Spain this year recorded its third hottest summer since official records began 62 years ago, authorities said Thursday, with temperatures peaking at 46.8 C (116 F) as the country's severe drought dragged on.

The average summer temperature was 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.34 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal, the Spanish weather agency AEMET said.

Sydney was blanketed under thick wood smoke for a fourth consecutive day on Thursday due to hazard reduction burns in preparation for the wildfire season.

Australia's most populous city after Melbourne has recorded some of the world's worst air quality readings since the controlled burning of fuel loads in the surrounding landscapes began on Sunday.

The city of Derna has buried thousands of people in mass graves, Libyan officials said Thursday, as search teams scoured ruins left by devastating floods and the city's mayor said that the death toll could triple or more.

The deluge swept away entire families on Sunday night and exposed vulnerabilities in the oil-rich country that has been mired in conflict since 2011. Health officials have confirmed 5,100 deaths and say 9,000 people are still missing.

At least five Palestinians have been killed and over 20 others wounded in an explosion next to the separation fence along the Israeli frontier with Gaza, Palestinian health officials said.

The cause of the blast was not immediately known.

Tunisia has barred entry to a delegation from the European Parliament, after some EU lawmakers criticised a deal Brussels struck with Tunis to stem migration, officials said on Thursday.

Legislators from the parliament's foreign affairs committee were due to head to the North African country on Thursday on a fact-finding mission.

Israel's foreign minister has said that Israel would not cave in to foreign dictates on its treatment of the Palestinians — in comments that came in a meeting with his Norwegian counterpart coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Oslo peace accords.

The remarks by Foreign Minister Eli Cohen underscored the deterioration of Mideast peace efforts since the historic interim peace deal. Substantive negotiations have not taken place in years, and Israel is led by a far-right government opposed to Palestinian statehood.

With attention focused on its contentious judicial overhaul, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has quietly taken unprecedented steps toward cementing Israel's control over the occupied West Bank — perhaps permanently.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a leader of the settlement movement, assumed new powers over the occupied territory in his coalition agreement with Netanyahu. Smotrich moved swiftly to approve thousands of new settlement homes, legalize previously unauthorized wildcat outposts and make it more difficult for Palestinians to build homes and move about.

American captives could be exchanged for billions of dollars of frozen Iranian assets, even as critics back in Washington warn against dealing with Tehran.

That's the way it was in 1981 and the way it likely will be in the coming days.

The U.S. government says the former Twitter's request to end oversight of its data privacy and security practices is "meritless" and owner Elon Musk should not be immune to testifying about the company since he has "first-hand knowledge" of the conduct being investigated.

Apple has unveiled its next generation of iPhones — a lineup that will boast better cameras, faster processors, a new charging system and a price hike for the fanciest model.

The showcase at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California, comes as the company tries to reverse a mild slump that has seen its sales drop from last year in three consecutive quarters. The malaise is a key reason Apple's stock price has dipped by about 10% since mid-July, dropping the company's market value below the $3 trillion threshold it reached for the first time earlier this summer.