Record-breaking summer heat waves in recent months have left Australians sweating and uncomfortable and killed thousands of animals, graphically illustrating the climate change dangers faced by the world’s driest inhabited continent.

The resurgence of the ultra-nationalist and anti-immigration “Pauline Hanson’s One Nation” party in Australia has been reinforced by a national opinion survey showing that the party has doubled its support to 10% of the Australian electorate since November.

It took just one tweet from U.S. President Donald Trump to turn traditional diplomacy on its ear and undermine relations with a fellow conservative, the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Traditional allies, Australia and the U.S. have forged an enduring partnership in recent decades and Canberra relies on a close relationship with Washington.

A television advertisement for lamb that takes a comic swipe at the British colonisation of Australia has incensed conservative politicians, polarised many ordinary citizens, and spurred indigenous Australians to riposte with a satirical spoof “advertisement” of their own. The controversy has highlighted Australia’s struggle with its racially-tainted past.

Public support is growing in Australia for a bill intended to legalise assisted suicide in the south-eastern state of Victoria, with a majority of members of the state’s parliament saying they planned to vote in favour of the controversial proposal.

A landmark legal case in Australia has highlighted how Australians have become among the world’s most extravagant gamblers, last year losing a total of nearly $23 billion Australian dollars ($17.65 billion) on gambling and A$11.6 billion on gaming machines (excluding those in casinos), according to Australian government statistics.