-With AAP.

1. Nick Kyrgios’ bizarre response when asked about the feud between Tomic and Hewitt.

Nick Kyrgios claimed he “didn’t see” Bernard Tomic’s comments about Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt.

Tomic’s plea for Hewitt to “go away” amid claims that not only he but also fellow grand slam quarter-finalist Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis no longer want to play Davis Cup under Hewitt have rocked Australian tennis.

“He’s ruined the system,” Tomic said after his first-round Australian Open loss to Marin Cilic.

Speaking at a press conference on Tueday night following his loss to Milos Raonic in straight sets, Kyrgios bizarrely answered questions about the feud.

When asked his thoughts on Tomic’s tirade, Kyrgios replied: “I didn’t see them.”

He said he would make himself available for the Davis Cup – which was at odds with Tomic’s comments.

Kyrgios said there was “not really” a rift between him and Hewitt and that he “didn’t know what to say” in response to Tomic.

“I don’t know what to say. Like, I don’t have a big deal with anything. I’ve always wanted to play Davis Cup. I love Davis Cup. If I don’t play, I don’t play. Like, I’m available. That’s all I got to say. Like, what do you want from me?” he said.

He went on to say the focus on Tomic’s comments was “sad”.

“I think it’s ridiculous, to be honest. With all the issues that are going on in the world, we’re focusing on someone’s comments about Davis Cup. It’s pretty sad. It’s pretty sad.”

Kokkinakis did little to douse the flames when he declined to endorse the skipper after his first-round retirement against Taro Daniel – which he partially blamed on a gruelling qualifying campaign after being overlooked by Hewitt for an Open wildcard nomination.

“I”m not answering that,” Kokkinakis said when asked if he supported Hewitt staying on as Cup captain for Australia’s qualifying tie next month in Adelaide against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Australian No.3 Matt Ebden – overlooked for September’s World Group playoff loss in Austria – also raised concerns over Hewitt’s captaincy credentials.

Ebden said “there’s clearly some issues that need to be addressed with the players and Tennis Australia, with Davis Cup and the players and the group as a whole”.

However, tennis legend John Newcombe has told Lleyton Hewitt to ‘take the high ground” and ignore Bernard Tomic – and all other outside noise – and continue nurturing Australia’s young talent however he sees fit.

I think Lleyton’s doing an unbelievable job,” Newcombe told AAP.

“I said to Lleyton the other day: ‘Things that are being said and all that, take the high ground.

“‘You don’t have to defend yourself. Everyone sees what you’re doing out there. You’re busting your arse, you’ve got a great group of young people working for you that are all working at 100 per cent.”

2. The moment 13-year-old Jayme Closs woke in the middle of the night to see a dark figure in her driveway.

NEW DETAILS: Jayme Closs and her mother hid in the bathtub after a man dressed in black showed up at their home. A shot rang out as they huddled together >>> https://t.co/fnmGrlEBIa

— WNEP (@WNEP) January 15, 2019

Moments before her parents were murdered and she was bound and thrown into the boot of a car, Jayme Closs saw a dark figure in her driveway.

The criminal complaint released on Monday ahead of suspect Jake Patterson’s first court appearance in Barron, Wisconsin, detailed 13-year-old Jayme’s terrifying ordeal in which she was held captive in a cabin for 88 days.

Prosecutors described a brutal ordeal in which Patterson allegedly shot Jayme’s father James, 56, and then killed her mother Denise, 46 on October 15 last year.

The harrowing account came just days after Jayme ended her 88-day captivity by escaping the rural home where, according to authorities, Patterson kept her trapped under his bed for as much as 12 hours at a time.

According to the complaint, some time after midnight, the family dog began to bark loudly. Jayme got up to check on it and saw a figure walking up her driveway.

She woke her parents. He had a gun.

Her father went to the front of the house with a torch while Jayme and her mother hid, terrified, in the bathtub.

They called 911 on Denise’s cell phone, but no words were audible during the 48-second call.

The documents allege on October 15, Patterson shot James Closs at the entrance to the house and then entered the house, kicking a door down to find Denise and Jayme hiding in the bathroom.

He tore the shower curtain down and found Denise “with her arms wrapped around Jayme in a bear hug”.

Jayme told authorities that while her mother had been trying to call 911, Patterson instructed her to hang up the phone.

He ordered Denise to duct-tape her daughter’s mouth shut. He then wrapped tape around Jayme’s wrists before shooting Denise in the head.

Jayme then told police Patterson dragged her outside and shoved her in the boot of his car.

Police officers arrived at the home in less than four minutes, but it was too late to stop the murders and rescue Jayme.

As Patterson drove home, with Jayme in the boot, he passed squad cars with their sirens on that were responding to the shooting, he told police.

On January 10, 88 days after her parents were killed and she was captured, Jayme was able to move the items stacked against the bed she was held prisoner under while Patterson was out.

He returned home to find her gone and after briefly looking for her inside, he spotted footprints in the snow outside.

He hoped in his car and began searching.

Jayme had fled the house and was found by a woman – Jeanne Nutter – walking her dog.

Jeanne took Jayme to the closest house where they called 911. Jayme provided details about Patterson’s car to police, who swooped on him within minutes.

Patterson told police he assumed he had gotten away with killing James and Denise Closs and kidnapping Jayme when he hadn’t been caught in the first two weeks – but when he saw police at his house after Jayme’s escape he knew he was caught.

Following her rescue, Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald told media Jayme had been reunited with her family and was doing “as well as the circumstances allow”.

“Jayme is the hero, in this case, there’s no question about it.”

Patterson appeared in court on Monday charged with two counts of intentional homicide as well as kidnapping and armed burglary.

A judge ordered he be held of a $5million bail. He will reappear in court in February.

3. Heat records smashed in Australia.

There has been little respite overnight from the severe heat gripping much of Australia, with temperatures barely dropping below 30 degrees. #9News pic.twitter.com/IeFBk0zHeq

— Nine News Gold Coast (@9NewsGoldCoast) January 15, 2019

Summer heat records have been smashed with South Australia’s Port Augusta hitting a scorching 48.9C as the rest of the country sweltered though a heatwave.

The Bureau of Meteorology forecast daytime temperatures of up to 12C above average and 10C higher than usual at night from Monday to Friday.

All states and territories except Tasmania have centres where the temperature is due to stretch into the 40s.

At Port Augusta Tuesday’s maximum was the highest since records began in 1962 with 47C forecast for Wednesday and Thursday ahead of a milder Friday.

The small town of Tarcoola in South the state’s far north hit an eye-watering 49C on Tuesday.

“They are pretty incredible temperatures,” senior forecaster Michael Efron said.

People in Adelaide didn’t escape, with the SA capital reaching 41.2C.

The severe conditions in SA also took their toll on cyclists in the Tour Down Under with both the first and second stages shortened due to the heat.

Several towns along the NSW-Victoria border felt the hot weather with Mildura 46C.

In central NSW Ivanhoe got to 46.8C, while a sea breeze limited inner Sydney to 29C but the western suburbs including Penrith recorded 39.7C.

Australian Open players had cooler conditions than on Monday as Melbourne reached a bearable 30.4C, while outer suburbs like Scoresby reached 40.2C.

A total fire ban is in place across Victoria due to the risky conditions.

A widespread low-intensity heatwave is expected to stretch through to Friday from central Western Australia to southern parts of the Northern Territory and southwestern Queensland, as well as parts of Tasmania and Victoria.

Despite comparatively cooler temperatures, Tasmania is facing a severe bushfire threat, with low humidity and some 1200 dry lightning strikes.

4. China blasts Trudeau over death sentence.

China issues travel warning for Canada after ‘arbitrary detention’ of national https://t.co/AvKkz8Ry1m pic.twitter.com/nNQzEqLaLo

— Reuters China (@ReutersChina) January 15, 2019

China has blasted Canada for “irresponsible” remarks after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the country of “arbitrarily” sentencing a Canadian to death for drug smuggling, aggravating already icy relations.

Beijing and Ottawa have been at odds since early December, when Canadian police arrested Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.

Days later, China detained two Canadians on suspicion of endangering state security – former diplomat Michael Kovrig and business consultant Michael Spavor.

Monday’s death sentence by a Chinese court on Canadian Robert Schellenberg for allegedly conspiring to smuggle 222kg of methamphetamines from China to Australia has become the latest strain on ties.

Trudeau said it should be of “extreme concern” to Canada’s friends and allies, as it was to Canada’s government, that China had chosen to “arbitrarily apply” the death penalty.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying expressed “strong dissatisfaction” with the comments at a regular news briefing.

“The remarks by the relevant Canadian person lack the most basic awareness of the legal system,” Hua said.

She also took Canada to task for issuing an updated travel advisory for China, warning its citizens about the risk of arbitrary enforcement of laws in the country. Hua said that Canada should instead remind its people to not engage in drug smuggling in China.

“We urge the Canadian side to respect the rule of law, respect China’s legal sovereignty, correct its mistakes, and stop making irresponsible remarks,” Hua said.

Zhang Dongshuo, a lawyer for Schellenberg, said on Tuesday that his client would appeal, arguing that the court should not have increased his sentence given no new evidence had been introduced.

Schellenberg had appealed against an original 15-year prison sentence issued in November, but the Dalian Intermediate People’s Court in the northeastern province of Liaoning sided with prosecutors at the retrial that the punishment was too light.

Zhang said there was insufficient evidence to prove Schellenberg was part of a drug syndicate, or that he was involved in the smuggling of methamphetamines.

Even if the court accepted all of the charges, it should not have increased his sentence, given that facts the prosecution presented as new evidence had already been heard in court, Zhang told Reuters.

“Chinese law stipulates that during an appeal, only if new evidence is discovered and retried can there be an increase in the severity of a sentence,” Zhang said.

China has not linked any of the three Canadians’ cases to Meng’s arrest, which was made at the behest of US authorities as part of an investigation into alleged violations of US trade sanctions against Iran. But Beijing had warned of severe consequences if she was not immediately released.

Drug smuggling is routinely punished severely in China, and foreigners convicted of drug crimes have been executed before, including a Briton in 2009.

5. Search to resume for missing swimmer in SA.

WATCH: A frantic search by land, air and sea is continuing, as emergency services look for a missing swimmer off Parsons Beach, near Waitpinga. https://t.co/qb3dTrb8dN@JemmaChapman10 pic.twitter.com/vh2doEtb5C

— 10 News First Adelaide (@10NewsFirstAdl) January 15, 2019

A search for a teenage boy who was caught in a rip and swept out to sea is expected to resume at first light.

The alarm was raised about 12.30pm on Tuesday when two swimmers got into trouble near a rocky outcrop off Parsons Beach on the Fleurieu Peninsula, south of Adelaide.

“One man made it back to shore, however the second swimmer, a 17-year-old boy from Victoria, was not seen to make it back to safety,” SA Police said in a statement.

The teen was not located and police hold “grave concerns” for his welfare.

Police helicopters, the Sea Rescue Squadron and several local boats were involved in the search and they will resume the search at first light on Wednesday.