Good afternoon.
Temperatures have pushed well into the 40s in parts of South Australia and Victoria amid Australia’s most significant heatwave since the 2019-20 black summer.
Severe to extreme intensity heat stretched from the north-west to the south-east of the country – developing in Western Australia and moving through SA, Victoria, New South Wales, the ACT and Tasmania. Victorian authorities warned the entire state will face the “upper end of extreme” fire danger on Friday, with at least one blaze in the north-east burning out of control as of early Wednesday afternoon.
Top news
Ashes live updates: Bethell century leads England push to set tricky target for Australia
Inflation slows to 3.4%, easing fears of a February interest rate hike
Venezuela ‘turning over’ up to 50m barrels of oil to the US, Trump says
Teen killed by bus during ultra-Orthodox protest against conscription in Jerusalem
Aldrich Ames, CIA agent who spied for Soviet Union and Russia, dies at 84
In pictures
Today’s selection of the best photographs from around the world includes myriad photos of Europe covered in snow and ice.
What they said …
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“He gets up there and he tries to imitate my dance a little bit.” – Donald Trump
The US president told a gathering of congressional Republicans in Washington that ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro copies his dance moves.
Full Story
The Birth Keepers: When Emilee met Yolande – episode two
Who is Emilee Saldaya, the woman behind the Free Birth Society movement? And how did she meet her business partner, Yolande Norris-Clark? Does either woman have the credentials they are claiming? This is episode two of a year-long investigation by Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne.
Before bed read
The US novelist Harlan Coben’s pulpy thrillers are such bestseller list fodder that Netflix signed him up to a long-term adaptation deal. “They’re all bad,” writes Eleanor Biggs of the eight Coben adaptations on various streaming platforms, “but some are worse than others.” She ranks them – from bad to so confusing it’s distressing to watch.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: EPOS. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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