SYDNEY, Feb 11 (Reuters) - A top Australian central banker said on Wednesday inflation was too high and policy makers were committed to doing whatever was necessary to bring it to heel. Speaking at a business lunch,

Vast swaths of southeastern Australia are sweltering in a heat wave that’s pushed temperatures to close to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) and forced some residents to protect their properties as wildfires race through parts of rural Victoria.

The waves are massive, and I have no life jacket on. I just kept thinking, ‘Just keep swimming, just keep swimming,’” said Austin Appelbee.

Australia’s trade minister is set to travel to Brussels for talks with European Union officials to try and secure a free trade accord, which if signed would be the bloc’s third major agreement this year and bolster its efforts to stave off pressure from the Trump administration.

A 13-year-old boy who was swept out to sea with his mother and two siblings saved his family by swimming four kilometers (2.5 miles) to shore for help “in rough conditions,” police in Australia said.

Australia is demanding criminal charges over a 2024 Israeli airstrike on an aid convoy in Gaza that killed seven people, including an Australian aid worker, the country's prime minister said

Australia impress in their T20 World Cup opener as they make light work of beating Ireland by 67 runs in Colombo.

By Scott Murdoch SYDNEY, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Commonwealth Bank of Australia shares surged as much as 8.4% on Wednesday after the country's largest lender reported record first-half cash earnings on the back of market share gains in home loans,