Australia orders mass evacuation of fire-ravaged towns before heat wave

Thousands of tourists have been given less than 48 hours to evacuate fire-ravaged coastal communities as Australia braces for a heat wave Saturday expected to fan deadly bushfires. Catastrophic blazes ripped through swathes of the continent's south-east on New Year's Eve, killing at least eight people and stranding holidaymakers as seaside towns were ringed by flames. The New South Wales (NSW) Rural Fire Service on Thursday morning declared a "tourist leave zone" stretching about 200 kilometres