Queensland Police have posted a $250,000 reward to try and break open an unusual missing persons case that has baffled investigators for six years.

Jason John Vance was last seen on October 24, 2013 in the Barakula State Forest, about 280km northwest of Brisbane, where it is believed he walked off into the forest and did not return while on a camping trip with two friends. 

Two devastated families have paid tribute to a young couple who fell to their deaths from a waterfall in far north Queensland.

Sherei Anderson, 32, and Simon Walker, 24, were reported missing in the Cairns area yesterday after failing to turn up to their respective jobs after a camping trip.

Their bodies were found yesterday afternoon at Kearney Falls in Gordonvale, where police believe the couple slipped and fell to their deaths after climbing the steep falls, which were closed at the time.

Turkish forces in northern Syria have detained a sister of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State group who was recently killed in a US raid, a senior Turkish official said on Tuesday.

The Turkish official said the 65-year-old woman known as Rasmiya Awad, is suspected of being affiliated with the extremist group, and is currently being interrogated.

Drug cartel gunmen have ambushed 3 SUV’s along a dirt road in northern Mexico on Monday, slaughtering at least three women and six children, two of which were 8-month-old twins.

All nine people involved in the day time attack were US citizens, and belonged to the extended Mexican-American LeBaron family, members of a breakaway Mormon community that settled in northern Mexico's hills and plains decades ago.

Documents detailing serious complaints about mistreatment and abuse of children with a disability by teaching staff, have been obtained by a disability advocate group under a Freedom of Information request.

Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA) CEO Mary Sayers, says that reports of physical and sexual abuse across state insitutions were among complaints obtained by the organisaiton, as a Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability begins in Townsville this week.

Academics have warned that changes to competition law to shut down environmental boycotts could breach constitutional principles of freedom of political communication.

Professor Graham Orr from the University of Queensland has accused the Government of trying to target climate protests under the guise of market law.

Attorney General Christian Porter says that his proposed new laws, are designed to stop activist groups from promoting consumer boycotts against companies who have links to mining corporations

More than 50 people are suffering from gastroenteritis at southeast Queensland’s Tangalooma Resort on Moreton Island, after E. coli bacteria was found in drinking water.

As more tests are being done on the underground aquifer, free bottled water is currently being provided to guests at the resort.

Management of the resort is now working with Brisbane City Council and Queensland Health to investigate the causes of contamination.

Guides at Carnarvon National Park fear that visitors may soon fall to their deaths, as they step over safety barriers at the gorge and risk their lives to get photos for social media.

The Department of Environment and Science (DES)  said there have been four helicopter rescues and eight ground rescues from the park in 2019 alone.

A DES spokesperson says that it has responded to visitors’ dangerous acts by issuing infringement notices and applying a fine of $400 for ignoring the safety signage.