India, Jan. 28 -- Parts of Australia sweltered in record temperatures of close to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday as the country sweated through a prolonged heat wave. The rural towns of Hopetoun and Walpeup in Victoria state registered preliminary highs of 48.9AdegC (120AdegF), which, if confirmed overnight, would top records set on the day in 2009 when 173 people were killed in the state's devastating Black Saturday bushfires.

No casualties were reported from Tuesday's heat wave, but Victoria authorities urged caution as three forest fires burned out of control. Melbourne, the state's largest city, also came close to its hottest day. Nowhere perhaps was the searing heat more evident than at Melbourne Park, where ...