On a flat-topped hill overlooking the sprawling city of Los Angeles, the grass has been worn bare by thousands of eager feet.

BBC: The road to Hollywood, California

To the south is Israel - whose nearest settlement is Metulla, built defiantly on the northern side of a cone-shaped hill topped with antennae, right next to the border.

BBC: NEWS | Middle East | In focus: Al-Khiyam

The hill is topped by Michelangelo's Piazza del Campidoglio, an artistic pinnacle as well as a geographical one.

BBC: A perfect day in Rome

The previous recorded high in Sydney was in January 1939, when the thermometer topped 45.3C at Observatory Hill.

BBC: Sydney bakes on hottest day on record as bushfires rage