The floodgates to Townsville’s Ross River dam opened overnight causing floodwaters to rise rapidly and inundate several hundred homes.

Two policemen were trapped assisting others to evacuate as the dam released 200 cubic meters of water per second, with waters expected to peak at 11am this morning.

Over 1000 residents are currently residing in emergency shelters as rain continues to fall today.

Brisbane will receive a new $12 million dollar studio fit for small film and television productions as Queensland premier Anastacia Palaszcuk attempts to position the state as a “film-friendly” location.

Ms Palaszcuk made the announcement in Hollywood after meeting with executives from Netflix, Technicolour, Disney and Brisbane-based production house Hoodlum.

A man has been charged with threatening a woman with a knife at Brisbane Airport on Saturday night, causing the international terminal to be shut down.

The 50-year-old Surfers Paradise man has been charged with one count each of violating a domestic violence order, stalking with a weapon, stealing and serious police assault.

Police at the scene fired non-lethal shots at the man at around 9pm, at which point he surrendered to the police.

The man will appear in Brisbane magistrates court today.

An endangered Queensland bird is at risk of extinction because environmental legislation is failing to protect its habitat, according to a University of Queensland-led study.

Researchers found that despite the protection laws, extensive finch habitat loss has continued to be approved resulting in an 80% reduction in the distribution of the southern black-throated finch’s population.

A university student has narrowly escaped serious injury after being hit in the head by a collapsing roof whilst at the gym in far north Queensland.

The alarming incident comes as Townsville has been declared a disaster zone as huge rains have caused major flooding.

The rains where heavy enough to cause a landslide in the CBD yesterday, leaving weirs and dams overflowing.

January was Australia’s hottest month since records began according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

The average mean temperature across the country was above 30C for the first time.

A senior climatologist at the bureau, Andrew Watkins, says January's hear was unprecedented: “we saw heatwave conditions affect large parts of the country through most of the month, with records broken for both duration and also individual daily extremes”.

India's unemployment rate is the highest it has been since the 1970s, according to a leaked government jobs report.

The unemployment rate is particularly high among people between 15 and 29 particularly in urban India where 18.7% of men and 27.2% of women in this age group are looking for jobs.

Just months before the next Indian general election, job creation and promises of new employment opportunity is likely to be a big issue with voter.

A report into toxic workplace culture within the ACT Health has revealed rampant bullying, favouritism and lack of skills development among staff.

Commissioned by ACT Government, the review found ACT Health’s most senior executives had failed to manage a series of misconduct and bullying complaints.

The report surveyed more than 350 staff, 200 of which alleged bullying in the workplace had not been addressed.

Heavy snow is sweeping eastwards across the UK, disrupting travel and leaving around 100 drivers stuck on a major trunk road in cornwall.

The South West is worst affected - with teenage students at one college in Bodmin having to stay there overnight.

The freezing weather is moving across southern England and Wales, affecting Wiltshire, Hampshire, Sussex and Kent.