A fire has broken out at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation building in Hobart.

The blaze began at around 8:15am this morning, and four firefighter crews are now at the scene.

A HAZMAT crew, responsible for protecting the community from hazardous materials, are on their way to the fire.

Proposed changes to the law will see that Queenslanders who leave their dog in the car could face jail time and large fines.

The state government wants to amend existing laws to make it clear that leaving a dog in a car that could get too hot is an offence.

The changes would mean that people would be charged with animal cruelty in cases where animals are harmed or when people are breaching their duty of care - even when no heat stress has actually suffered.

Fire authorities are warning thunderstorms with the risk of lightning strikes might spark new fires through the Darling Downs this afternoon.

Wind gusts of up to 100 kilometres per hour are expected to fan existing fires, and lightning strikes could set tinder-dry grazing land alight.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Assistant Commissioner John Bolger says crews are “well set up” for the expected conditions.

School strikes are planned in 120 countries across the world to demand action on the climate crisis.

The strikes will ensue on Friday 20 September, days before the United Nations climate summit in the US.

1.5 million activists marched in a similar global day of action earlier this year, but the cause has gained considerable support from unions, workers and companies since.

Students in almost 100 locations across Australia are set to participate on Friday.

Investigations have begun over the birth of three children with hand deformities at a hospital in western Germany.

Between June and the beginning of September this year, the multiple occurrences of children with one-sided deformities have been called “striking” by the hospital.

“We have not seen deformities of this kind for many years,” they said. 

A midwife from the western German city of Cologne says “one midwife came across one case in her whole career”. 

“Three in three months is not normal,” she said.

Fiji’s prime minister is urging Australia to reconsider its heavy coal use, as Pacific communities are currently facing a climate crisis.

Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama spoke to the Australian Defence College yesterday and said Australia’s coal use is the “greatest threat to [their] security in the Pacific…”

He said it “not only [causes] extreme weather events like Winston, but the rising seas and changes to agriculture and fisheries... threaten [their] food security and [their] livelihoods.”

Federal Parliament has passed new laws banning websites and social media sites from inciting users to trespass on farms.

Earlier in the year, a website published the details of thousands of Australian farms, raising privacy concerns when a string of animal activists trespassed on farms and encouraged others to do the same.

As a result, the Coalition promised to implement these laws, with Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie saying that farmers should feel safe at home and at work.

When an aged care facility in Peregian Springs realised they didn’t have the resources to evacuate safely from the fires burning recently, firefighters surrounded the building and formed a protective front for the facility.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) chief superintendent says that they were originally going to evacuate, but discovered that their crew were needed on the fire ground.

The former Mayor of Ipswich, Paul Pisasale, has been charged with over a dozen crimes, including fraud, official corruption, perjury and sexual assault.

Sexual assault was allegedly committed twice by the 68-year-old in 2016, while he was mayor.

The Brisbane Magistrates Court held his committal hearing, where he was accused of “dishonestly applying” a $10,000 cheque meant for charity, among other crimes.