Paul Ryan, speaker of the United States House of Representatives, has announced he won’t stand for reelection in the November midterms, making him the 39th house republican to step down since President Trump took office.

Number 40 followed an hour after Mr Ryan’s announcement, with Florida’s Dennis Ross also revealing his plans to retire.

Ryan said he wants to spend more time with his family and feels he has accomplished most of what he set out to achieve in the role, referring to the tax reform package he helped legislate late last year.

The state-run newspaper Global Light of Myanmar has reported that seven members of the Myanmar army have been sentenced to 10 years jail with hard labor for killing 10 Rohingya men last year.

An internal investigation was carried out by the country’s military following the discovery of the bodies of the 10 men in a mass grave in Inn Din, a village in western Rakhine State in September 2017.

Malcolm Turnbull will today visit the Latrobe Valley in Victoria’s coal mining region to further encourage energy company AGL to sell their coal-fired Liddell power station in NSW.

Despite Mr Turnbull’s push, AGL Energy CEO Andy Vesey has continued to resist government pressure to sell Liddell, saying the decision to keep the plant was rigorous and was the right step for the company.

The Department of Primary Industries says 10% of New South Wales is in drought with a further 20% of NSWs heading towards being drought declared as seasonal conditions deteriorate.

Grazier Tom McGuiness has 25,000 sheep to feed on Bigga Station which he said is costing him $10,000 a week in grain purchases due to the dry conditions but says commodity prices for wool, lamb and mutton remain high giving him confidence to make a profit without having to reduce his flock.

Brisbane XXXX brewery workers walked off the job for a second time yesterday, striking in protest of the casualisation of their workforce.

The United Voice union, which represents the workers, claims owner Lion Beer is planning on creating a cheaper workforce by employing contract staff at a lower pay rate through a third party.

United Voice spokesperson Damien Davie said the union has met with XXXX representatives but is yet to agree on the use of contract staff, which is permitted under their agreement during seasonal periods.

Queensland is again bracing for another horror flu season, with some areas in the South East already recording nearly a 40 percent spike in cases.

Brisbane’s north, Logan and the Redlands are home to most influenza cases, up 12 to 15 percent on the same time last year, while the Gold Coast has seen the biggest increase of 38 percent with 419 cases so far this year.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been grilled by US lawmakers for a second day in a row, repeating his apology from the first session and revealing his own data was scraped by an app.

Mr Zuckerberg also conceded regulation of social media is “inevitable” as the internet grows “in importance around the world in people's lives.”

Mr Zuckerberg defended the platform, though, saying people are “proactively” choosing to share their data when they post information to Facebook and this provides a “control… every time.”

U.S President Donald Trump has warned Russian of the consequences of shooting down any missiles in Syria.

In a recent tweet he tells Russia to ‘get ready’ for ‘nice and new and smart’ missiles and the country ‘shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it’ after Russia vowed to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria.