North and South Korea are in talks to create a joint women’s hockey team for next month’s Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, signalling the first ever unified Korean Olympic team.  

If approved by the International Olympic Committee, this would mark the third occasion for North and South Korea teaming up for sporting events.

The bilateral talks coincide with the first formal communications between the countries in two years, in which North Korea agreed to send an Olympic delegation and hold military talks aimed at reducing frontline hostility.

Four stars in our night sky have been formally recognised by their traditional Australian Aboriginal names, in a step by the International Astro nomical Union to recognise traditional language and indigenous starlore.

Normally, stars are named after the Bayer system, using a Greek letter and the Latin name for the constellation in which it is found.

Among the renamed stars is Ginan, the smallest star of the Southern Cross, as named by the Warda man people of northern Australia.

Drivers are spending more on road tolls annually than any other car-related stamp duty, according to Australia’s leading road toll operator.

Transurban revealed almost $2.7 billion is spent across 16 toll roads in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Marion Terrill, transport director at the Grattan Institute said money spent on toll roads are doing little to address congestion, as a majority of drivers still avoid tolls by taking a slightly longer trip.

The Sunshine Coast will host one of four community ice forums next month, along with Toowoomba, Townsville and Bundaberg, in a bid to reduce the current ice epidemic in Queensland.

The forum will allow community leaders to hear from those directly affected by the drug problem, which has impacted many communities across Queensland.

LNP Leader Deb Frecklington who will be attending the forums, said “ice has infiltrated our small towns and cities, destroying families and attacking the heart of many of our communities”.

Brisbane has become Australia’s most expensive city for faith based education, according to the newly released ‘ASG Planning for Education Index’

Brisbane faith-based education costs have risen to $11,000 above the national metropolitan average, making it the most expensive city for those wanting to attend any religious schools.

This follows a nationwide survey of more than 13,500 families which has found overall education costs to have risen 61 per cent over the past decade.

An elevated walkway collapse at the Indonesia Stock Exchange in Jakarta yesterday has injured 72 people.

Concrete, metal, and dust from the walkway reportedly fell onto the building’s lobby and its occupants.

Though the landmark building has been the target of terrorist attacks in the past, national police spokesman Setyo Wasisto said the floor collapse was not caused by a bomb.

Amnesty International has called for a unit in a Western Australia youth detention centre to close, after it was found two teenagers have been held in isolated cells for over 250 days.

Amnesty has warned the treatment of the detainees at the centre could be a breach of international law, and has been detrimental to the mental health of the teenagers.  

Amnesty International’s Indigenous rights manager, Tammy Solonec, said these findings “could amount to torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.”

53% of Australians want a sugar tax to be introduced on drinks, according to a poll conducted by The Guardian newspaper, after research found that the consumption of sugary drinks is causing serious health issues amongst young people.

The poll, released by The Guardian on Tuesday, found that 53% of the 1,038 respondents were in favour of a sugar tax, compared with 38% who were opposed and 10% who had no opinion.

Many Queensland rail commuters are struggling to cope with the summer heat, complaining the majority of South East Queensland trains are ill equipped to deal with high summer temperatures.

Many passengers have taken to social media to voice their concerns, with commuters calling upon Translink to update airconditioning on existing trains.

Problems with the air conditioning on the Indian-built trains were just one of many issues identified in March last year, when delivery of the new trains was halted.