Former One Direction singer Liam Payne had multiple drugs including crack cocaine and methamphetamine in his system when he fell to his death from a hotel balcony in Argentina, according to anonymous Argentinian sources familiar with the initial toxicology reports.

The British singer and former One Direction member died last week at the age of 31 after plunging from a third-floor hotel room in Buenos Aires.

ABC News and TMZ reported that a cocktail of drugs called “pink cocaine” – containing methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA – had been found during a partial autopsy, along with crack cocaine and benzodiazepine. Both outlets cited anonymous sources familiar with the preliminary tests.

Associated Press reported an anonymous official had said the preliminary toxicology report suggested evidence of exposure to cocaine, but stressing that these initial results don’t offer an accurate reading of just how much was circulating in his blood when he died.

The final toxicology results are not expected to be made public for some weeks.

Associated Press reported that the official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief journalists. The preliminary report was widely reported in local media on Monday.

Argentina’s public prosecution is investigating the case, which is not uncommon when a death is sudden or unexpected.

Payne’s autopsy concluded that the traumatic injuries that caused his death were consistent with his three-story fall from the hotel window. Prosecutors have ruled out anyone else being involved.

Argentinian investigators found what appeared to be narcotics and alcohol strewn about broken objects and furniture in 31-year-old Payne’s hotel room, leading the public prosecution to surmise Payne had suffered a substance abuse-induced breakdown around the time of his fall. The prosecution said Payne could have plunged from his hotel room balcony in a state of “semi or total unconsciousness”.

Photos purportedly taken from inside Payne’s hotel room published by local media showed snowlike powder left on a table and a smashed-in TV screen. Police also discovered a blister pack of clonazepam, a central nervous system depressant, and over-the-counter medications scattered among Payne’s belongings. Shortly before Payne’s death, the hotel manager called 911 to report a guest acting aggressively and under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Investigators are also trying to figure out who sold Payne the drugs he took at the CasaSur hotel in Palermo, a chic neighbourhood of the Argentinian capital. Police have taken statements from at least three hotel employees, as well as two women who visited Payne’s hotel room a few hours before his death.

Fans and major pop industry figures around the world have reacted with an outpouring of grief.

The late singer’s father, Geoff Payne, was still in Buenos Aires meeting with the prosecutors and other local officials on Monday in an effort to organise the repatriation of the remains.

Argentinian authorities expect to release the body next week, clearing the way for Geoff Payne to fly home and hold a funeral back in England, where on Sunday hundreds of fervent One Direction fans gathered to mourn the musician.

– Associated Press and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

Wildlife services are working to rescue a cockatoo called Mickey that has been “living on brioche” inside a Sydney supermarket for four weeks.

The New South Wales environment minister, Penny Sharpe, on Tuesday promised the bird was “not going to be shot” after false rumours of a “kill order” had spread online.

The minister said she had directed the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service to work with grocery retailer Coles and rescue groups to help save Mickey.

“National Parks is in contact with wildlife rescue groups and staff at Coles Macarthur Square,” she said. “Mickey will be freed.”

Sharpe said wildlife rescue organisation Wires was planning to deploy another team on Tuesday to try and rescue the bird and “release him into the wild where he belongs”.

The bird has been stuck inside the Coles supermarket in Campbelltown for weeks, according to the Sydney Metropolitan Wildlife Services.

On Tuesday morning, another cockatoo, Old Lady Doris, was taken into the supermarket by the Feathered Friends bird rescue director Ravi Wasan in the hope Mickey would be reassured by her presence.

The plan looked like it could work, with Mickey initially flying down, before being spooked and retreating out of reach.

“He’s really scared because there’s been so many attempts – people trying to catch him,” Wasan said.

“He’s so scared but the other cockatoo, obviously, is so loving that it really reassured him. We got so so close … and then they opened the emergency doors and it spooked him.”

Wasan said Mickey looked “physically fine” and was not hungry because he was eating “really well” in the supermarket.

“He just needs to chill out, relax and come down without thinking that people are going to try and catch him,” he said.

“The exits where the cockatoo would go out are also the exits for patrons, so he just has to realise that the patrons … aren’t terrifying, which is obviously challenging when he sees everyone as a potential threat.”

Members of the Sydney Metropolitan Wildlife Services on Monday night attempted to lure the bird outside – although they were unsuccessful and described it as a “nightmare”.

“The poor bird hasn’t had any dark for over four weeks and has been living on brioche and water [placed] by the night manager – who is very fond of the bird,” the rescue group stated on social media.

“Two traps left but with so much food in the store, who knows if that will work. Hopefully, we exhausted him so much he will come down to a trap for water.”

Sharpe’s office said the rumours of a “kill order” that had circulated on social media were false. Coles was contacted for comment.

Israel has accused Hezbollah of keeping hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold in a bunker under a hospital in the southern suburbs of Beirut, though it said it would not strike the complex.

The Sahel hospital in Dahiyeh was evacuated shortly afterwards, and Fadi Alame, its director, told Reuters that the allegations were untrue.

Israel did not provide evidence for its claim that cash was being kept under the hospital. Instead, it published an animated graphic that purported to show a bunker under the hospital and said it had previously been used to hide the former secretary general of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah. Israel appealed to the Lebanese government to confiscate the money it said the Shia militant organisation had stolen from the Lebanese people.

Shortly after, Israel issued a series of warnings to residents of Dahiyeh that it would begin striking buildings in the area and that they should move at least 500 metres away. Those who remained in the area began to flee.

Airstrikes began about an hour later, with strong explosions heard across the Beirut area. One of the strikes hit just in front of the entrance of the Rafik Hariri university hospital, the largest public hospital in Lebanon. At least four people including a child were killed and 24 injured in the strike, and the hospital suffered “major damage” from the blast.

Despite the strike, the hospital’s activities continued as usual and it was receiving the injured from Monday night’s strikes, according to a source at the hospital.

The initial casualty count was expected to rise as first responders continued digging through the rubble for people. A picture of the building struck in front of Rafik Hairi hospital showed a man covered in blood lying lifeless in a bombed-out building.

Fears had proliferated that hospitals would be struck in the greater Beirut area after the Israeli allegations, which echoed similar claims in Gaza, where the Israel Defense Forces said Hamas ran military operations from medical buildings.

Lebanon’s ministry of health condemned what it said was “attacks on two of Lebanon’s largest hospitals” and part of Israel’s “daily targeting of the Lebanese health sector”. Israel has killed at least 115 healthcare workers and emergency responders since fighting started between Hezbollah and Israel a year before.

It was the second night in a row that Beirut was heavily bombed, with Israel carrying out more than 15 airstrikes on Hezbollah-linked banking institutions the night before.

On Sunday night, Israel said that it would begin targeting a Hezbollah-affiliated bank, Al-Qard Al-Hassan, which provides interest-free loans and banking services to hundreds of thousands of Lebanese – primarily Shia Muslims. It accused the bank of helping finance Hezbollah and said that its branches were used to store weapons.

The announcement that Israel would start targeting the bank, a part of Hezbollah’s civilian institutions, signified an expansion of the scope of Israel’s targets from just the group’s military wing. The institution had sanctions placed on it by the US in 2017 during the Trump administration for giving Hezbollah access to the international financial system, according to the US Treasury.

Al-Qard Al-Hassan was founded in the early 1980s as a charitable institution, part of Hezbollah’s robust social services network.

The banking institution became more popular after Lebanon’s 2019 financial crisis, when commercial banks froze almost all accounts and almost entirely stopped issuing loans. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese people, primarily Shia Muslims, bank with Al-Qard Al-Hassan, many of them giving the bank familial assets such as gold in exchange for loans.

Shortly after saying it would begin striking Al-Qard Al-Hassan, Israel began striking buildings belonging to the bank in greater Beirut, southern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley.

At least 10 airstrikes were carried out in Dahiyeh, causing an entire building to collapse and a jet of fire to stream into the air in the Chiyah neighbourhood. A building close to Lebanon’s only commercial airport was also struck – video footage showed a smoke plume billowing while a nearby plane sat on the runway.

“They struck empty buildings in residential neighbourhoods, and destroyed those surrounding neighbourhoods. These weren’t military centres or weapons caches,” said Ma’an Khalil, the mayor of Ghobeiry municipality in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

The US envoy Amos Hochstein arrived in Beirut on Monday morning, where he met Lebanon’s parliamentary speaker, Nabih Berri, and the country’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, to discuss ways towards a ceasefire.

Hochstein said implementation of the UN security council resolution 1701 was the path towards a ceasefire in Lebanon and rejected calls to amend the UN agreement.

Resolution 1701 ended the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war and has since been the framework that governs security dynamics on the Lebanese-Israeli boundary. Under the terms of the agreement, Hezbollah and other armed militias must not be present past the Litani River, about 18 miles (30km) north of the border. The resolution also dictated that Israeli forces withdraw from Lebanon.

The US navy identified on Monday the two crew members who died last week in a fighter-jet crash near Mount Rainier as two 31-year-old female aviators from California.

Lt Cdr Lyndsay P Evans, a naval flight officer, and Lt Serena N Wileman, a naval aviator, died when their EA-18G Growler jet from the Electronic Attack Squadron, known as “Zappers”, crashed east of Mount Rainier last Tuesday during a training flight, according to Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.

Evans of Palmdale, California, made history as part of a team of female pilots who conducted the first-ever all-female flyover of Super Bowl LVII on 12 Feburary 2023, to celebrate 50 years of women flying in the navy, Steve Fiebing, a navy spokesperson, told the Associated Press.

The first female candidates entered the US Navy flight school in 1973.

“I joined the navy to serve my country,” Evans told the Los Angeles Times. “Serving in the navy means being part of something bigger than yourself.”

Wileman was commissioned in 2018 and joined the Zapper squadron on Washington state’s Whidbey Island in 2021. She earned the national defense service medal, navy unit commendation medal and a combat action ribbon.

An aerial crew located the wreckage the day after the crash at about 6,000ft (1,828 metres) in a remote, steep and heavily wooded area east of Mount Rainier, officials said.

Navy officials declared the aviators dead on Sunday and said they’ve switched from search and rescue to recovery operations.

“It is with a heavy heart that we share the loss of two beloved Zappers,” said Cdr Timothy Warburton, commanding officer of Electronic Attack Squadron 130. “Our priority right now is taking care of the families of our fallen aviators, and ensuring the wellbeing of our sailors and the Growler community. We are grateful for the ongoing teamwork to safely recover the deceased.”

Personnel are recovering debris and planning for the long-term salvage and recovery effort, the navy said. Jay Inslee, Washington governor, said the Navy asked the Washington state national guard to “provide 24/7 security at assigned traffic control points”. Inslee granted the request Sunday.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

The first production of the Growler was delivered to Whidbey Island in 2008. In the past 15 years, the Growler has operated around the globe supporting major actions, the navy said. The plane seats a pilot in front and an electronics operator behind them.

“The EA-18G Growler aircraft we fly represents the most advanced technology in airborne Electronic Attack and stands as the Navy’s first line of defense in hostile environments,” the Navy said on its website. Each aircraft costs about $67m.

The United States senatorPatty Murray said said she was heartbroken to learn of the passing of Evans, whom she had met at the Naval Air Station last year.

“I am deeply grateful for her courage and sacrifice in service to our country,” Murray said in a statement. “She was a leader who broke barriers and made history.

“Similarly, I want to express my deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Lt Serena Wileman,” she continued. “I am so proud of both of these women for their trailblazing careers – their service has no doubt made a difference, clearing a path for the women who will come after them.”

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, got to the point in his presidential address last night: “Another state,” he said, was “joining the war against Ukraine”. He was referring to the growing intelligence that shows elite soldiers from North Korea are in Russia preparing to join what has become a fight that, in effect, extends all the way across Asia.

The effect will be greater than the numbers believed to be involved. On Friday, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) reported that 1,500 members of Pyongyang’s special forces had crossed the border to Vladivostok in Russia’s far east to begin training and some degree of participation in the war in Ukraine.

In the past, isolated North Korea has sent pilots to Egypt, where they fought against Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur war, and to Vietnam, where some flew sorties in secret against the US forces. But Pyongyang has never deployed such a large number of its troops abroad.

They represent the first element of what could be a 12,000-strong, four-brigade deployment, which represents a meaningful commitment – though still modest against the roughly 600,000 Russian troops already inside Ukraine. Given that Russia is losing an estimated 1,200 fighters a day in killed and wounded casualties during its autumn eastern offensive, the North Koreans could be quickly expended on the frontline.

It is not known what the North Koreans will do, though given Russia’s frontline tactics, which remain relatively careless of human lives, it is hard to imagine they would be dispatched into a winter effort to take Pokrovsk or another key location on Ukraine’s eastern front.

But Sam Cranny-Evans, of the Royal United Services Institute thinktank, says the North Korean troops could be used in a variety of other roles: near the frontline “to support logistics and engineering – moving ammunition, digging fortifications” or deeper to the rear or inside Russia to free more of the Kremlin’s own troops, or simply to go “on a training rotation” where they would “simply be gaining combat knowledge”.

There is plenty for North Korea’s forces to learn, including on how cheap £300-£400 drones are shaping the battlefield in Ukraine, preventing concentrations of forces, and reducing the possibility of surprise.

But there are also evident political advantages for both parties, most notably a significant tightening of the relationship between two members of the “Axis of Upheaval” – the Russia, China, Iran and North Korea grouping whose members, to varying degrees, want to challenge western military hegemony.

“Russia has offered the kind of political support to Pyongyang that previously was seen only in Beijing, and emboldens the North [of Korea]. It may also be providing missile technology and possibly submarine technology,” said Richard Fontaine, the chief executive of the Center for a New American Security, a US thinktank, arguing that the Kremlin was using the war in Ukraine as an accelerant to bring the two countries together.

But South Korean intelligence has touched on something more significant, at least for Russia. The NIS believes it has monitored 70 shipments of munitions – shells, missiles and anti-tank rockets – going from North Korea to Russia since August last year, transporting on its estimate 8m rounds of arms, including Russian 152mm and 122mm shells so crucial for Moscow’s destructive frontline assaults.

If correct, these are significant quantities, and come at a time when the US election means it is unclear if military aid – gifts of weapons – to Ukraine from the world’s remaining superpower will continue. Europe continues to struggle to ramp up its own munitions production, with the EU acknowledging that at the end of August it had only delivered 650,000 shells out of the 1m it had promised to send before April.

A $50bn loan for Ukraine from G7 countries funded from the interest accrued on Russian assets frozen by the west is expected to be confirmed as the World Bank and IMF meet later this week, which may help offset some of the pressure. But Russia’s relentless focus on prosecuting the war and deepening its relationship with one of the few allies willing to help it shows that the challenge faced by Kyiv remains intense.

Israeli police and the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency say they have arrested a network of Israeli citizens spying for Iran who allegedly provided information on military bases and conducted surveillance of individuals.

The investigators claimed the network had been active for about two years. According to reports in the Israeli press, the suspects are accused of photographing and collecting information about Israeli bases and facilities, including the defence headquarters in Tel Aviv, known as the Kirya, and the Nevatim and Ramat David airbases.

The Nevatim base was targeted by Iran’s two missile attacks this year, and Ramat David has been targeted by Hezbollah.

“This is one of the most serious security cases investigated in recent years,” state prosecutors said. Police said the group had carried out 600 missions over two years.

News of the alleged network, which includes two minors, follows the arrest in September of an Israeli businessman accused of spying for Iran. According to the allegations against him he had travelled twice to Iran to discuss the possibility of assassinating the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the defence minister, Yoav Gallant, or the head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency, Ronen Bar.

Reports described the individuals arrested as Jewish immigrants from Azerbaijan living in the Haifa area, some related, who were arrested just over a month ago and are expected to be charged with helping an enemy in wartime.

According to a statement released on Monday, the seven Israeli citizens were arrested for gathering sensitive information on Israel Defense Forces (IDF) bases and energy infrastructure.

According to Haaretz, the suspects allegedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash transfers from Russian intermediaries, as well as in cryptocurrencies.

Three of the suspects were apprehended while allegedly photographing sensitive sites in southern Israel, and the police discovered dozens of documents in their possession.

“Investigations revealed that over a period exceeding two years, the suspects executed multiple security missions under the direction of two Iranian intelligence agents known as ‘Alkhan’ and ‘Orkhan’,” said a statement.

“The network members were aware that the intelligence they provided compromised national security and could potentially aid enemy missile attacks. The network conducted extensive reconnaissance missions on IDF bases nationwide, focusing on air force and navy installations, ports, Iron Dome system locations, and energy infrastructure such as the Hadera power plant.

“These activities were financially compensated with payments totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars, often facilitated through cryptocurrencies,” the statement added, suggesting those arrested had been motivated by “greed”.

“The operation involved photographing and documenting strategic sites, with the collected data being transferred to Iranian agents. Network members utilised advanced equipment procured specifically for these tasks under Iranian guidance.”

“There was a system,” said one of the investigating police officers, Yaron Binyamin. “They collected dozens of documents that noted the exact site to photograph, what information to gather and how much money they would be paid. A real price list.

“The method was first to receive the mission to film a base, then travel there, unload the equipment and find a vantage point, then deliver the photos via encrypted software to their Iranian handlers.”

Those arrested were also allegedly tasked with collecting intelligence on several Israeli citizens at the behest of Iranian agents.

This included conducting surveillance on targeted individuals. Some members were apprehended while attempting to gather intelligence on an Israeli citizen residing near their location, with security assessments indicating potential Iranian plans to harm this individual.

The latest arrests suggest Israel’s well-developed intelligence operations targeting Iran, Gaza and Hezbollah have not been a one-way street, with Iran and its proxies also running operations in Israel.

Israel’s state attorney suggested other cases yet to be disclosed may be under investigation.

Transport for London (TfL) could be forced to pay back millions of pounds in low emission zone fines issued to Dutch lorry drivers after agreeing they had been issued unlawfully.

The body said it had agreed to settle a claim regarding the Ulez fines after a company representing dozens of Dutch haulage companies launched a legal challenge into the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) and low emission zone (Lez) fines earlier this year.

The settlement comes as TfL is under increased scrutiny over its Ulez charging policy and several European governments have accused it of wrongly fining hundreds of thousands of EU citizens after illegally obtaining their details.

The company, Transport in Nood BV (TNBV), launched a judicial review against TfL in the high court this year after claiming that as much as €7.5m (£6.25m) in Ulez and Lez fines could have been wrongly issued to the Dutch companies it represents.

Antonio Oliveira, the owner of TNBV, said at the time that the fines would bankrupt some of the companies, with one transporter of flowers racking up nearly 400 fines, totalling €400,000 (£330,000).

The Ulez, which was doubled in size in August last year to cover all 32 London boroughs, requires vehicles that do not comply with emissions standards to pay a £12.50 daily charge, or else face a fine of up to £180 for non-payment.

The Lez also applies across London and charges highly polluting heavy goods vehicles for travelling in the city, hitting companies that fail to pay with fines of up to £3,000.

TNBV launched the judicial review on the grounds that the fines were unlawfully denominated in euros, which goes against UK legislation indicating that all fines should be given in pounds.

It claimed that an excessively high exchange rate was used to calculate the levies, including drivers being charged €3,600 (£3,200) for Lez fines, when the maximum penalty should be £3,000.

It also found that a 5% administrative fee was being added to each fine by TfL’s contractor Euro Parking Collection (EPC).

TNBV said TfL had conceded that these fines should have been sent in pounds and no charges should have been added.

A TfL spokesperson said: “We have agreed to settle a claim, which relates solely to a number of penalty charges issued to haulage companies based in the Netherlands. This agreement is subject to approval by the court.”

Despite the decision to settle, the two organisations are still in dispute over the amount that should be refunded, with TfL looking to only refund the additional 5% fee on each fine, rather than the full fines. The level of refunds will be decided at the next high court hearing, scheduled for 5 November.

The settlement comes as TfL and EPC are under increased pressure over how they administer fines to individuals and businesses based on the continent.

The Guardian revealed earlier this year that TfL has been accused by five EU countries of illegally obtaining the names and addresses of their citizens in order to issue more than 320,000 penalties.

Since Brexit, the UK has been banned from automatic access to personal details of EU residents, but transport authorities in Belgium, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands allege that TfL obtained these details illegally through EPC.

These claims came after some EU residents were hit with bills of up to £11,000 after being caught in the London clean air zones.

TfL said at the time that despite an absence of individual data-sharing agreements with EU countries, “local laws” allowed authorities to share vehicle owner information with the UK for the enforcement of traffic regulations.

Commenting on the Dutch settlement, Oliveira said: “We had long suspected that something was not right … EPC has been adding an illegal surcharge of at least 5% to every fine they have ever issued.

“This discovery highlights the importance of collectively challenging such practices as a group. It is clear that these unlawful actions must not go unopposed.”

Moldovans have voted by a razor-thin majority in favour of joining the European Union, nearly final results showed on Monday after a pivotal referendum clouded by allegations of Russian interference.

On Sunday, Moldova held key votes in a presidential election and a referendum on EU membership, marking a critical moment in the continuing struggle between Russia and the west for control over the small, landlocked nation in eastern Europe, home to 2.5 million people.

After nearly 99% of votes were counted in the referendum that asked voters to choose whether to enshrine in the country’s constitution a path toward the EU, the “yes” vote crept into first place with 50.18% of a total 1.4 million ballots cast, according to the Central Electoral Commission.

The separate presidential election results showed the incumbent pro-western president, Maia Sandu, topped the first round of the vote with 41.91%. She will face her closest competitor, Alexandr Stoianoglo, a former prosecutor backed by the pro-Russian Socialists, in the second round in two weeks.

The double vote in one of Europe’s poorest countries was seen as a crucial test of Sandu’s pro-European agenda, as she had urged Moldovans to vote yes in the referendum to affirm EU accession as an “irreversible” constitutional goal. The tight referendum result will disappoint Sandu’s supporters and her allies in Brussels.

Pre-election surveys indicated that Sandu held a comfortable lead over Stoianoglo and other candidates, while polls suggested that about 60% of voters supported the pro-EU path in the run-up to the referendum.

Moldova applied to join the EU after Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, which was condemned by Sandu and many in the country as tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees fled to its capital, Chișinău. Moldova officially began EU accession negotiations in June, though scepticism remains high about the country’s ability to implement the necessary democratic and judicial reforms in the near future.

Observers believe that a weakened Sandu could face a tricky second-round runoff against a united pro-Moscow opposition front led by Stoianoglo.

The two ballots were held amid claims by Moldovan authorities that Moscow and its proxies had orchestrated an intense “hybrid war” campaign to destabilise the country and derail its path towards the EU.

The allegations against Moscow included funding pro-Kremlin opposition groups, spreading disinformation, meddling in local elections and backing a major vote-buying scheme.

As votes were being counted on Sunday, Sandu blamed “foreign forces” for orchestrating an “unprecedented assault on our country’s freedom and democracy”.

“We have clear evidence that these criminal groups aimed to buy 300,000 votes – a fraud of unprecedented scale,” Sandu added. “Their objective was to undermine a democratic process.”

In particular, officials in Moldova have accused the fugitive pro-Russian businessman Ilan Shor, a vocal opponent of EU membership, of running a destabilising campaign from Moscow.

Earlier this month, the national police chief, Viorel Cernăuțanu, accused Shor and Moscow of establishing a complex “mafia-style” voter-buying scheme and bribing 130,000 Moldovans – almost 10% of normal voter turnout – to vote against the referendum and in favour of Russia-friendly candidates in what he called an “unprecedented, direct attack”.

Last week, law enforcement agencies said they had also uncovered a programme in which hundreds of people were taken to Russia to undergo training to stage riots and civil unrest.

Shor, who is based in Moscow and denies wrongdoing, has openly offered on social media to pay Moldovans to convince others to vote in a certain way and said that was a legitimate use of money that he earned. In the early hours of Monday, he claimed Moldovans had voted against the referendum.

Sandu, meanwhile, told her supporters on Sunday evening that she “will not back down from defending democracy and freedom”.

“We are waiting for the final results, and we will respond with firm decisions,” she added.

Hurricane Oscar has become the 10th hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season, battering the Turks and Caicos Islands on Saturday night and the far southern Bahamas on Sunday.

The disturbance that eventually became Oscar was initially given a low chance of tropical development by the US National Hurricane Center. It began on 10 October as a tropical wave across western Africa, bringing thunderstorms and gusty winds to the Cabo Verde Islands, before moving westwards over the Atlantic. However, it struggled to become sufficiently organised at it progressed, as dry air inhibited further thunderstorm development.

By early on 19 October, the disturbance had travelled to the north of Puerto Rico, and the chance of further development remained low. However, over the next 12 hours, thunderstorm activity became sufficiently strong and organised for the system to be classified as a tropical storm and named Oscar.

Hurricane hunters flew into the storm and detected a small area of hurricane-force winds, leading to Oscar’s upgrade to hurricane status. Oscar will affect eastern Cuba on Monday, and is then expected to track northwards and rapidly transition to a powerful extratropical cyclone, potentially bringing wind gusts above 70mph to parts of south-eastern Canada later in the week.

Elsewhere in the tropics, the remnants of tropical storm Nadine are expected to redevelop into a new tropical system to the south of Mexico during the early part of this week – tracking westwards with no significant impacts to land.

In Australia, temperatures have continued to trend above average in October, after the warmest August and fourth-warmest September on record. In the past week, large parts of the south and east have had daily highs reaching the high 30s and low 40Cs, several degrees above the October average.

On Thursday, South Australia suffered its highest temperature in 29 years when the town of Coober Pedy reached 43.7C, while temperatures in parts of Queensland at the weekend reached as much as 11C above average. This heat has fuelled several outbreaks of heavy showers and thunderstorms.

Conditions were particularly severe across New South Wales and Victoria on Friday, with torrential downpours causing some flash flooding – one town in Victoria received 50mm of rain in 45 minutes – alongside damage from strong wind gusts, hail stones as large as gold balls, and about half a million lightning strikes.

Over the coming week, heatwave conditions will shift across the continent to northern parts of Western Australia, where night-time temperatures are expected not to drop below 30C in places later this week.