Regional authorities in Sicily recorded temperatures of 48.8 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, which if confirmed would be a new Italian and European record.

A spokesman for Italy's national meteorological service said the result still had to be validated.

Sicily's governor, Nello Musumeci, called for a state of emergency to be declared for the mountainous regions which have been battling fires. 

Southern Europe has experienced intense heatwaves and fires this summer and experts warn climate change increases the intensity and frequency of such extreme weather events.

A cargo ship broke into 2 pieces after running aground in a northern Japanese port.

The ship survived hitting the seabed, but suffered a crack which later widened and ultimately split the ship.

All 21 Chinese and Filipino crew members were safely rescued by the coast guard.

Officials said that they are still trying to clean up the oil spill from the 36,200 tonne carrier.

Sandgate and Hercules Road State School students were treated to a LEGO Masters competition during last week’s lockdown by local chaplain Nathan Grady with students building Olympic themed creations.

The competition is designed to boost the mental health of students while they grapple with the ever changing circumstances of the pandemic.

Mr Grady said his role and hosting fun activities is more important than ever right now, ensuring parents, teachers and students feel supported and know there are patient ears available to listen. 

Three tradies in training from the Australian Industry Trade College in Cleveland will represent Queensland at the WorldSkills Trade Olympics competition this month.

Brayde Turrall-Poulter, Levi Ehue, and Ryan Thomsen will be competing at the Alexandra Hills TAFE campus where they will be battling it out for a spot in the international level of the event.

The competition is a skills Olympics which showcases skills from more than 50 trades, and the international level will be hosted in Shanghai in 2022.

Moreton Bay Regional Council is fighting back against illegal dumpers who are costing ratepayers more than $6.5 million in clean-up fees every year.

Mayor Peter Flannery said last financial year there was 263 tonnes of waste illegally dumped.

That equates to roughly 7,000 wheelie bins worth of waste that includes hazardous waste like asbestos, which needs to be cleaned up and processed by Council at the cost of ratepayers.

Mr Flannery said the new state-funded technology, called the MicroPhazir Asbestos Analyser, is a game changer when combating illegal dumping.

Western Australia has joined the other states by introducing a law which will make protesting outside of abortion clinics illegal.

The law will allow for safe access zones for women accessing abortions and will prevent people from protesting within 150 metres of facilities that provide abortion services.

Family planning healthcare provider Marie Stopes says the new law will stop women facing harassment from protesters who spent almost 2,300 hours each year outside their clinic where even staff had also been targeted.

Researchers from QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and Indian Institute of Technology are in the early stages of using infrared scanning to detect who is at risk of developing severe Covid-19 symptoms.

The technique scans for different chemical groups in blood samples, and doctors hope this test could be a quick and cost-effective way of triaging patients at overwhelmed hospitals.

QIMR Associate Professor Michelle Hill says the 85 percent accuracy rate is good but says there is room for improvement.

The United States and the United Kingdom have announced their plans to evacuate staff from their embassies in Afghanistan amidst the Taliban advance in the country. 

Over the past week, the government has effectively lost control of most of north, south and west Afghanistan, and are now trying to retain their hold on the capital and a number of dwindling cities.

The Pentagon says they will be deploying 3,000 US troops within the next 24-48 hours, and the UK also says that they will send 600 of its own troops.