Journalists overnight have become the latest targets for the Taliban’s brutality with reports of family members of a Deutsche Welle reporter being killed and others severely injured.

The German public broadcaster said the Taliban fighters were searching homes in Western Afghanistan for the reporter and will not reveal any more details about the family members.

Deutsche Welle said the reporter himself is safe in Germany where he was already based for work.

Farmers are seeing troubling signs that the mouse plague that devastated regional communities earlier this year could surge again, in perhaps a bigger and more widespread way.

The mouse plague was halted in wintertime as the pests stop breeding, their high numbers going into the colder months means exponentially higher numbers coming into spring. 

And with that comes mice ravaging themselves on grain canola and other vegetation while breeding at an extraordinary pace.

A trend emerging out of south east Queensland is seeing the humble backyard shed transformed from a storage solution into a recreation getaway amidst frequent lockdowns.

Dubbed the "She Shed" by some, a play on the term "Man Cave", the trend has led to an enormous growth of four hundred and fifty percent in the past twelve months.  

Qantas has announced it is making COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for all staff.

Qantas boss Alan Joyce had called on the federal government to mandate the jab for the aviation industry but is not waiting for it to move.

Mandatory jabs are increasingly becoming a global standard and Mr Joyce expects more Australian companies to adopt it.

Qantas will grant exemptions for employees who provide documented medical proof as to why they cannot be vaccinated.

Archaeologists in the ancient city of Pompeii have discovered a remarkably well-preserved skeleton during excavations of a tomb that also shed light on the cultural life of the city before it was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in AD 79.

A skull bearing tufts of white hair and part of an ear, as well as bones and fabric fragments, were found in the tomb in the necropolis of Porta Sarno, an area not yet open to the public that is located in the east of Pompeii's urban centre.

The discovery is unusual since most adults were cremated at the time.

A Queensland man who was drunk and vaping on board a Jetstar flight to Hobart has avoided a conviction for offensive and disorderly conduct on a plane and abusing and threatening police.

Prior to getting on the plane, the rowdy passenger had drunk so much that he had no recollection of even boarding the flight. The 27-year-old paid the total of a $4,000 fine but recorded no conviction against him.

Since the incident the passenger has been remorseful and made a full commitment to ceasing his drinking habits completely.

Discount supermarket Aldi is doubling down on its "Good Different" strategy, committing to a permanent price drop to 10 per cent of products sold in its everyday grocery range.

The German-owned supermarket announced this morning it was committing to reducing the prices on family staples such as free-range eggs, tasty cheese and mince.

Price reductions on these products would be as high as 30 per cent and come in the wake of in-house research that showed one in five Australians have felt they could not afford their weekly grocery shop.

Over the last 12 months, first home buyers have claimed a significant share of the market, as low interest rates and incentives have created opportunities for Australians to own their own homes.

In Brisbane, it’s cheaper to buy a house than rent in the city’s outer suburbs including Logan, Bald Hills, Redbank Plains, Redcliffe and Caboolture.

But when it comes to units, opportunities where it’s cheaper to buy than rent are found within a 3km radius of the CBD, including areas such as Brisbane City, Fortitude Valley, Spring Hill, and South Brisbane.

Carers of teenagers with disabilities say their Centrelink payments are being cut off and that some parents are going without support for months while paperwork is assessed.

The federal government requires people who are receiving the carer allowances to transfer it to an adult payment when their child turns 16.

Carers have to complete a tedious process of submitting forms that prove their child's identity, detail their caring routine, their child's disability, behaviour and submit a new medical report from the child's treating health professional.

A Griffith University-led study using a new tool to determine chemical exposure limits for marine animals found three out of four green turtle populations risk harmful effects from cadmium.

In collaboration with universities located in the Netherlands, Germany, and the University of Queensland, researchers have developed a virtual turtle model to simulate cadmium uptake and its effects over a turtles’ lifetime.­­

The model was used to reveal at what concentration cadmium in their primary food source, seagrass, is potentially toxic.