Italian authorities have issued an "extreme" health risk for 16 cities including Rome and Florence this weekend as a heat wave that is baking Europe threatens to bring record temperatures.

Climate scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA) say temperatures could reach 48 on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, "potentially the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe."

Rome could get as hot as 44.

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Italian authorities have issued the second-highest heat warning to nine other cities.

The country's health ministry is advising the public to stay hydrated, eat lighter meals and avoid direct sunlight between 11am and 6pm.

The ESA warned that Europe's heat wave has only just begun with Spain, France, Germany and Poland expected to see extreme weather, just as the continent welcomes what is expected to be a record-breaking number of tourists coming for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Greece shut the Acropolis of Athens for a second straight day on Saturday amid fierce temperatures. Local police helped a tourist who got into difficulty on Friday.

There is particular concern over those working outdoors after a 44-year-old construction worker in Italy died after collapsing on a roadside earlier in the week.

Authorities in Spain warned the heat wave is not just hitting the usual frying pan areas in the south, but also affecting the country's typically cooler north.

In the south, temperatures in the cities of Seville, Cordoba and Granada have reached 40.

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Spain's national weather service says it's also sizzling on Spain's resort island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean Sea with highs of 36 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, even the normally mild region of Navarra in the north is seeing up to 40 degrees Celsius.

A wildfire that broke out on La Palma Island in Spain's Canary Islands burned several homes and forced the evacuation of 500 people, the Canary Islands regional government tweeted on Saturday morning.

Heat is one of the deadliest natural hazards – more than 61,000 people died in Europe's searing summer heat wave last year.

The current heat wave – named "Cerberus" by the Italian Meteorological Society after the three-headed monster that features in Dante's "Inferno" – has prompted further fears for people's health, especially as it coincides with one of the busiest periods of Europe's summer tourist season.

Europe is not the only place facing extreme temperatures.

A dangerous weeks long heat wave in parts of the western United States is set to worsen this weekend, with more than 90 million people under heat alerts.

Temperatures in some desert areas were predicted to soar past 48.8 during the day, and remain above 32.2 overnight.

Around 200 hydration stations distributing bottles of water and cooling centers where potentially thousands of people can rest in air-conditioned spaces opened on Saturday in public spaces like libraries, churches and businesses around the Phoenix area.

By mid Saturday afternoon, it was 50 in Death Valley, California, where forecasters have said the temperature could hit 54.4 this weekend.

The hottest temperature recorded at Death Valley was 56.6 C in July 1913, according to the National Park Service.

The extreme weather is even taking affects as far afield as Australia, with Sydney experiencing unseasonably warm weather for its winter months, according to the country's Bureau of Meteorology.

It was 23 on Saturday, around 6 more than average.

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The controversial tour has faced protests across the country.

The party is on track to substantially increase its current offering of 10 MPs.

Six other countries have applied to join, including Ukraine and China.

The former Prime Minister brought her daughter Neve along for a kick-around.

Tesla finally built its first Cybertruck, the company has tweeted, two years behind schedule.

The electric car company shared an image of workers in hard hats surrounding the sleek Cybertruck, which it said was built at its Gigafactory near Austin, Texas.

Tesla revealed the prototype for the futuristic Cybertruck in 2019, saying production would begin in late 2021.

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The striking prototype looked like a large metal trapezoid on wheels, its exteriors made from a stainless steel alloy.

However, a demonstration of the truck's supposedly unbreakable windows in 2019 backfired when a metal ball thrown at the windows did, in fact, break them.

Tesla remained mostly silent about plans for the highly anticipated vehicle, but in 2021 announced an updated version was coming.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the company couldn't yet debut long-promised new vehicles, such as the Cybertruck pickup, due to supply chain issues.

However, in January Tesla announced it would begin production of the Cybertruck later this year. It has previously said volume production of the vehicle is expected in 2024.

Cybertruck allows Tesla to compete in the lucrative electric pickup market, which includes Rivian's R1T, the Ford F-150 Lightning and the GMC Hummer EV pickup.

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More than 100 people were trapped for several hours in Greenway, the former home of famed British mystery writer Agatha Christie, in the English countryside on Friday.

In a series of events which could have been lifted straight out of the pages of one of Christie's mystery novels, the group of tourists were left stranded after stormy weather knocked down a tree, blocking the road leading down to the property in the county of Devon, southwest England.

Caroline Heaven, a tourist who was visiting Greenway, contacted local news outlet Devon Live to spread the word that roughly 100 tourists were trapped in the grounds of Christie's former holiday home.

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Britain's National Trust, which manages the historic site, quickly put a message on its website, announcing that a large tree had fallen on the single-track road leading into Greenway.

A spokesperson for the National Trust said it was aware that there were "visitors, staff and volunteers still at Greenway unable to leave," adding that the National Trust was "doing everything" to ensure their comfort while they waited.

The stranded tourists kept themselves busy, drinking cups of tea in the houses' tearoom and playing rounds of croquet on the lawn, Heaven told Devon Live.

Heaven, who arrived at the house around 11.30am local time (6.30aET) on Friday, commended the efforts of staff to look after the tourists.

"They are doing a great job, they are giving us free teas and things. It's a bit bleak," she remarked.

Christie herself was known to while away the hours on Greenway's lawns, playing clock golf and croquet and entertaining guests with snippets from her latest mystery novels, according to the National Trust website.

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The trapped tourists would also have had the time to explore the estate's walled gardens and famous boathouse which serves as the scene of the crime in Christie's novel, "Dead Man's Folly."

Despite the seemingly calm atmosphere, some social media users couldn't help but draw a parallel with Christie's iconic novel "And Then There Were None," which sees ten strangers inexplicably invited to a remote mansion off the Devon coast.

As members of the party are mysteriously killed off, the group soon realizes there is a killer in their midst.

One social media user shared a link to the Devon Live article with a tweet counting down, "99, 98, 97, 96, 94 (grisly), 93.". Another user shared the article, advising the trapped tourists to "implement a buddy system immediately."

However, the tourists ending up meeting a less grisly fate than that of Christie's characters, managing to leave the estate on Friday evening after local rescue services managed to reopen the road.

Those looking to get a taste of Christie's murder mystery magic will have to wait a bit longer, however, as the National Trust warned prospective visitors in an update Saturday that Greenway is set to remain closed due to the "extensive storm damage" it sustained.

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Looking dirty, wet and "worn out" from living in the wilderness to evade arrest, a homicide suspect who used bed sheets to escape a northern Pennsylvania jail has been captured, US authorities said.

Michael Burham, 34, fled the Warren County jail in the late evening hours of July 6 by climbing on exercise equipment, going through a window and scaling down a rope fashioned from jail bedding, authorities have said.

He was found Saturday after authorities received a tip about a suspicious-looking person, they said.

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"He came out into the open and was spotted by an individual," said Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens, the deputy commissioner of operations for the Pennsylvania State Police, at a news conference.

Burham has been in jail on US$1 million ($1.46 million) bail and was charged with kidnapping, burglary and other counts. Authorities warned while he was missing that he was considered armed and dangerous.

Around 4pm Saturday afternoon local time, authorities received the tip. Burham encountered state troopers and attempted to hide, but authorities approached from behind and arrested him.

By 5.50pm, Burham — wearing jail-issued pants turned inside-out — was in custody.

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Burham had taught himself survival skills and had military reserve training, according to authorities. Before his capture, law enforcement personnel had found "small stockpiles or campsites" believed to be associated with him.

Before the arrest, Bivens renewed a call for people in northwestern Pennsylvania and western New York to regularly review doorbell and surveillance camera footage, and also once again urged people to make sure vehicles, sheds, homes and anything else useful to a fugitive is secured.

Bivens said officials have not yet located a drone some people reported hearing near the jail just before the escape, although they are aware of other drones operated during that day or evening a few blocks from the jail. Officials have said they believe Burham may have been receiving aid from someone, citing the stockpiles.

Authorities had kept morale high even when the search was dragging into a second week in a "vast" area of difficult terrain, Bivens said.

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In September 2014 in Pennsylvania, a manhunt of more than a month and a half ensued after a gunman killed a state trooper and permanently disabled another in an ambush outside the Blooming Grove barracks.

Eric Frein, of Canadensis, also described as a self-taught survivalist, was captured after a 48-day search. He was convicted and sentenced to death, though Pennsylvania has a moratorium on executions.

More than 200 state, federal and local officers took part in the search for Burham, and up to US$22,000 ($32,168) in reward money had been posted, Bivens said.

District Attorney Jason Schmidt, of Chautauqua County, New York, said in June that Burham was the prime suspect in the May 11 killing of Kala Hodgkin, 34, and a related arson in Jamestown, New York.

Authorities also accused him of abducting an older couple in Pennsylvania while trying to evade capture before his arrest in South Carolina. New York officials said they opted to let Pennsylvania handle the initial prosecution as they probe the killing and arson.

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Sweeping gaming reforms will be introduced in Victoria to reduce gambling harm caused by electronic gaming machines (EGMs).

Premier Daniel Andrews and gaming minister Melissa Horne announced the changes today, which will include slower spin speeds and smaller spending limits.

The new changes are expected to be rolled out by 2024.

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Under the reforms, all EGMs will also require mandatory pre-commitment limits and carded play.

There will be limits to how much money people can put into a machine at a time and will be capped at $100, down from the current limit of $1000.

Gaming venues, except Crown Casino, will also be forced to close between 4am and 10am.

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Andrews hoped these reforms would help the 330,000 Victorians who experience gambling harm every year.

"These reforms will provide the strongest gambling harm preventions and anti-money laundering measures in Australia – we owe it to all Victorians to take this stance and help those experiencing harm turn their lives around," he said.

"I look forward to the implementation working group's input and effort."

The reforms extend on the changes introduced after the findings of the Royal Commission.

There are many different ways to get help and information about gambling. Call the National Gambling Helpline on 1800 858 858; use online counselling; find information about help services in your state or territory; get information and support for family and friends; get information about how to talk with someone about their gambling; or contact Gamblers Anonymous.

All services are free, confidential and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.