The first commercial flight since the US-led evacuation has left Kabul airport on route for Qatar.

The flight has instilled hope in people stranded in Afghanistan and has been marked as an important step in regaining some degree of ‘normality’.

Reportedly there were 113 passengers onboard, which included US, Canadian, Ukrainian, German, and British citizens.

Although there have been international flights from Afghanistan with officials onboard, this is the first civilian flight.

The Queensland Government has announced they will be investing in Queensland company Buildsafe as part of the state’s Covid-19 Economic Recovery Plan and to promote construction safety. 

Treasurer and Minister for Investment Cameron Dick said Queensland dwelling approvals are up thirty-seven percent since May 2020, generating high demand for the safety solutions provided by Buildsafe.

Mr Dick said the investment will generate up to forty jobs and backing Queensland businesses to innovate and grow is what the economic recovery plan is all about.

Queensland marine biologist and anti-plastic straw campaigner Nicole Nash said she is proud to have been made ‘redundant’ after the state government banned all single-use plastic.

Nash started the ‘Last Straw’ campaign back in 2016 and by 2019, Nash had over half a million plastic straws stored in a bedroom of her house. 

Over 5 years, Nash has prevented more than 20 million plastic straws from entering the ocean by consulting with Queensland businesses and collecting plastic straws from businesses that had phased them out.

The NSW Government has announced shires along the coast of Tweed Heads to Byron Bay and west to Moree Plains will have lockdown lifted from midnight tonight, despite Covid-19 being detected in sewage.

Queensland Premier Anastacia Palaszczuk has said she will wait until more details on the lockdown relaxation are announced before considering a border bubble, remaining concerned about the ongoing high infection rates in NSW.

Residents in parts of Northern NSW have been treated with a magical display of fireflies this spring, with thousands being seen on a single night.

The bioluminescent beetles have appeared earlier than usual this year with local resident Janine Howe putting it down to the warmer weather.

Mrs Howe said she has never seen so many in her 15 years in the area and with everything going on, it is a blessing to see.

Australians have expressed concern over the legality of Federal MP Craig Kelly’s mass-distributed text messages to Australians spreading Covid-19 vaccine misinformation.

Mr Kelly who is a member of Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party has sent two rounds of text messages urging Australians to follow a link to a ‘Vaccines Risk Adverse Events Report.’ 

Regulators have since responded to complaints by saying that not much can be done because the texts “do not appear to constitute advertising under the Act”. 

Australia and Indonesia have strengthened their military ties after both countries’ foreign and defence ministers engaged in security talks.

Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton said they’re looking at opening up Australian training areas for Indonesian troops to join regular training exercises as part of the deepening of the alliance.

He also said cadets from Indonesia's armed forces can expect to study at Australian defence education facilities.

The Queensland African Communities Council said it has “no confidence” in media regulator the Australian Press Council after it ruled a front page newspaper story labelling two African Australian women “enemies of the state” was not racist.

Responding to complaints made to the council, News Corp’s Courier-Mail denied responsibility for a torrent of racial vilification and death threats the women received after the story was published. 

Australian Artists Fear Shattered Arts and Creative Industry has been forgotten by the Australian Government.

An open letter to the Australian Government calling for a vital reform in the way that the Arts and Creative Industries is represented in the Federal Parliament of Australia has been left unanswered.