Three young soccer players who were trapped with other team members for almost three weeks in a cave in northern Thailand were granted Thai citizenship on Wednesday along with their 25-year-old coach.

All four had been stateless, and their lack of citizenship deprived them of some basic benefits and rights, including the ability to travel outside of Chiang Rai, the northern province where they live.

The area is home to ethnic minorities with roots in neighbouring Myanmar.

More than three years after category 4 Cyclone Lam smashed into an Arnhem Land community, some residents are still waiting for their homes to be rebuilt.

Asbestos soil contamination has delayed rebuilds by at least six months, according to Kaye Thurlow, the Galiwin'ku's community representative on the East Arnhem Regional Council.

"Just in the last 12 months one lot of contractors discovered there was residual asbestos lying around in some of the locations where old houses had been demolished," she said.

More than 2000 Queenslanders went to hospital emergency departments for help with splinters over the past six months, and more than 1600 for bruises.

Thirty-three people also presented for help with acne, and 13 for hiccups.

The new data has prompted a reminder from Queensland Health that "the emergency department is not the place for these things".

After more than three months of planning and rehearsing, more than 120 people with disabilities from across South East Queensland have taken to the stage in the Sunshine Coast’s annual Battle of the Bands.

It is the Endeavour Foundation's fifth annual event, which includes participants from service providers, schools
and bands where the majority of band members have a disability.

This year's event was the biggest yet with 13 bands coming from Brisbane's southside, Ipswich, Gympie, Caboolture and across the Sunshine Coast.

A herd of 70 cattle had to be euthanised after a crash between their transport truck and a sedan yesterday on the Dawson Highway.

The woman, the sole occupant of the sedan, was pronounced dead at the scene, and the male driver of the truck was also treated for minor injuries.

The Forensic Crash Unit has says they are further investigating the incident.

Argentina's legislators are due to vote on whether to legalise abortion amid fiercely polarised campaigns for and against the proposed bill.

Tuesday's vote comes a week after the Senate approved the text for the bill that was originally passed by Congress' lower house in June by the narrowest of margins.

The proposed legislation would allow abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy and beyond that in cases where the
foetus suffers from conditions not compatible with life outside the womb.

A Brazilian federal appeals court judge has overturned a ruling barring Venezuelan migrants fleeing economic and political turmoil from entering Brazil.

Appeals court judge Kassio Marques acknowledged "grave violations of the public and judicial order," but overturned the lower court's ruling, saying the closure would not improve humanitarian conditions for refugees.

Sky News boss Greg Byrnes knew convicted racist Blair Cottrell was set to be interviewed on The Adam Giles Show and even gave the segment the green light.

The former news director has told staff he gave former Northern Territory chief minister Adam Giles the go-ahead to interview Cottrell because he thought his controversial views would be challenged on-air.

History is being made in Western Australia's Kimberley, as the first commercial cotton crop is picked since the collapse of the industry in the 1970s.

While there have been several failed attempts to re-establish cotton in the Ord Valley, this time around the industry is gaining momentum.

The general manager of the Ord Stage 2 developer Kimberley Agricultural Investment, Jim Englke, said there had been skepticism in the past about broad-scale cropping in northern Australia.