Australia sweltered through its hottest month on record in January and the summer of extremes continued with wildfires razing the drought-parched south and flooding in expanses of the tropical north.

A man has been killed by a shark while spear fishing off the south Australian coast.

Two boys who broke out of an Australian Outback detention centre and were later refused asylum at a British consulate will appeal against their rejection before a British court, their lawyer said in Adelaide.

After an uneventful flight around the world, Steve Fossett’s Spirit of Freedom balloon burst into flames forcing the American adventurer to climb out of his capsule in the middle of the Australian night to put it out.

A shark dragged a man from his friend’s arms and killed him today off Australia’s southern coast, officials said.