Prosecutors have dropped environmental offence charges against former executives of Linc Energy.

The charges were relating to contaminating the area around the company’s coal gasification site near Chinchilla.

Environmental group Lock the Gate said the decision to drop charges is devastating.

Spokesperson Ellie Smith said they hope the legislation is tightened after this incident.

A new public holiday long weekend has been set in October for the Ekka after being cancelled due to lockdowns in September. 

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said that the reinstatement of the Ekka holiday would encourage people to support local tourism businesses during holiday break. 

Ms Palaszczuk said ‘If you’re at home and you’re thinking about taking the family away, come and support the Gold Coast.”

The new date is set for Friday, October 29.

Members of an Afghan refugee advocacy service in Adelaide called on Australia to take in 20,000 refugees who were seeking protection as the Taliban further encroaches the region as the US exit continues. 

The Australian government told ABC News it was considering increasing the number of Afghans into Australia as refugees, but sources suggested that it will not increase the cap of thirteen and a half thousand for humanitarian arrivals. Australia’s humanitarian intake was reduced by 5000 places in 2020 following the coronavirus pandemic.

Rescue workers in Haiti were in a desperate rush to locate survivors of an earthquake which had struck the country on Saturday. The magnitude 7.2 quake has claimed at least 1,400 lives with the number missing still unknown.

Now Tropical Depression Grace was expected to pass over the entire coast of Haiti and neighbouring Dominican Republic.

The disasters further piled on problems plaguing the Caribbean nation, with a political crisis following the assassination of its president last month.

A team of scientists from Queensland Museum have discovered five new species of spiders in the Brisbane region.

All five are variations of golden trapdoor spider, and they range from inner Brisbane out to the Hinterlands.

Co-author Dr Michael Rix says identifying these species is the first step in conserving them.

Tweed Mayor Chris Cherry has called for the Queensland-New South Wales border to be moved south as border restrictions once again come into effect this week.

Mr Cherry said sixteen thousand people cross the border every day.

Now workers may have trouble accessing their regular routes unless they have received their first COVID-19 vaccine.

Down Under Submarines has unveiled a multimillion-dollar yellow submarine on the Sunshine Coast.

The SUBCAT-30 is the first tourist submarine of its type in Australia. It carries 27 passengers and will descend to 30m deep, giving passengers views of underwater marine life. Currently skippers are in training to helm the Subcat-30. 

Down Under Submarines founder Alexey Alexeenko, hopes preparation will be complete for submarine tours in September.

Researchers have found that the first wave of COVID-19 restrictions greatly impacted the ways Australians use drugs.

The wastewater study, led by the University of South Australia, found that cannabis use spiked, while methamphetamine use dropped significantly.

Associate Professor Cobus Gerber of the University of South Australia said that the drop in ice usage can be attributed to disrupted supply lines, whereas locally produced cannabis was still accessible.

Investigators launched a probe into the source of poisoned horse meat which has killed at least 20 dogs in Victoria. 

Horse meat from an outback Northern Territory knackery used to make dog food made its way into Melbourne stores, and investigations continued while waiting on results from testing centres.

Victoria's meat safety watchdog, PrimeSafe, urged dog owners to check the source of their pet meat amid concerns some of the toxic meat could still be on sale.