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.

Lead singer of rock group The Cranberries, Dolores O’Riordan, has died suddenly at the age of 46.

Millions of dollars will be offered to those who can come up with a radical new solution to save the Great Barrier Reef.

The Turnbull and Palaszczuk governments are set to announce the $2 million “innovation challenge” today, in a bid to protect the Reef and the 69,000 jobs that come under threat.

Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg, said this is an opportunity for some of our greatest scientific minds, innovators and business leaders, to develop a solution which will protect the coral and assist the recovery of the reef.

Tasmania’s only abortion clinic has closed following a decline in surgical terminations as a result of the combined efforts of contraception and early awareness.

Dr Paul Hyland has been the state's primary surgical abortion provider for 17 years, and named the cause for his centre’s closure as a rise in costs and drop in demand.

A Qatari royal claims he is being held against his will in the United Arab Emirates.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali Al Thani put out a video statement yesterday saying that he was a guest of Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, but was now a prisoner.

Majed al-Ansari, a professor at Qatar university stated the alleged imprisonment could be seen as part of a wider trend of behaviour by the UAE in dealing with powerful Arabian public figures.  

An oil tanker in the East China Sea has sunk after burning for over a week, and officials have confirmed that all 32 crew members have died.  

Chinese authorities claimed that there is currently no major oil slick, despite the tanker carrying 136,000 tonnes of ultra-light crude oil.

The tanker was transporting the oil from Iran to South Korea last week when it collided with the CF Crystal, a cargo ship whose crew were all successfully rescued.

A new educational show on the Gold Coast aims to help protect the oceans from plastic pollution.

The show coincides with the announcement that Sea World Marine Park, along with other Village Roadshow parks, will be phasing out single-use plastic bags this year.

Village Roadshow Theme Parks CEO, Clark Kirby says the “initiative will see the parks remove one-million single-use carry bags per year.”

There have been calls for the end of the use of unmarked, covert speed cameras after claims they are part of a scheme to raise government revenue.

Queensland Police Union President, Ian Leavers, said that “only a highly visible policing presence and marked speed camera vans, staffed by police are the way to address the road toll.”

During the 12 months ending in December 2017 there were 1,225 road deaths, a 5.3% drop from the previous year.