, and they expect this year’s count to be much higher.

A spokesperson for the hospital said jobs in education and fundraising had to be cut to cope with the cost of treating injured animals.

In India, a second teenager has been raped and set on fire in the latest of violent crimes against women in the country.

The teenager is 17-year old female and is suffering from 70 per cent first-degree burns, whilst the police have arrested a 19-year old male for committing the crime.

The two cases have shone a light on the treatment of rape in India and are pressuring Indian authorities to act by changing the law to allow execution for child rapists.