Sydney's air quality plummeted on Tuesday as a thick blanket of bushfire smoke clogged the city.
The haze has left the city as the 14th worst in the world on the World Air Quality Index.
A warning for severe fire danger has been issued, as temperatures soared to 37 degrees Celsius in the city's west.
Residents have also been advised to stay indoors, with the New South Wales Ambulance service emphasising that those with respiratory issues should "take extra care".
UN Hormuz vote now expected next week
The UN Security Council is now expected to vote next week on a Bahraini resolution to protect commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz, diplomats said on Friday, but veto-wielding China has made clear its opposition to authorizing any use of force.
Eight dead after earthquake strikes Afghanistan
Eight people were killed and one child was injured on Friday when a house collapsed in Kabul following an earthquake in Afghanistan, the National Disaster Management Authority said.
Iran downs US fighter jet, raising stakes in war
Iran shot down a US warplane on Friday in the first such known incident of the five-week war, officials from both nations said, with one of the crew members rescued after ejecting and the other still missing, according to a US source.
Zelenskyy accuses Russia of 'Easter escalation'
A large-scale daytime Russian strike killed at least two people in Ukraine on Friday, officials said, in what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced as an "Easter escalation", as Moscow shifts tactics to avoid Ukrainian air defences.
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