California has become the first US state to mandate solar panels on new homes and apartment buildings, coming into effect on new buildings built after 1 January, 2020.

California state law requires that 50% of all electricity comes from non carbon-emitting sources by 2030 with nearly 16% of the state’s electricity already coming from solar.

The California Public Utilities Commission reported that California will likely meet the 2030 goal 10 years ahead of schedule.

A tanker containing over a dozen tonnes of liquid chocolate has flipped on one of Poland’s major highways; the driver survived with minor injuries, but the tanker’s contents spilled across all lanes of the road.

The chocolate spill presented a unique challenge to emergency services. “It congeals on the road and is worse than snow”, a fireman dispatched to the scene told a reporter.

Western Australia’s second Budget to be discussed today, is expected to continue increasing living costs for struggling households.

A 5.5 percent increase to water charges, an increase to the Emergency Services Levy for the creation of a Rural Fire Service and additional payments for landowners are just some of the expected outcomes from today’s budget.

A tourist taking photos beside tram tracks in Melbourne came shockingly close to death after a tram ‘rolled over her’.

Authorities say the 36-year-old woman was taking a photo on Victoria Parade, Abbotsford at 10:20pm last night, when she tripped onto the track and struck her head.

The front of the approaching tram rolled over the woman, trapping her, but not actually hitting her as it came to a screeching halt.

The woman was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital with minor injuries.

Police are searching for two Malaysia students, Weiqi Loh, 21, and Alan Selvakumaran, 22, missing from QUT Gardens Point campus.

The pair who were last seen at 2pm yesterday, were reported missing to police by family and information received last night indicates they the pair might be in the Southport area on the Gold Coast.

The pair are described as between 170 and 180cm tall with black hair, brown eyes and a slim builds.

Detectives are searching a Lockyer Valley property in relation to the disappearance and suspected murder of Sam Price-Purcell, who went missing from the Mitchelton area on February 16, 2015 at age 25.

A police spokesman said the people who live at the Helidon property had recently moved in and had no ties to the investigation.

Mr Price-Purcell was last seen getting into a bright yellow Holden Commodore and was believed to be travelling to the Toowoomba area, via Heildon.

Pakistan's parliament has passed a bill that protects transgender citizens’ right to self identify, to have their correct gender markers recorded on official documentation, to separate facilities in prisons and places of confinement, and to vote and run for elected office.

The bill also prohibits discrimination against transgender people in schools, workplaces, hospitals and public spaces.

More than 20 young women in the western city of Herat in Afghanistan have established themselves as computer experts building apps and websites through coding highlighting the untapped talent of girls in Afghanistan.

The all female team have produced a 2D game ‘Fight against opium’ which is an animated interpretation of the missions that Afghan soldiers undertake to destroy opium fields, fight drug lords and help farmers switch to growing saffron.

The Federal Government will now spend $5.7 million to support Indigenous people suffering from kidney failure, following campaigns from remote suffering patients to provide treatment centres outside capital cities.

The money spent will be used to provide more mobile dialysis treatment centres to those in remote areas of Australia as well as compensate for a new medicare item in the mobile treatments favour.