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Tunisia Says 2026 Summer Hottest on Record

Tourists pose for a picture in downtown Tunis, Tunisia, August 4, 2017. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
Tourists pose for a picture in downtown Tunis, Tunisia, August 4, 2017. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
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Tunisia Says 2026 Summer Hottest on Record

Tourists pose for a picture in downtown Tunis, Tunisia, August 4, 2017. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
Tourists pose for a picture in downtown Tunis, Tunisia, August 4, 2017. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi

Tunisia's summer this year was its hottest on record, the country's weather authority said Tuesday, following multiple heatwaves, water shortages and power cuts.

"The summer of 2026 was ranked the hottest in Tunisia since 1950," the year temperature records began, the National Meteorological Institute said.

The average temperature was about 2.9 degrees Celsius higher than the previous record, it added.

Although accustomed to scorching heat, Tunisia experienced a particularly gruelling summer this year, with July and August marked by "intense and prolonged heatwaves", the authority said.

Scientists attribute these episodes to climate change.

This summer also saw persistently high nighttime temperatures, the agency added.

The highest temperature was recorded in the central city of Kairouan, which reached 49.7 degrees Celsius in mid-July.

Temperatures also reached 49.2 degrees Celsius in Beja in the northwest, and in the south they reached 48.4 degrees Celsius in Tozeur.

Authorities have yet to provide figures on the health impact of the heatwaves, but a group representing young Tunisian doctors reported numerous deaths it said were caused by the heat.

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Varieties

Australia's ABC Tells Far-Right Party to Stop Using ‘Bluey’ Character

Bluey balloon flies during the 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan, New York City, US, November 23, 2023. (Reuters)
Bluey balloon flies during the 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan, New York City, US, November 23, 2023. (Reuters)
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Australia's ABC Tells Far-Right Party to Stop Using ‘Bluey’ Character

Bluey balloon flies during the 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan, New York City, US, November 23, 2023. (Reuters)
Bluey balloon flies during the 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan, New York City, US, November 23, 2023. (Reuters)

Australia's national broadcaster ABC called on the far-right One Nation party on Wednesday to stop using children's TV character "Bluey" in its political cartoons.

"Bluey" is the popular star of an Australian cartoon series featuring canines navigating childhood and parenting in the suburbs.

Pauline Hanson's One Nation party has come under fire for a 2024 political cartoon depicting "Bluey" driving a car over an Australian politician.

That cartoon in particular has come into the spotlight since a man allegedly drove deliberately into Australian independent lawmaker Helen Haines on October 19.

Surgeons had to amputate both of her legs and she remains in hospital.

The ABC said it did not own the intellectual property for "Bluey", which it shows under license, but was concerned by its unauthorized use for One Nation.

"The ABC is considering available options," a spokesperson for the broadcaster said in a statement provided to AFP.

"In the meantime, the ABC considers the relevant cartoons should be immediately removed from One Nation's platforms and no further use should occur."

ABC managing director Hugh Marks told a Senate committee on Tuesday that he had only recently become aware of the One Nation cartoon.

"It is an infringement of the intellectual property, number one, but it's also a shocking use of Australia's most loved character," he said.

One Nation hit back at the ABC director in a social media post, saying it was not the first time he had taken aim at the party: "This time, over Bluey!"

"He cannot hide his contempt for One Nation and its voters. He exists in a parallel universe from most everyday Australians."

A 43-year-old man, Brendan Nugent, was charged last week over the alleged attack on Haines.

He is accused of dangerous driving causing serious injury and intentionally causing serious injury, as well as the federal crime of harming a public official.

Varieties

Dutch Zookeeper Dies after Leopard Attacked her in the Animal's Enclosure

This photograph shows the exterior of the Safaripark Beekse Bergen in Hilvarenbeek, on October 27, 2026. (Photo by ROB ENGELAAR / ANP / AFP)
This photograph shows the exterior of the Safaripark Beekse Bergen in Hilvarenbeek, on October 27, 2026. (Photo by ROB ENGELAAR / ANP / AFP)
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Dutch Zookeeper Dies after Leopard Attacked her in the Animal's Enclosure

This photograph shows the exterior of the Safaripark Beekse Bergen in Hilvarenbeek, on October 27, 2026. (Photo by ROB ENGELAAR / ANP / AFP)
This photograph shows the exterior of the Safaripark Beekse Bergen in Hilvarenbeek, on October 27, 2026. (Photo by ROB ENGELAAR / ANP / AFP)

A longtime zookeeper at a safari park in the Netherlands died Tuesday from injuries she suffered when she was attacked by a leopard in its enclosure over the weekend.

The Beekse Bergen Safari Park said in a statement that the woman, whose name has been withheld in accordance with Dutch privacy law, had passed away after she suffered serious wounds to her head and neck on Saturday while working in an enclosure with two male Persian leopards.

“Her passing deeply affects us all, and we sympathize intensely with her family, friends, and loved ones,” the zoo in the southern town of Hilvarenbeek said in a statement, which was made together with her family.

The woman began working at the zoo when she was 17 and spent nearly all of her 40-year career there.

An investigation is underway to determine why the woman was in the enclosure with the leopards. Zoo staff are typically not permitted to be in the same space as predatory animals, The Associated Press reported.

According to the zoo, the woman was able to alert colleagues via a walkie-talkie that she had been hurt. An ambulance and a trauma helicopter were dispatched to the park at around 11 a.m. local time on Saturday.

The woman underwent emergency surgery, but her condition worsened Sunday evening and the zoo said they did not expect her to survive. The safari park said an area in the park will be set up where condolences can be left.

Varieties

Newly Discovered Dinosaur Named after British Dad

An artistic reconstruction of the ankylosaur Spicomellus afer shows the animal with the most extensive armor of any known dinosaur. Spicomellus lived about 165 million years ago during the Jurassic Period. REUTERS
An artistic reconstruction of the ankylosaur Spicomellus afer shows the animal with the most extensive armor of any known dinosaur. Spicomellus lived about 165 million years ago during the Jurassic Period. REUTERS
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Newly Discovered Dinosaur Named after British Dad

An artistic reconstruction of the ankylosaur Spicomellus afer shows the animal with the most extensive armor of any known dinosaur. Spicomellus lived about 165 million years ago during the Jurassic Period. REUTERS
An artistic reconstruction of the ankylosaur Spicomellus afer shows the animal with the most extensive armor of any known dinosaur. Spicomellus lived about 165 million years ago during the Jurassic Period. REUTERS

A new species and genus of dinosaur has been named after a dad in Surrey, in the UK, according to BBC.

Paludohadros proudlovii - an iguanodontian - was named in honor of the late Will Proudlove, who managed the Ewhurst brick and roof tile works where the dinosaur was discovered.

Proudlove passed away at the age of 35, shortly before the dinosaur's fossil was found in 2001 and donated to the Natural History Museum.

His wife Rachel told BBC Radio Surrey there was a history of finding dinosaur remains where the father-of-two worked.

“He was quite fascinated by this,” she said.

Each time a layer of clay was removed from the quarry, Will checked if there was anything that looked like dinosaur fossils, Rachel added.

Rachel said the dinosaur being named after Will - who worked his way up the ranks to become manager - was a “huge” honor.

“It's very exciting,” she told the BBC. “It's a great legacy for my husband to be remembered by. [We’re] absolutely thrilled.”

The remains at the Ewhurst works belong to a member of the iguanodontians – a group of dinosaurs known for their thumb spikes, according to the Natural History Museum.

Historically, it added that iguanodontians found in southern England were considered to be either Iguanodon or its smaller relative, mantellisaurus.

However, a detailed redescription of the latter by Natural History Museum scientists in 2023 has allowed key differences to be identified.

This has led to several newly named iguanodontians in recent years, including brighstoneus, comptonatus, the sail-backed istiorachis and now paludohadros.

The four-legged herbivore lived around 125 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous Period, the Natural History Museum said.

At the time, southern England would have been covered in muddy wetlands - helping give the dinosaur its name, as palus means swamp in Latin, it added.

At around five meters long and around 1.5 to two tons in weight, the paludohadros proudlovii would have been a similar size to a rhino when it died.