Some passengers who survived the fiery crash of a Russian plane on Monday are believed to have held up the evacuation of the plane to grab their carry-on luggage.

The crash killed 41 people when the aircraft burst into flame after making an emergency landing shortly after take off.

The cause of the crash is currently unknown, but an agency spokeswoman says they are investigating bad weather, equipment failure, and inexperienced pilots as three main possibilities.

Michael Cohen has begun his prison sentence at a Federal Correctional Institute in New York State this morning.

Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer is serving a three-year sentence for financial crimes, arranging hush payments to alleged sexual assault victims, and for lying to Congress.

The minimum security prison has been described as “Jewish heaven”, with a full time Rabbi and access to a kosher food menu.

The president of the International Olympic Committee says he is “pretty impressed” with the feasibility of hosting the 2032 Olympic Games in South-East Queensland.

The committee were told that the operating costs for the event would essentially be free thanks to the contributions already proposed by the IOC and Australian governments.

For the second time in six months, Palm Island residents have been issued an emergency alert not to drink the tap water.

This comes in the wake of the installation of a $1.4 million water treatment plant for the region in 2017, which Palm Island Mayor Alf Lacey claims is already in need of repair.

Councillor Lacey believes the pipes in the community's reservoir are to blame for the recent discolouration, as they were installed in the 1970s.

Five prisoners have been returned to custody after a suspected mass drug overdose at the Capricornia Correctional Facility.

Paramedics were called in just after midday on Sunday, necessitating a full lockdown to get the affected prisoners to hospital.

Queensland Corrective Services has announced a two-year prison sentence is on the table for whoever is responsible for supplying the illicit substance. One prisoner remains in hospital.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten have agreed to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on the land destroyed by the 2002 Bali bombings.

The Bali Peace Park Association agreed on sale price of $4.9 million for the 700-square metre block of land, but now the site’s owners are demanding to be compensated for a restaurant project they intended to build on the land.

The Australian Government has already committed at least $3 million to the project, before factoring in the new claims for compensation.

A 7.2 magnitude earthquake has struck the east of Papua New Guinea this morning, 66 kilometres south-west of the town of Lae.

There have been no immediate reports of damage or injury, and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has announced there is no tsunami threat in wake of the quake.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has reported the tremor was felt as far as North Queensland.

More than 450 former US federal prosecutors have signed a statement asserting the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller would have led to multiple felony charges for obstruction of justice against Donald Trump if he wasn’t president.

The former prosecutors worked within Republican and Democratic administrations and present a strong rebuttal to the determination of Attorney General William Barr that the evidence was “not sufficient”.