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South-east Queensland is expected to receive more rain over the coming days with the BoM warning of "life-threatening flash flooding" and potential landslides.

Locally intense pockets of rain are expected to bear down on already sodden and flooded catchments, with almost 20 flood warnings currently in place.

New emergency warnings have been issued in south-east Queensland as several communities battle major flooding.

An emergency alert has been issued for Gympie, already inundated by flooding with more "heavy to intense" rainfall on the way.

The Gympie Regional Council has issued a "watch and act" alert with residents urged to avoid driving where possible and to follow incoming warnings closely.

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Another emergency alert has been issued for the Scenic Rim Regional Council this afternoon.

"Multiple roads are currently being impacted by flooding and road closures are in place," a QFES warning read.

"Residents in the SRRC area are urged to plan ahead and prepare for conditions. If travel is essential, adhere to signage and drive to conditions."

Major flooding is affecting the towns of Laidley, in the Lockyer Valley, Warrill Creek and Warwick south-west of Brisbane as well as communities along the Logan and Macintyre Rivers.

READ MORE: Queenslanders devastated by second flood event in months

Warwick is completely cut off by floodwaters with the community braced for what could be the worst flooding in a decade.

The Condamine River is expected to peak at 8.2 metres between 6pm and 8pm tonight, higher than the 2011 floods.

Major flood warnings have also been issued for the upper Brisbane River and Stanley River with a minor flood warning for the lower Brisbane River.

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https://twitter.com/BOM_Qld/status/1524970420323360768

The wet weather event pummelling Queensland's south-east will "linger longer" than anticipated, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has warned.

"This is an evolving situation," a Bureau spokesperson said.

It was originally thought today would mark the "peak" of the weather system, which has caused chaos across Queensland's outback, far north and now the south.

Senior meteorologist Laura Boekel urged residents to keep up to date with BoM warnings as more heavy rainfall poses new risks for residents.

"These conditions, in combination with saturated catchments, will bring an increased risk of significant creek rises and dangerous and life-threatening flash-flooding with localised landslides also being possible," Boekel said.

Alerts are currently in effect across Gympie, Lockyer Valley, Warwick, Millmerran, Mount Tarampa, Minden, Patrick Estate, Stanthorpe, and the Scenic Rim.

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The Bureau said broad areas of the state received over 100mm of rain.

State Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said flooding is currently occurring in Gabbin and Laidley.

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Around 300 homes in Laidley, in Lockyer Valley, south-west of Brisbane, flooded this morning when a nearby creek burst its banks.

It's one of dozens of catchments spilling banks. The waterways of main concern are: Condamine River, Logan River, Bremer River and Warrill Creek.

A moderate flood warning is also in place for the upper Brisbane river, while the lower reaches have a minor flood risk.

A list of all current flood warnings can be found here.

Emergency sirens also rung out at nearby Grantham to urge residents to high ground as the "unseasonable" upper coast low barrelled south.

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https://twitter.com/JessMillward9/status/1524886564152971266

Despite the threat, Palaszczuk said the intense rainfall the state is currently experiencing is not as heavy as the previous flooding event in February, which caused multiple deaths and the destruction of homes.

"This rainfall is actually more sporadic, and not as heavy," Palaszczuk said.

"But we are still seeing some cases of flooding, and the river rising in particular areas.

"We are asking people where possible, if you don't need to be out on the roads, please don't travel unless you absolutely must."

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Minister Mark Ryan said despite it being an unusual time of year for a flooding event, emergency services remain prepared.

The rain has also forced the closure of many schools across the state and hazardous surf is pounding a large swathe of coastline from Fraser Coast down to the Gold Coast.

Town swallowed before people's eyes

Nine swiftwater rescues were conducted from 3pm yesterday into this morning and the SES has received 150 calls for assistance.

Multiple rescues unfolded in Laidley as residents became trapped inside homes in the town's south as waters rose rapidly.

Earlier this morning Laidley Creek broke its banks at Mulgowie and it's now threatening lives homes and businesses.

The town will be one of the hardest hit communities today, Senior Bureau forecaster Christie Johnson said.

There are eight evacuation centres opening there.

Locals spoke of their frustration to 9News reporter Jess Millward.

"I feel sad for the town. The town can't take it. The businesses, the people. It's sad. Still getting over the last one," one resident said.

Another said she was shocked at how fast the waters rose.

"Last night when I was looking at the cameras, it wasn't that high, she said.

"This is my first flood in Laidley so it is a little bit scary but I feel for the townspeople, the business owners and that."

The Grantham Siren was activated earlier this morning "to give residents time to move to higher ground" as saturated catchments spill over.

A number of schools are also closing across the state due to flooding. Up to date information can be accessed here.

The council have asked people in low-lying areas across the Lockyer Valley to leave this morning, ahead of official evacuation orders.

"In response to the most recent weather forecast, all residents in low-lying areas subject to flooding are being urged to self-evacuate," the local council said, adding waters are rising rapidly.

Heavy downpours will continue today, with forecasts predicting up to 200 mm across the Capricornia to the NSW border.

9News understands SES personnel are also door-knocking in Grantham to urge residents to move on.

'Terrifying': Emergency sirens ring out across Grantham

An emergency siren also rang out across the town, which resident Linda Godley branded "terrifying".

"We didn't have any sirens yesterday or the day before, so this is the first time we've had the sirens," she told Today.

"We don't know what's going to happen. You know we can't do this again.

"It's destroying our whole family. It's destroying everything, you know, you can't think, you can't sleep, we're so tired but you are to scared to sleep."

Colleges Crossing in Ipswich has also gone under, the second time it's been swallowed by floodwaters since February.

Earlier this morning Millward observed "water creeping up through the drains" in the CBD.

Images from Transport and Main Roads Queensland also show extensive flooding around Somerset Regional Council.

A hazardous surf warning is currently in place from the Fraser Coast down to the Gold Coast with the Bureau warning swells of more than three metres.

Old photos of beaches offer a nostalgic look back at the nation's ocean-loving past.

Every week we will break down, debunk and demystify your rights as a shopper in Australia. This week we are looking at what the 'no refund' sign exactly means.

We all know life is getting more expensive than ever before, and how important it is to stretch every dollar you make.

That's why each week we'll answer a question surrounding what shoppers are – and aren't entitled to when dealing with retailers and manufacturers.

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'NO REFUND' SIGN CONUNDRUM

I recently attended a discount warehouse sale of a major fashion brand that was selling all the leftover stock it had really cheaply in a temporary hall. At the checkouts they had a sign that said "no refunds allowed on sale items" as the sale is temporary.

I was wondering, are they allowed to do that?

The answer is a very simple no.

Signs saying "no refund" or "no refunds on sale items" are unlawful.

According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (the country's main consumer watchdog), these signs are illegal because they imply that it's not possible to get a refund under any circumstances.

Under Australian Consumer Law, when you buy a product or a service you are covered with an automatic guarantee that the product or service will work and will do what you asked for.

Retailers don't have to give you a refund or exchange if you change your mind. That's because they sold you a product that worked and was what you asked for.

But if the product is faulty, a retailer cannot refuse to give you a refund, repair or replacement just because they printed out a sign.

To use a quick example – say you bought a jacket from this discount warehouse sale. But when you get home, you find the zip is broken.

This fundamentally means the jacket is faulty and you have the right as a consumer to a repair, refund or replacement.

The information provided on this website is general in nature only and does not constitute personal financial advice. The information has been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any information on this website you should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs.

As he listened to his father die, the boy lay still on the asphalt. His elbow burned where a bullet had pierced him. His thumb stung from being grazed.

Another killing was in progress on a lonely street in Bucha, the community on the outskirts of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, where bodies of civilians are still being discovered weeks after Russian soldiers withdrew. Many had been shot in the head.

The 14-year-old Yura Nechyporenko was about to become one of them.

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Survivors have described soldiers firing guns near their feet or threatening them with grenades, only to be drawn away by a cooler-headed colleague.

But there was no one around to restrain the Russian soldier that day in March when Yura and his father, 47-year-old Ruslan, were biking down a tree-lined street.

They were on their way to visit vulnerable neighbours sheltering in basements and homes without electricity or running water. Their bikes were tied with white fabric, in a sign they travelled in peace.

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When the soldier stepped from a dirt path to challenge them, Yura and his father immediately stopped and raised their hands.

“What are you doing?” Yura remembers the soldier asking. The soldier didn’t give Yura’s father time to answer.

The boy heard two gunshots. His father fell, mouth open, already bleeding.

A shot hit Yura’s hand, and he fell, too. Another shot struck his elbow. He closed his eyes.

A final shot was fired.

READ MORE: Multiple rescues as Queensland town is 'completely swallowed by water'

Yura’s extraordinary account alleging an attempted killing by Russian soldiers stands out as international justice experts descend on Bucha, a centre of the horrors and possible war crimes in Ukraine.

More than 1,000 bodies have been found so far in Bucha and other communities around Kyiv. In Bucha alone, 31 children under the age of 18 were killed and 19 wounded, according to local authorities.

“All children were killed or injured deliberately, since the Russian soldiers deliberately shot at evacuating cars that had the signs ‘CHILDREN’ and white fabric tied to them, and they deliberately shot at the homes of civilians," the chief prosecutor of the Bucha region, Ruslan Kravchenko, told the AP.

The UN human rights office says at least 202 children across Ukraine have been killed in Russia’s invasion, and believes the real number to be considerably higher. The Ukrainian government's count is 217 children killed and over 390 wounded.

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The AP and Frontline, drawing from a variety of sources, have independently documented 21 attacks where children were killed that likely meet the definition of a war crime, ranging from the discovery of a child in a shallow grave in Borodyanka to the bombing of a theatre in Mariupol. The total number of child victims in the attacks is unknown, and the accounting represents just a fraction of potential war crimes.

Yura is a teenager growing into himself, spindly and spotted, with dark circles pressed under his eyes. Adulthood has been rushed upon him. As he lies on the floor of his family’s home to demonstrate what happened, he shows the healing holes in his elbow.

His mother, Alla, takes deep breaths to calm herself. Yura, sitting up, wraps an arm around her, then puts his head on her shoulder.

On that awful day, Yura survived the attempted killing by the awkward grace of that teenage constant, his grey hoodie. It was shot instead of him, and he felt it move.

Yura lay on the street for minutes afterward, waiting for the soldier to walk away.

Then Yura ran. He reached the kindergarten where his mother worked, and where some residents used the basement as a shelter. They were shocked to see the boy and gave him first aid.

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He realised he needed to go home. He returned to the streets, not knowing where the next soldier might be.

When he arrived home, his family called the police. The police said they could do nothing because they didn’t control the area, according to the family. The ambulance service said the same.

The police told the family that officers didn’t know what to do with the case, according to the boy’s uncle, Andriy. A prosecutor’s report describes the killing and attempted killing in a few bare sentences, including the loss of a mobile belonging to Yura's father. He would have been of help now — he'd been a lawyer.

Kravchenko told the AP that they continue to work on Yura’s case, and expressed confidence that crimes committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can be successfully investigated. Among other things, footage from dozens of surveillance cameras in Bucha is being analysed, and an identification album of Russian soldiers’ faces is being assembled.

In March, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced that investigations into crimes against children in particular will benefit from a new trust fund. Children account for half or more of those affected by conflict, but are often labelled as too vulnerable to testify or as having inaccurate memories, according to Veronique Aubert, the special adviser on crimes involving children to the prosecutor of the ICC.

Yura’s case is unusual.

“Prosecutors may want to take up this case because the victim is still alive and can potentially testify,” said Ryan Goodman, a law professor at New York University and former special counsel for the US Defence Department. “It may be difficult if not impossible for a defendant to claim they were somehow justified in trying to kill a child.”

It was left to Yura’s family to retrieve his father’s body.

They did it the following day. Yura's grandmother, who is in her 70s, pleaded with Russian soldiers to let her approach the body.

With their guns cocked, they let her walk ahead of them. Another soldier in the distance shouted, “Don’t come here or we’ll kill you.” But he didn’t fire.

They brought Yura's father home in a wheelbarrow. He was rolled in a carpet and placed on an old wooden door. Amid the sounds of shelling and gunfire, they buried him in the yard behind the woodshed, in one of many makeshift graves hurriedly dug during the monthlong Russian occupation.

Yura and his family left Bucha the next day along a rare evacuation corridor. The wounded boy walked first through the streets, holding a stick tied with a white towel, with a white sling around his arm. The family had to pass the scene of the shooting.

As they walked closer to the evacuation point, Russian soldiers asked where they were going. They asked what had happened to Yura.

“I was shot by a Russian soldier,” the boy replied.

At that, his mother was terrified. “I felt everything collapse inside me,” she recalled. “I thought they would shoot us all.”

She asked the soldiers to let them pass, saying it was getting late. They did.

The family left town that day.

The grey hoodie, bloodied at the elbow, is now the centrepiece of the family’s search for justice. The top seam of the loose fabric has been sliced. Yura’s mother insists that it's evidence and can't be thrown away.

The family returned to Bucha in mid-April, after the Russians withdrew. They dug up Yura’s father and buried him again in a local cemetery.

The boy’s family continues to play detective, scouring the area of the shooting for further evidence and theorising on the trajectory of bullets. They question neighbors and analyse holes in a metal fence.

As the family shows the AP the scene, Yura wanders in the grass beside the street, head down, looking for bullet casings. He is confident he could identify the Russian soldier, even though the soldier wore a balaclava over part of his face.

Yura will finish ninth grade this year, once electricity returns and he can resume online classes. Until then, he is volunteering like his father did, visiting older residents.

His mother is thinking of sending him overseas for the sake of his mental health. She needs some distance, too.

“I’m never alone physically, but it’s possible to be alone mentally,” she said, near tears. “I try to avoid this.”

Her son’s case is still a faint source of hope. There are courts and these courts will work, she believes. No one should go through what her son did.

Yura fears they already have.

“It’s not only me who wants justice,” he said. “People in Ukraine are still possibly being tortured and killed even now.”

Yura turned 15 on April 12. It was a quiet birthday. His father, a good cook, usually grilled to celebrate it.

On April 25, a day after Orthodox Easter, the family again gathered at the grave to mark 40 days after Ruslan’s death, by local custom. Food blessed by a priest in Bucha for Easter — dyed eggs, bread — was laid out along with homemade pickles, chocolate and wine. A plastic bag of food was hung on the wooden cross.

Yura stood apart, quietly lighting a candle and placing it on the grave. Then he pulled a hoodie, a black one, over his head to block the chill.

The boy’s uncle, Andriy, watches him closely these days. Yura has always been a good kid, but he's become edgy and restless, moving from one task to another. Andriy fears the trauma of surviving death will catch up with Yura and mourns his nephew's damaged childhood.

“This tears my soul apart,” said Andriy, in tears. “What we see is suffering after suffering … (Russian President Vladimir) Putin just decides to make us suffer, and we do.”

Frontline producer Tom Jennings contributed to this story.

A Tibet Airlines plane caught fire after skidding off the runway in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing on Thursday morning.

All 113 passengers and nine crew members were "evacuated safely," the airline said in a statement. More than 40 passengers with minor injuries were taken to hospital, according to a statement from the Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said 36 people suffered bruises and sprains during the evacuation.

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"According to the flight crew, the plane experienced an anomaly during takeoff. They stopped the takeoff following the procedures," the CAAC said.

"After the plane skidded off the runway, the engine scraped the ground and caught fire. (The fire) has been extinguished."

The flight was bound for Nyingchi in Tibet. Footage posted on Chinese social media shows flames engulfing the front of the aircraft and a plume of black smoke billowing in the sky. Another video shows passengers running from the airplane.

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The cause of the accident is under investigation and flight operations at the airport have returned to normal, the airport said.

The flight schedule shows the aircraft is an Airbus A319 that had been in service with the airline for nine and a half years.

The incident came less than two months after a China Eastern Airlines jetliner carrying 132 people crashed in the mountains of southern China's Guangxi region, killing everyone on board.

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash.

"Kamini balls", the street name for an illegal herbal drug which contains highly addictive opioids, often come packed inside small, harmless-looking glass bottles.

And if you know where to go, according to a team of Queensland researchers, there are grocery shops scattered throughout Australia's biggest cities selling Kamini from under the counter to people who are addicted to the drug and those who have no idea they're consuming opiates.

"The balls are kind of brownish, they're not formal-looking tablets we might expect to see from a reputable pharmaceutical source," Dr Jeremy Hayllar, from Alcohol and Drug Service, Metro North Health in Brisbane told 9news.com.au.

"They are literally round, grey-brown balls."

Hayllar is co-author of a just-released study, which investigated the problem in south-east Queensland.

Produced in India, and with a major active ingredient derived from the opium poppy, Kamini is covertly shipped across Australia's borders and distributed into Asian grocery stores across the country, the study claimed.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has prohibited Kamini, with a stark warning "these tablets pose a serious risk to your health and should not be taken".

Hayllar said grocery stores are illegally selling Kamini, and addiction to the illicit drug is a kind of invisible but "fairly widespread" problem in Australia.

A bottle of Kamini usually contains 40 balls, and some Queenslanders Hayllar encountered were swallowing 30 each day.

Hayllar said a 30-ball daily habit was the equivalent of taking a strong 60mg tablet of OxyContin, the notorious drug at the centre of America's pharmaceutical opioid crisis.

"It doesn't really matter which opioid is doing it, they all act on the same brain receptor," he explained.

"Once that brain receptor is getting its daily feed, if you like, if you try and take that away, the brain really does protest loudly."

It was the COVID-19 pandemic, which seriously throttled supply of Kamini into various stores across Queensland and drove prices up from $110 to $180 per bottle, that led to illegal product pinging the research team's radar.

During the pandemic, two Queenslanders in addiction who had been cut off from their Kamini sources sought help in opioid treatment centres.

They presented with typical opioid withdrawal signs which had been "difficult to explain", the study said, until the content of Kamini balls was determined.

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Hayllar said the team decided to check the records of 1500 patients at four public opioid treatment centres in south-east Queensland.

Cross-referenced, they found 10 more Kamini addicts.

The 12 patients were then interviewed, building a picture of Kamini use, addiction and distribution in south-east Queensland, and the peer-reviewed researched was published today in Drug & Alcohol Review.

Among other things, Kamini is pitched as a kind of sexual virility drug, curing erectile dysfunction, impotence and premature ejaculation.

Are you affected, or do you know more? Contact: ms**********@******om.au

But Hayllar said most Kamini addicts he came into contact with had no idea Kamini contained opioids, only that it might help them work longer, and relieve stress or pain.

There were common factors in the group of 12 people using the substance, Hayllar said.

Eleven were Indian men, with a median age of 32.

The only non-Indian was a woman, who was a spouse of one of the men.

Some of the group worked in the rideshare industry, a sector notorious for toiling long hours and synonymous with migrant workers.

On average, those in the group were using 15 balls a day, with each Kamini dose delivering roughly 3mg of morphine.

The heaviest users were swallowing dozens of balls daily, Hayllar said, with three men having 30-a-day habits.

"It's something people get stuck in and find very hard to escape from," he said.

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Despite Hayllar's suggestion illegal selling of Kamini is "fairly widespread" in Australian cities, especially among the Indian migrant community, a Queensland Police Service spokesperson told 9news.com.au they "have not identified this substance as a trend or issue".

The spokesperson said Queensland Police "encourage anyone with information on the supply of dangerous drugs" to contact law enforcement agencies.

Australian Federal Police declined to comment on Kamini or claims in the study.

But Hayllar told 9news.com.au he was aware of Kamini being sold in North Queensland, Perth, Sydney and New Zealand, reflecting a hidden illicit drug scene.

The study reported people taking Kamini saying the opioid is "readily available" in Brisbane and that Kamini balls are "widely used amongst their peers".

"We know there's lots of clandestine stuff that goes on," Hayllar said.

"Because it's an under the counter activity … it's hard to determine how common it is."

The quantity of Kamini being sold in Australia is unknown, the study reported, as is the number of Australians who have developed untreated opioid addictions.

Readers seeking support and information about drug and alcohol can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 or the National Alcohol and Other Drugs Hotline on 1800 250 015.