Tougher safety regulations have been implemented starting today for Queensland amusement rides and theme parks following the Dreamworld tragedy which claimed four lives.

New regulations will require major inspections of rides by qualified engineers every 10 years and improved training of ride operators.

Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace says the government is taking action to ensure tourists and the wider community have faith in the safety measures that are in place.

NASA is undertaking a “doomsday” exercise this week in preparation for the end of the world.

The purpose of the rehearsal, which began yesterday, is to ascertain what would happen in the event an asteroid does in fact hit the Earth and how survivors would react to a potential apocalypse as a result.

The drill has been named the Hypothetical Asteroid Impact Scenario and considers all possibilities of the event ranging from when the make-believe asteroid was initially discovered, its hypothetical orbit size, as well as potential hit zones across the world.

The first provisional step has been taken by the Trump administration towards protecting Giraffe’s under the Endangered Species Act.

This move comes as a result of legal pressure from environmental groups because the population of the World’s tallest land animal in Africa has declined by about 40 per cent in the past 30 years according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Traditional owners of the Doongmabulla springs are concerned for the safety of the sacred site as a result of Adani’s Carmichael mine.

The company has yet to prove the wetlands will not be affected, as experts warn the mine could cause the springs to dry up.

Spokesman for the local elders Adrian Burragubba says the springs are significant to his people because they are the only source of water in our country that is eternal and continues to be alive and give life.

A car has caught fire in a garage early this morning causing thick smoke to spread across Brisbane’s south-east.

Fire crews were called to the home in Carindale just after 6:30am and according to a fire service spokeswoman, the home was “smoke-logged”.

All residents were accounted for and the flames were extinguished just after 7am.

The Queensland government has spent $4 million on demountable classrooms in the last year, as the number of students enrolled full time in Queensland schools is up by 6.7 per cent since 2014.

LNP education spokesman Jarrod Bleijie accused the state government of not having a plan, while Education Minister Grace Grace pointed out that only a small percentage of Queensland’s 35,000 classrooms are in demountable buildings.

Ms Grace said $210 million will be spent on maintenance projects in schools this year.

The Queensland government has changed the penalty of feeding dingoes to be greater than $10,000 as a result of a toddler being dragged from a camper trailer on Fraser Island recently.

The maximum fine has been doubled and now stands at $10,444 while the minimum fine is $2088 which is five times more than what it was originally.

Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch says by the government increasing fines it will really reinforce to people who deliberately disturb or feed dingoes how dangerous the practice is.

In local news, a new street has been opened, running off Lytton Road with a new set of lights added.

The street will be named Kulpurum St which is the Indigenous name for Norman Park.

Councillor Jonathan Sri believes it’s really positive that the community was given a say as to the name of this street, that was on the basis of a suggestion from a local Aboriginal elder and it was great that residents voted for that option.