European Court of Human Rights is demanding the immediate release of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny saying his life is at risk in prison. 

Mr Navalny was arrested upon returning from Germany last month, where he spent five months recovering from nerve-agent poisoning.

Several Western countries are warning failure to release Navalny would mark a breach of human rights convention, and that sanctions could be placed against Russia over the case.

Italy’s new Prime Minister Mario Draghi made his first address to the Senate on Wednesday.

The PM announced his intentions of speeding up vaccinations and reforming education, healthcare, tax and public administration. 

The PM says his first duty is to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and safeguard Italian citizens.

Documents are revealing the state-owned company implementing the National Broadband Network paid its staff and executives tens of millions in personal bonuses last year. 

The NBN Co paid its 6000 staff and executives $77 million in bonuses from July to December last year with taxpayer money, including $4.3 million for top executives.

It is a massive increase from the previous financial year's bonus payments which reached just over $43 million. 

Residents in Brisbane south are protesting a plan to move a waste and recycling facility's driveway closer to a nearby school.

The Acacia Ridge Advocacy Group was created in 2018 to fight the development of the Watson Resource Recovery facility next to Watson Road State School.

The group argues the plan would lead to heavy vehicles using the same road as parents, students and staff and fears it could lead to dangerous accidents.

The development application for the facility is still under assessment.

Grasshoppers have eaten entire rural paddocks in western Queensland in a matter of weeks. 

This marks the third year in a row that the insects have decimated the area around Winton. 

Winton Shire Mayor Gavin Baskett called for a concerted effort between state and federal governments to "come up with a resolution", stating the issue is becoming wider each year.

A Brisbane beekeeper has created a map for the public to locate African tulip trees in an attempt to weed out the plant, which kills native bees.

African tulip trees are toxic to native stingless bees and crowd out native vegetation.

Hobbyist beekeeper Phil Baskerville says you can find the map on Google Maps under 'African Tulip Tree' and wants people to drop a pin on every tree they identify.

Although Brisbane City Council stopped planting the trees 20 years ago, Mr Baskerville says they are "quite prevalent across fairly Brisbane old suburbs".

Overcrowded prisons in the Northern Territory are at a “critical tipping point” says the head of the state’s parole board.

Prison numbers were more than 10 per cent above capacity for most of 2019, said chair of the NT Parole Board, Justice Southwood. 

Almost 85 per cent of the NT prison population is Aboriginal.

"The operation of the two correctional centres in the Northern Territory is reaching a critical tipping point," said Justice Southwood.