A report by the OECD suggests Australian school students from disadvantaged backgrounds are less academically resilient than disadvantaged students in other countries.

Just 28.6 percent of disadvantaged Australian students are reaching the threshold for ‘success skills’ needed later in life, as measured by Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests, compared to Finland and Canada, where almost 40 percent of underprivileged students achieved these success skills.

The African National Congress, South Africa’s majority party  decided to postpone a meeting which was expected to decide President Jacob Zuma’s future

This comes after continually pressure on Mr Zuma to resign from his post due to allegations of misconduct which date back to 2005.

Earlier, South African parliament decided to postpone the “State of the Nation” address which was due to be held on Thursday; however it was cancelled because of calls for disruption according to the Speaker of the National Assembly.

A powerful earthquake has struck 20km off the east coast of Taiwan, killing two people and injuring more than one hundred.

The earthquake, measuring 6.4 on the Richter Scale, occurred at 11.50pm local time, on the second anniversary of a previous earthquake in Taiwan which killed 117 people.

Reports say the quake was also felt in the capital Tapei, which is situated more than 160km away from the earthquake’s epicentre.

Cane toads are being trialled as a deterrent to prevent goannas from raiding loggerhead turtle nests at Wreck Rock beach near Agnes Water.

Turtle Care volunteers Nev and Bev McLachlan, were among the first to discover that goannas avoid cane toads, so they placed them on top of the turtle nests.

University of Queensland researcher David Booth, believes the cane toad deterrent could be the next step toward implementing an active avoidance mechanism, permanently keeping goannas from disturbing up to 400 nests a year.

Travelling with Queensland go-cards might become simpler as part of a major public transport upgrade with the 10-year-old go-card system set to receive major improvements.

In Queensland, the new card and smartphone scheme aims to introduce new tap-and-go bank card and smartphone payment services, to be trialled initially on Brisbane's Airtrain service before then being adopted throughout the state.

It is hoped that phasing out go-cards will streamline payments and allow commuters to travel with one less travel card.

University of New South Wales professor Matthew England has warned of the hidden threat contained in Antarctica if climate change persists.

At an international conference in Sydney yesterday, England said up to 15 metres of ice will melt into the ocean over the next few centuries, making many of the world’s coasts unviable and displacing tens of millions of people.

The Australian stock market has opened to sharp falls this morning after the Dow Jones dropped by more than 4.6 percent overnight in its worst daily percentage fall since 2011.

Within the first hour of opening, the ASX decreased in value by $52 billion, with the Australian dollar slipping below 79 US cents.

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison downplayed the fall, saying the fall was to be expected and is a recalibration of the market.