CANBERRA - A baking flow of hot air pumping across Australia has gripped vast areas of the continent in a heatwave that has driven temperatures into the mid-40s and sparked bushfires in two southern states.

(By IBRAHIM BARZAK and MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writers) Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rockets resumed after a brief pause Wednesday to allow food and fuel to reach Palestinian civilians in Gaza, where an Israeli warplane dropped leaflets urging some residents to flee because of imminent attacks. Even as the Israeli government tentatively welcomed a cease-fire proposal from Egypt and ...

CANBERRA - A baking flow of hot air pumping across Australia has gripped vast areas of the continent in a heatwave that has driven temperatures into the mid-40s and sparked bushfires in two southern states.