Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has blamed the nation's devastating fires on climate change.

Intense blazes have forced evacuations across southern Greece, and the fire has threatened the power supply to parts of the capital after damaging the transmission network.

Firefighters are still battling the flames and trying to save a former royal palace and the birthplace of the ancient Olympics.

Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya took refuge in Poland on Wednesday after refusing to return to her homeland.

The athlete said her coaches were angry with her last Sunday for her criticism of Belarus and ordered her to pack and go to the airport. She refused to board a flight home and sought protection from Japanese police.

Poland is noted for being critical of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and the country has harboured many activists from Belarus.

Poland has granted the athlete and her husband humanitarian visas.

The design of a Brisbane train crossing where a woman was killed did not meet the Australian standard, a preliminary report by the transport safety bureau has found. 

A report released by Australian Transport revealed that the boom barrier at Lindum station did not extend to the edge of the traffic island leaving a 3.1m gap. According to the report, this meant “a normal road vehicle could turn right from Lindum Road on the correct side of the turn line and easily pass to the right of the lowered boom barrier (as occurred in the case of this accident)”

Redland City residents will be consulted on a City Plan amendment in the coming months that will deliver better designs for apartments and townhouses. 

The amendment comes after a review of dwelling outcomes since the current City Plan was actioned in 2018 and the community expressing strong views about the quality and location of residential growth in the city.

Councillor Wendy Boglary said this is a chance for the community’s voices to be heard and support the changes.

Employers in the Bundaberg Region may now be able to start claiming up to $20,000 under the Palaszczuk Government’s $140 million revitalised Back to Work program.

The program offers incentive payments for employers to take on jobseekers disadvantaged by various means and has already helped 1,700 people get jobs with 700 businesses in Bundaberg.

The government is being urged to state the use of any spyware in its intelligence gathering and to refuse to use surveillance products made by an Israeli security company.

Reports centred around software called Pegasus, produced by Israel’s NSO Group, which allows the user full remote access to a target’s smartphone.

Melbourne and Sydney citizens flee to Brisbane and regional areas due to the constant lockdowns only to be greeted with Queensland's first.

Melburnians are leaving the city and heading for cheaper housing and lockdown-free life in the state’s regions and other parts of the country as the coronavirus pandemic up-ends migration across the country.

A record net 11,800 people left the nation’s capital cities in the three months to the end of March, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Tuesday, with Sydney and Melbourne feeling the pandemic-fuelled drain.

The Indonesian navy and air force face renewed calls to cease invasive “virginity tests” for female recruits after the country’s army indicated it would abandon the decades-long practice.

Indonesia’s security forces have faced years of pressure to end the procedures, which they have defended as a way to select the best candidates. An Indonesian woman speaks of her shock at finding out the 'virginity test' needed to enter the military was to be conducted by a male doctor. 
 

CONTENT WARNING sexual harassment. 

United States President Joe Biden has called for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to resign after findings from a sexual harassment investigation.

State Attorney General Letitia James says that the 5-month independent investigation into Cuomo found that he sexually harassed 11 women and created a hostile work environment. 

Mr Cuomo said he was sorry if his behaviour was misunderstood by his accusers, but denied he had acted inappropriately and made clear he had no plans to resign.