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Passengers aboard a United Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Hong Kong were left stuck on the ground for more than 14 hours in frigid weather with a dwindling supply of food.
Beirut, Lebanon - The Arab Economic and Social Development Summit has kicked off in Lebanon's capital, overshadowed by political rifts and poor attendance among Arab heads of state, many of whom pulled out at the last minute.
US Congressman, Henry C. "Hank" Johnson Jr. is asking the United States government to sanction Ghanaian MP, Kennedy Agyapong over the death of investigative journalist Ahmed Hussein-Suale.
Australia has just sweltered through at least five of its 10 warmest days on record, authorities estimate.
An extreme heatwave has afflicted the nation since Saturday, causing wildlife deaths, bushfires and an increase in hospital admissions.
Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said preliminary readings showed daily national temperature highs of 40C.
The town of Noona in New South Wales meanwhile recorded a night-time temperature of 35.9C.
It was the highest minimum temperature ever recorded anywhere in Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said.
Temperatures on Friday will soar above 42C in "broad areas", the bureau predicted.
Forecasters have compared conditions to the nation's worst heatwave in 2013, where the mercury soared to 39C for seven consecutive days.
The hottest day on record for Australia is 7 January 2013, when the national average maximum temperature was 40.3C.
"The current heatwave ranks alongside that of January 2013 as the most extensive and prolonged heatwave on record over Australia," BOM senior meteorologist Blair Trewin told the BBC earlier this week.
"There have been other notable heatwaves but none affecting such a large area of the country."
Where is affected?
A large swathe of New South Wales is bearing the brunt of the heat, with temperatures also soaring in parts of Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and the Northern Territory.
Temperatures are expected to drop in southern and central areas over the weekend.
But meteorologists say they are then set to rise in Western Australia.
Parts of the state could see temperatures up to 14 degrees higher than average in the days to come.
Is it dangerous?
Meteorologists say that the heatwave has broken heat records at more than 10 places around Australia, largely central inland locations.
The record-setters included the outback town of Tarcoola in South Australia which soared to 49C on Tuesday, and Port Augusta in South Australia which reached 48.9C.
How 'one-third' of a bat population died in two days
Sixteen people in South Australia were admitted to hospital due to the heat on Wednesday, the state government said.
Authorities in several states have also issued health warnings urging people to stay indoors and minimise physical activity, with heightened concerns for the elderly, the chronically ill and children.
In coastal cities, many Australian flocked to pools, beaches and other watering holes to cool off.
Some people also shared their attempts to cool down on social media, including one Reddit user who wrote that he was "refrigerating my pyjamas to survive the stuffiness of my bedroom".
Dozens of bushfires were burning across Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales on Thursday in conditions exacerbated by the heat and drought.
There were also reports of mass deaths in native bat colonies in New South Wales, and fruit orchards spoiling under the sun.
How is climate change affecting Australia?
Last week, officials confirmed that 2018 and 2017 had been Australia's third and fourth hottest years on record respectively.
The bureau's State of the Climate 2018 report said climate change had led to an increase in extreme heat events.
Even if global temperatures are contained to the Paris accord limit of a 2C rise above pre-industrial levels, scientists believe the country is facing a dangerous new normal.
Parts of eastern Australia suffered their worst drought in recent history last year, while thousands of Australians fled their homes when bushfires swept through Queensland in November.
The African Union (AU) says there are "serious doubts" about the outcome of elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) and has called for final results to be suspended.
the African Union (AU) says there are "serious doubts" about the outcome of elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) and has called for final results to be suspended.
Those figures gave victory to one opposition candidate, Felix Tshisekedi, but another opponent of the current administration insists he won.
Supporters of Martin Fayulu say Mr Tshisekedi made a power-sharing deal with outgoing President Joseph Kabila.
Mr Tshisekedi's team denies this.
Final results are due on Friday
A number of AU heads of state and government met in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on Thursday and released a statement about the deeply disputed 30 December vote.
"There were serious doubts on the conformity of the provisional results, as proclaimed by the National Independent Electoral Commission, with the votes cast," it read.
"Accordingly, the [AU] called for the suspension of the proclamation of the final results of the elections."
What might the electoral commission do?
If confirmed, the election result would create the first orderly transfer of power since DR Congo's independence from Belgium in 1960.
The electoral commission said Mr Tshisekedi had received 38.5% of the vote, compared to 34.7% for Mr Fayulu. Ruling coalition candidate Emmanuel Shadary took 23.8%.
However, Mr Fayulu alleges that Mr Tshisekedi made a deal with President Kabila, who has been in office for 18 years.
Mr Fayulu filed an appeal in the Constitutional Court on Saturday demanding a manual recount.
A verdict is expected as early as Friday, and experts say there are three possible outcomes.
The court could confirm Mr Tshisekedi's victory, order a recount, or scrap the results altogether and call fresh elections.
But the court has never overturned results before, and some think most of its judges are close to the governing party.
What do others say?
The declaration of Mr Tshisekedi as winner has also been disputed by the influential Catholic Church which says it deployed 40,000 election monitors across the country.
International experts based in the US, and the French and German governments, have also raised doubts.
Meanwhile, the UN says ethnic violence in the west of the country left at least 890 people dead over just three days last month.
Clashes between the Banunu and Batende communities took place in four villages in the area of Yumbi between 16-18 December, according to the UN Human Rights Office.
Voting in the presidential election was postponed in Yumbi because of the violence.
Most of the area's population has reportedly been displaced, including some 16,000 people who sought refuge by crossing the Congo river into neighbouring Republic of Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville.
Some 465 houses and buildings were burned down or pillaged, including two primary schools, a health centre, and the office of the independent electoral commission, the UN said.
![Sheikh Tamim met with Lebanon's President Aoun at the Arab Economic and Social Development summit in Beirut [Mohamed Azakir/Reuters]](/images/2019/jan/19/arab-leaders.jpg)
