A new double mutant variant of COVID-19 has been detected in India.

The variant has been found in more than 200 test samples in the hardest-hit western state of Maharashtra, which is home to Mumbai.

This discovery comes as India struggles with its highest rates of new infections and deaths this year.

A new legal clinic is aiming to calculate how many stateless people are living in Australia. 

Refugee advice and casework service solicitor Sarah Dale says babies being born in Australia to have the opportunity to end intergenerational statelessness. 

The program will focus on children living in a cycle of statelessness that are eligible for citizenship. 

The following story references indigenous deaths in custody. Readers discretion is advised. 

A Barkindji man has been confirmed as the fourth Indigenous person to die in Australian custody in three weeks.

Greens MP Amy MacMahon has proposed amendments to Queensland's consent laws, in Parliament today. 

Ms McMahon will propose an affirmative model of consent in law, and further, restrict the Mistake of Fact defence for sexual assaults. 

Koala safety shields are being trialled in Queensland. 

If the trial is successful, metal guards will be affixed to posts along the M1 motorway between Brisbane and Gold Coast to prevent the claws of koalas and other nocturnal wildlife from getting a grip on the poles. 

A skyscraper-sized container ship is blocking one of the world's busiest trade routes.

The Ever Given ran aground yesterday, and has become wedged across Egypt’s Suez Canal.

Dozens of vessels are waiting for rescue boats to free the 400m-long ship, which was knocked off course by strong winds.

Experts say an Icelandic volcano could continue to erupt for years.

Lava has been steadily seeping from the volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula, about 30 kilometres south-west of the capital, since it first erupted last Friday. 

The lava has been flowing at a rate of between 5 to 10 cubic metres per second, which is strong enough to ensure the lava does not solidify and close the fissure. 

Local Aboriginal groups will be a part of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, aiming to amplify regional voices. 

The Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Ken Wyatt, appointed Aboriginal leaders Marcia Langton and Tom Calma to lead design options for an Indigenous advisory board.

Recent rainfall has missed Brisbane’s main water supply catchment. 

While other catchments in the region were saturated, Wivenhoe Dam largely missed out on the rainfall and is at just 37 per cent capacity.

"So, that's only seen a rise of about 1 per cent in storage capacity over the past week," SEQ Water spokesperson Chris Owen said.