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.

Image: Aussie Farms

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.

Indonesian police say they have arrested 185 people suspected of starting forest fires affecting Southeast Asia.

National police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said suspects could serve a maximum of 10 years in prison for setting fires to clear land.

23 people were tried last week, while 45 will be tried later this month.

Investigations will continue for the rest.

An attack on Saudi Arabia that has sent oil prices soaring worldwide was carried out with Iranian weapons, says Saudi officials.

The strikes eliminated half of the country’s oil capacity, and five per cent of the world’s oil capacity.

President Donald Trump says Washington is “locked and loaded depending on verification” for a response.