Australia
Beaches, brunch and book festivals.
Hundreds of thousands of fish have died on a stretch of a major Australian river in New South Wales, in the third mass incident in recent weeks. The suspected cause is hot weather leading to an algal bloom that has starved the water of oxygen.
As part of the archaeology phase of the HS2 rail construction programme, researchers have identified the remains of Captain Matthew Flinders, the navigator who is credited with giving Australia its name.
Temperatures reached 46.2 degrees celsius in Adelaide, breaking an 80-year-old record. Sweltering residents had to get creative to keep cool, abandoning malls in favour of the local swimming pool. One pub had promised free beer if the mercury reached 45 degrees and patrons celebrated when they kept their word.
The death of an Israeli student Aiia Maasarwe in Melbourne, as she was walking back to her university residence, has highlighted the “disturbingly high” rate of violence against women in Australia. Seven months earlier, student and comedian Eurydice Dixon died in similar circumstances. She was raped and murdered in a park while walking home at night. On average, one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner in Australia.
The 62-year-old disappeared on 9 January.
Staff at Adelaide's Botanic Park are scrambling to rescue bats who have fallen to the ground from heat exhaustion. Temperatures in the region have reached 39 degrees celsius and are expected to soar to 45.
Up to a million were found floating last week in the Darling River.
A group of women in Sydney demonstrated in front of the Saudi consulate to show their support for Saudi teen Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun who is seeking refuge in Australia after fleeing her family.
A dust storm hit the town of New South Wales, Australia, on Tuesday, turning the sky a dark red and causing power outages for 5000 homes. Sally Lees filmed from her family farm in the town of Barellan.