Australian Cricket captain Steve Smith has been suspended by the ICC for one Test and fined his entire match fee over the ball-tampering scandal.

The punishment came after both Smith and vice-captain David Warner were stood down from their positions for the remainder of the third Test against South Africa.

Bancroft has also been fined 75 per cent of his match fee and issued three demerit points.

At least 37 people have died in a fire in a shopping mall in the Siberian city of Kemerovo, Russia.

News agencies said more than 100 people were evacuated from the complex, which contains cinemas, restaurants and shops.

There was no immediate indication of the cause of the fire. Kemerovo is a coal-producing region 3,600 kilometres east of Moscow.

Former leader of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, has been detained in Germany, according to his lawyers.

Puigdemont was held after crossing the border from Denmark to Belgium, after a European arrest warrant was recently reactivated against him.

Mr Puigdemont had been living in self-imposed exile in Belgium since last October's banned referendum that backed Catalonia's bid for secession from Spain.

An Australian dog food brand has voluntarily recalled some of their products after numerous dogs fell ill with megaesophagus.

Mars Petcare Australia says that the recall is a “precaution”, urging customers to return all Advance Dermocare dry food three, eight and fifteen kilogram bags for a full refund.

The recall came about after dogs with megaesophagus had been euthanized in Victoria and South Australia with the brand stating they will work to get to the bottom of the issue as soon as they can.

A new report by the Grattan Institute says Queensland and New South Wales have been hit hard with energy grid costs.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s chairman Rod Sims says the main reason customers' electricity bills have gone up is due to higher network costs, a fact which is not widely recognised.

Childcare employees from across the state are expected to take action this week as part of a national campaign for better pay.

The move comes after the unions lost a major five year equal pay case with the Fair Work Commission in February, where they had applied for a 35 per cent pay rise.

The unions say some early education workers are being paid as little as $21 an hour and hoped the strike highlight the need for a pay rise to match workers’ abilities and qualifications.

A mysterious purple aurora over the night skies of Canada nicknamed “Steve” has baffled scientists and physicists.