Australia

The current record of 50.7 degrees was set in January 1960 in the outback town of Oodnadatta in South Australia.

Temperatures have been high over the weekend in Western Australia.

Forecasters say the extreme heat is expected to affect the rest of the country in the coming week, with temperatures likely to exceed 40 degrees in many areas from Wednesday.

Australian firefighters are struggling with out of control bush fires as hot and dry weather continues.

Total fire bans are in place for parts of New South Wales with 100 bush fires currently burning.

Pakistan were bowled out for 335 in their second innings as Australia wrapped up victory inside four days in Brisbane.

Despite Babar Azam's brilliant century and a 95-run knock from Mohammad Rizwan, Australia were not to be denied – paceman Josh Hazlewood leading the way with figures of 4-63.

Pakistan resumed on 64-3 and faced a heavy defeat after man of the match Marnus Labuschagne and David Warner put Australia in a dominant position at 580, in reply to Pakistan's first-innings 240.

That'll do it!

Pell was granted leave to appeal the verdict in the High Court of Australia.

The ex-Vatican treasurer, 78, is currently serving a six-year jail term for abusing two boys in a Melbourne cathedral in the 1990s.

He lost his first challenge against his convictions in August and has consistently maintained his innocence.

Pell is the most high-ranking Catholic official in the world to be convicted of child sexual abuse.

Scores of fires are still burning in New South Wales amid temperatures of 35C (95F) and winds of 80km/h (50mph).

A feared southerly wind change has now occurred but the "catastrophic" day feared has largely been avoided.

No deaths were reported on Tuesday but fire chiefs warned that conditions meant the dangers facing the state were far from over.

About six million people live in New South Wales (NSW) state.

The number of fires still afflicting NSW ranged from 100 to 300 in Australian media reports.

At least three people are dead and thousands have been displaced by three days of dangerous weather conditions in New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland.

But officials say the worst danger will come on Tuesday for areas around Sydney, the nation's largest city.

More than 120 bushfires are burning across the two states.

In NSW, the blazes have scorched 970,000 hectares of land and destroyed 150 houses. Nine homes have been razed in Queensland.

The announcement of a kava pilot programme was made as Australia's prime minister, Scott Morrison, visited Fiji on Friday.

Mr Morrison said the amount of kava that can be imported for personal consumption will be doubled from two to four kilograms by the end of the year.

A pilot programme for commercial kava imports will also be implemented by the end of 2020.

The Newcastle Knights' Ponga and Parramatta Eels' Moses are yet to represent Australia, but are set to play their parts in Sydney on October 18-19.

Moses' Eels team-mate Clint Gutherson and the Brisbane Broncos' David Fifita are also part of the squad.

Australia head coach Mal Meninga is excited by the players he has at his disposal for the tournament.

Congrats to Eels Clint Gutherson, Mitch Moses and Nathan Brown who have been named in Australia’s Nines squad!

Tins of formula have become objects of desire among enterprising amateur salespeople keen to get into China's black market for safe baby formula. 

The melamine scandal of 2008, in which six babies died after being fed formula that contained a dangerous chemical, created lingering mistrust in Chinese baby products.

International brands can sell for twice as much as local Chinese formula. It's become a lucrative business for many living in the West, bulk-buying tins and selling them for a mark-up. 

The Boomers sealed a sixth consecutive victory in the tournament to make history at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center on Wednesday.

Australia took charge in the third quarter, outscoring the Czechs by 30 points to 18 to seize control and went on to set up a last-four showdown with Spain in Beijing on Friday.

Mills, Chris Goulding and Andrew Bogut played key roles for Andrej Lemanis' side, scoring 48 points between them to ensure a brilliant performance from Tomas Satoransky was in vain.

Ben Stokes' inspired display kept the five-Test series alive as hosts England amassed their highest ever fourth-innings run chase in Leeds, where the hosts prevailed by one wicket last week.

Australia, however, will be able to welcome talisman Steve Smith back to the fold for the Old Trafford Test after the star batsman missed the Headingley clash due to a concussion sustained at Lord's.

Smith will play a three-day tour match against Derbyshire, with Khawaja captaining an Australia side which also includes Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft and Marnus Labuschagne.