There could soon be no excuse for performing an illegal U-turn with Brisbane City Council pushing to replace existing wordy signs with more visual signage.

Web crash data from the State Government shows crashes following dangerous U-turns have led to more than three deaths a year in the state.

The council’s infrastructure chairman Amanda Cooper said illegal U-turns were not only dangerous to the driver and other motorists but contributed to traffic congestion.

Water police have rescued four men from a sinking boat off the Gold Coast yesterday.

The men were found treading water after letting off an emergency flare, and were later treated for mild hypothermia.

PolAir and the Westpac Lifesaver Rescue helicopter aided in the rescue mission.

Police says it is not known if the failure was of structural or mechanical nature.

Police in Paris have begun dismantling Millennaire camp, the largest makeshift camp in the city which houses refugees in the French capital. 

Local authorities moved on Wednesday to clear out up to 1,500 people, mostly Africans from Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia, from the camp located in the cities north-east. 

The dawn operation is the 35th camp clearance in the French capital in the past three years.  

The Russian journalist who was supposedly murdered in Kiev is alive, revealing that his death was staged.

Former war correspondent and Putin critic Arkady Babchenko says he faked his death in collaboration with the Ukrainian security service to expose the Russian agents plotting his death.

Babchenko apologised to his friends and family, especially his wife, but there was no other way of doing it.

The Queensland and federal governments are being urged to step in as Torres Strait Island families move to higher ground to escape rising sea levels. 

On Iama Island, fears of being washed away have prompted some families to move from the heavily eroded beach, which local councilor Getano Lui says is creating “overcrowding.”

"I don't care what happens between the state and the Commonwealth, something needs to be done," Mr. Lui said.

Victorian MPs call for the banning of dowry abuse in Australia as the state prepares to introduce legislation against the practice. 

Federal Labor MP Julian Hill said the practice is completely inappropriate for modern Australia and perpetuates a culture of ownership of women.

Dowry-giving is a common practice amongst Hindu and Sikh communities, though made illegal in India in 1961.

Brisbane City Council has given the State Government a 10-year guarantee, that Brisbane Metro will not leave them out of pocket, with the service able to be funded with the existing transport budget.

Currently, every service is funded by Transport for Brisbane, which is majority state funding.

Public and active transport chairman Adrian Schrinner says the existing and projected Transport for Brisbane funding was enough to cover operating the sixty Metro vehicles expected to be running across the city by 2023.

Several left-turn-on red signs used to reduce congestion across the city will be removed for not complying with newly enforced road rules.

The 48 signs were gradually implemented since a successful trial in 2013, and were introduced to improve congestion and increased pedestrian safety on Brisbane’s roads.

The signs will be gradually removed in an effort to match Queensland’s signage rules with those of New South Wales.