Australia news live: Sydney forecast to have hottest ever October day; police find body believed to be missing hiker in Tasmania

Predicted high of 39C would be hotter than 38.2C October record from 2004. Follow today’s news liveOctober heat records broken across Australia as Sydney braces for temperatures way above the normGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastBrittany Higgins has dropped her appeal against the Western Australia supreme court decision that she defamed Linda Reynolds in a series of social media posts, according to reports.In August the state supreme court judge Paul Tottle ruled that the former defence minister’s reputation was damaged by a 2022 social media post from David Sharaz, which Higgins responded to, and an Instagram story published by Higgins in July 2023. Continue reading...