Emergency services are at the scene of a serious crash in the Far North. A stretch of road in the Northland town of Moerewa has been closed and motorists are being asked to avoid the area if possible. A police spokesperson said…

A $600 python has been stolen from an Adelaide pet store, with staff pleading for its safe return.

It was just before 5pm on Friday when three people – two men and a woman – entered the Pet Stock store at Sefton Park.

CCTV shows one of the men and the woman wrenching open a snake enclosure before lifting about a baby albino python and stashing it in a bag.

READ MORE: Giant python seized from Victorian property

The woman then stole fish food out of the fridge, while the other man tucked a hundred-dollar dog brush under his jacket.

It all took just five minutes, and then the trio strode out the door.

Staff are now pleading for the safe return of the stolen two-month-old python – no questions asked.

"The way they put the snake in their bag, it could've crushed the snake and potentially caused serious harm and even death," store manager Bindi Stansfield said.

"The care and the welfare of the animal is what's most important to us," she said.

Police are now investigating.

Anybody who recognises the thieves is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

It wasn't the longest of border lockdowns, but the six weeks of separation between Queensland and Greater Sydney certainly sparked plenty of tears in Brisbane Airport today.

Cheryl Gale was overwhelmed as she hugged and kissed her grandson, after four failed attempts to reunite.

"Watching him grow up, it's just been really hard," she said.

Her daughter Charmaine was filled with anxiety that something else might go wrong.

"When I was coming through the gate I thought, 'oh my goodness, have I filled out everything? Is there anything else I need? Am I going to be turned away?'" she said.

The first flight from Sydney to Brisbane arrived at 6.30am, and 11 others were scheduled today.

Passengers arriving at Brisbane Airport said they were looking forward to reuniting with loved ones.

READ MORE: South Australia to reopen border to Greater Sydney

"I have a baby nephew so very fortunate the borders have opened up. He was born last night and I'm going to go and see him today," one traveller told 9News.

Work to dismantle blockades at road border crossings started last night, and is expected to be completed by early tomorrow.

The border reopening will also be welcome by the Queensland tourism industry that has been hard hit by the pandemic.

It is estimated that NSW residents will inject more than $350 million into the Queensland economy over the Easter break.

It is hoped that will go a long way in making up for what was lost over Christmas.

Gold Coast Police Chief Superintendent Mark Wheeler told Today border checks are being scaled back from this morning and traffic is moving freely.

"Traffic is flowing through fairly freely. On the M1 and Gold Coast Highway it is still under speed because we have concrete barriers in there.

LIVE UPDATES: Virgin offers flights from $75 in massive Queensland re-opening sale

"We will remove from 7pm tonight. But over all, things are working very smoothly."

Mr Wheeler said 170 officers deployed on border operations would be returning to front-line police duties.

But he said Queensland police are continuing to monitor airports after the Sunshine State became the first state to declare large parts of Western Australia a coronavirus hotspot yesterday.

It took the action after a Perth hotel security guard tested positive to COVID-19, with fears it could be the highly infectious UK strain.

"We will be scrutinising people as they come in. Anyone who comes to Queensland from Western Australia, anywhere from Western Australia, will require a border declaration pass," Mr Wheeler said.

Thousands of residents across Greater Sydney were shut out from entering the sunshine state, after two coronavirus clusters on the Northern Beaches and Berala, in the city's south-west, over Christmas.

READ MORE: UK imposes hotel quarantine for travellers from COVID-19 hotspots

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk made the decision last week after receiving advice from Chief Health Officer Jeanette Young.

Ms Palaszczuk has urged NSW and Victorian residents to visit the Sunshine State over the coming weeks and help tourist operators.

"They're really feeling at the moment. They had a good Christmas but now kids are back to school, so if anyone's down there in NSW or Victoria and you're thinking about having a holiday, come up to Cairns," she said.

EXPLAINED: Everything you need to know about the border changes across the country as WA enters a five-day lockdown

"Everyone is here, ready and willing to welcome you with open arms and a friendly smile."

North Korea's former acting ambassador to Kuwait believes Kim Jong Un will not give up his nuclear arsenal, but may be willing to negotiate an arms reduction for relief from the international sanctions crippling Pyongyang's economy.

In his first interview since defecting to the South more than a year ago, Ryu Hyeon-woo told CNN that "North Korea's nuclear power is directly linked to the stability of the regime" and Kim likely believes nuclear weapons are key to his survival.

READ MORE: North Korea parades new submarine-launched nuclear missile

Mr Hyeon-woo also said previous US administrations had boxed themselves into a corner by demanding denuclearisation up front in negotiations with the totalitarian state.

"The US can't back down from denuclearisation and Kim Jong Un cannot denuclearise," he said.

The former diplomat is one of several high-profile North Korean officials to defect in recent years.

The country's top diplomat in Italy fled to South Korea in 2019, and Thae Yong-ho, the former deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom, defected in 2016. Mr Yong-ho has since been elected to South Korea's National Assembly.

Mr Hyeon-woo and his family defected to South Korea in September 2019, but their actions were only made public last week.

Determined to give their teenage daughter a better life, Mr Hyeon-woo said he and his wife planned their escape for about a month while living in Kuwait.

He said if they had been caught, North Korean agents would have quickly taken them all back to Pyongyang for certain punishment, as defection is considered a major embarrassment to the Kim regime and is not taken lightly.

They finally told their daughter about the plan while pretending to drive her to school.

"Come with Mum and Dad to find freedom," Mr Hyeon-woo recalled telling his daughter.

"She was shocked, then said, 'Okay.' That's all she said."

Mr Hyeon-woo took his family to the South Korean embassy in Kuwait to claim asylum.

They traveled to South Korea several days later.

Defection from North Korea comes at a monumental cost

Defectors from North Korea must instantly sever ties from all family left in their home nation.

The regime often punishes nuclear and extended families of defectors to deter people from leaving, Mr Hyeon-woo said – especially diplomats.

Those posted abroad are often forced to leave a child at home as a hostage, ensuring their parents do not defect.

"I think that North Korea having such feudal collective familial punishment in the 21st century is appalling," Mr Hyeon-woo said.

READ MORE: North Korea slams Australia's human rights record – but they aren't alone

He is now worried about his three siblings and 83-year-old mother still in North Korea.

"I just want to see them live long," the former diplomat said.

"Any thought of them being punished for what I've done just hurts my heart."

He also worries for his wife's elderly parents living in Pyongyang.

Mr Hyeon-woo and his wife both came from North Korea's ruling elite.

His father-in-law ran Office 39, a branch of the North Korean government a former employee likened to a "slush fund" for the Kim family. Nominally, it is in charge of getting hard currency for the cash-strapped regime.

North Korea has long been accused of using its embassies as cash cows for the ruling Kim family.

Mr Hyeon-woo said that while he was a trained diplomat dealing with politics, there were also "economic trading workers" assigned to diplomatic posts.

They were given a quota on the amount of money they must make for the state, he added.

Kuwait was a particularly important revenue stream for Pyongyang, as the Persian Gulf nation used to employ about 10,000 North Korean laborers.

Those workers were allegedly treated like modern-day slaves, and experts say almost all of their earnings were funneled back to the government, paying for Kim regime priorities such as the nuclear program.

READ MORE: North Korea sets up big security headache for Biden

Mr Hyeon-woo said only China and Russia were bigger cash earners for the regime from North Korean laborers than the Gulf nations of Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE – at least until 2017, when the United Nations punished Pyongyang for its repeated missile and nuclear tests by barring nations from employing its workers.

"Due to the UN resolution, most laborers in the Gulf region left," he said.

Joe Biden and North Korea's 'nuclear issue'

Mr Hyeon-woo also was posted to Syria, a close ally of North Korea, from 2010 to 2013.

While charged with overseeing relations with Syrian politicians, his countrymen were selling conventional weapons to the Bashar al-Assad regime, including long-range multiple launcher artillery and anti-aircraft weapons systems.

However, Mr Hyeon-woo said the country's bloody civil war forced Pyongyang to pull its personnel from the country. He said he had not heard of any new weapons deals with the Syrians since leaving the country.

His experience in the Middle East gave him an up-close look at how the United States dealt with Iran's nuclear program during former President Barack Obama's administration. He believes that experience will come in handy for US President Joe Biden.

READ MORE: Joe Biden stops arms trade with Middle East

"Based on his experience resolving the Iranian nuclear issue, I have no doubt he'll be able to handle North Korea's nuclear issue wisely," Mr Hyeon-woo said.

He said he believed North Korea may be willing to negotiate a reduction in its nuclear weapons, but is unlikely to ever give them up entirely.

However, he said sanctions may have played a factor in pushing North Korea to the negotiating table in 2018, when Kim and former US President Donald Trump met for their historic summit in Singapore.

Many analysts believe Kim came to the negotiating table because he had already developed nuclear weapons and successfully tested a long-range missile that could reach United States territory.

"The current sanctions on North Korea are unprecedented and strong," Mr Hyeon-woo said.

"I think sanctions against North Korea should continue."

The former diplomat also said it is important not to abandon the issue of human rights, which was largely swept under the carpet during nuclear talks with the Trump administration.

Pyongyang claims to be a socialist paradise and denies allegations of gross human rights violations.

North Korea, however, does not allow freedom of speech or assembly, and citizens cannot leave.

Kim's regime is accused of running a system of gulags and political prison camps that house more than 120,000 men, women and children.

"Human rights is a matter of morality, and in the North Korean regime, the human rights issue is a sensitive and serious one," Mr Hyeon-woo said.

Looking back over the past 16 months, Mr Hyeon-woo says his only regret is what might happen to his remaining family members back in Pyongyang.

He and his wife believe they did the right thing for their daughter, by taking her away from her home country.

Mr Hyeon-woo told CNN he asked his daughter what she likes most about her new home.

"I like the fact that I can use the internet as much as I want," she replied.

The much-anticipated COVID-19 vaccine is almost ready to be rolled out across Australia, but with its arrival comes an array of questions.

The first to receive the jab will be anyone who lives or works in aged care, hotel quarantine or frontline health with vaccinations likely to begin this month.

Adults under 50 who are not essential workers or in high-risk settings will be last in line for the provisionally approved Pfizer vaccine.

For the full story and more questions answered, watch the video above.

Children are not yet able to receive the jab and it is not recommended for pregnant women.

Speculation around the safety of the vaccine has been rife, but the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) say it is safe, and will be carry out testing and monitor throughout the rollout.

Pfizer's vaccine is the only one so far approved for use here in Australia with about 10 million doses ordered, which presents a problem as everyone needs two jabs at least three weeks apart.

This leaves about five million Australians covered, meaning much of the general population is unlikely to get the Pfizer jab.

Most Australians will instead get the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab, which is being made in Melbourne for a deal of more than 50 million doses.

The side effects of the vaccine are understood to be short term and much like the flu vaccine.

People may feel fatigued or be prone to headaches and more than a third will have muscle pain and chills, while joint pain is also possible but less likely.

The Federal Government is hoping to have most – if not the entire population – vaccinated by October at no cost to recipients.

A court has heard how two young girls pleaded with a group of men to stop during an alleged violent attack in a Brisbane park.

Four men, who cannot be named for legal reasons, have been charged with drugging and sexually assaulting the girls, with each facing 40 offences in total, including 16 counts of rape.

Police say the girls met one of the men on social media application Snapchat, before meeting up with them on December 28 at Calamvale District Park.

There, police claim up to 10 men drugged and raped the girls before threatening them with a broken bottle.

Investigations by the Inala Child Protection Investigation Unit led to a 19-year-old Woodridge man and a 20-year-old Hillcrest man being charged.

The 19-year-old tried applying for bail today in the Brisbane Magistrates Court but it was formally refused.

"They were aware of their age," police prosecutor Senior Constable Min Hu told the bail hearing this morning.

"They seduced them with alcohol and drugs and raped them."

Senior Constable Hu claimed each rape occurred for "10 to 15 minutes" and described the alleged offences as "extreme" and "serious".

The 19-year-old's lawyer Bianca Van Heerden told the court her client didn't "deny knowing the two complainants" but said "he strongly denies any involvement".

Another two men, from Acacia Ridge and Runcorn, had their matters heard in the Richlands Magistrates Court this morning.

Each remained in the watchhouse, no application for bail was made and it was formally refused.

Another man fronted court on Saturday and remains in custody.

Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll was shocked to learn of the allegations.

"This is an absolutely sickening, sickening incident. And something those young girls will have to live with for the rest of their lives," she said.

She told media yesterday police investigations are still ongoing and expects more charges to be laid in the future.

Wherever you are in Australia, you can call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) for confidential information, counselling and support on sexual assault, domestic or family violence and abuse.

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Police are appealing to the public for information to help find a man who they say was involved in an early-morning Christchurch assault. Detective Senior Sergeant Nicola Reeves said a man punched another man in an unprovoked attack…

Kiwi teachers coming home from Covid-torn parts of the world have dramatically eased New Zealand’s teacher shortage as the new school year starts this week.The Ministry of Education says the number of teaching vacancies in primary…

A man has been resuscitated by fellow swimmers at a North Island swimming hole, after being pulled from the water unconscious. The TECT Rescue Helicopter was called in to help the man in his 20s, who was swimming at the Dickey Flat…

Police are investigating a shed fire and the killing of a horse in rural Hawke’s Bay as potentially gang-related incidents.Officers received a report of a horse, believed to have belonged to a gang member, that had been killed in…