The blind-box market is worth billions of dollars per year, and the most successful players in this industry thrive on loyal fans, social media and some clever marketing tactics.

CRITICS of data-retention laws say the French terror ­attacks support their claim that the reforms could not protect Australians.

Wests Tigers host the Titans in Campbelltown and the Cowboys welcome the Broncos to Townsville, after the Knights get past the Raiders in Wagga Wagga. Follow our ScoreCentre for all the live scores and stats.

A free and accessible coronavirus vaccination program has been key to Australia's chart out of the pandemic, but some patients say they have been asked to attend paid appointments before accessing the vaccine.

Nick Kyrgios is determined to keep calling out poor behaviour from Novak Djokovic, saying no other tennis players have been holding the world number one to account.

Taylor Swift has been handed a secret weapon other celebrities can only dream about: the right to censor comments about her on social media.

DEADLY riots on Manus Island were “eminently foreseeable’’, a Senate inquiry has found.

The latest advice from the Bureau of Meteorology is that the low is expected to develop into a tropical cyclone, to be called Lucas, on Wednesday. A severe weather warning has been issued for damaging winds and "squally" rain bands.

Standard & Poor’s has said that the budget must be brought back into surplus or risk losing the coveted AAA rating.

THE Foreign Minister has said she is confident a draft text will be agreed to at protracted climate talks in Lima.

AN apologetic Coles faces penalties of up to $10m and has offered refunds after admitting to unconscionable treatment of supermarket suppliers.

FEDERAL Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce has told banks to stop throwing drought-stricken farmers off their pro­perties.

Just before America’s worst mass shooting, Kevin West, a regular at Pulse nightclub, recognised the man in front of him.

THE doubling of budget deficits to $100bn shows up the Abbott government’s “cheap and silly games” in opposition, Labor says.

University of Melbourne researchers have found rates of self-harm among asylum seekers as high as 260 per 1,000 people on Nauru, but say unreported rates are unknown and they expect the real figures to be much higher.

Friends said Tareq Kamleh appeared to more fundamental in his views over the course of 2014, AFP document says.

The New Zealand Warriors and Newcastle Knights meet at Central Coast Stadium. Later, the Gold Coast Titans host the Brisbane Broncos at Robina. Follow our ScoreCentre for all the live scores and stats.

It's time for Collingwood's must-win game against the Kangaroos at Docklands, after the S Saints' win over he Suns on a  jam-packed Saturday of AFL. Follow our live AFL ScoreCentre for all the scores, stats and results.

AUSTRALIA’S most senior Catholic cleric has proclaimed that families are more likely than priests to abuse children.

TONY Abbott’s decision to redirect money saved from his PPL scheme to childcare has won the endorsement of Early Childhood Australia.

AUSTRALIA’S newest cricket captain, Steve Smith, has no plans to change the system he inherited from Michael Clarke.

THE PM is “infuriated” that legal aid resources are being used to challenge laws amid concerns over Man Haron Monis’s High Court fight.

THE “handmaiden” of a yoga master was raped with a loaded shotgun and forced to drink his urine, an inquiry has heard.

FOLLOW our rolling updates from the first day of the second Test against India at The Gabba in Brisbane. LIVE COVERAGE

QUEENSLAND’S minor parties and independents are meeting today to “harvest’’ preferences.