Frank Butler

Hundreds of campers are evacuated as brush fires threaten southern California, as a separate blaze that engulfed a highway dies down.

Suspected Islamist militants attack two military checkpoints in the Sinai peninsula, killing at least five soldiers.

At least 11 soldiers were killed in an attack on Thursday by Islamist militant gunmen west of Algeria's capital, it emerges.

The night before a gunman killed five US service personnel in Tennessee, he sent a text message linking to a religious verse about "declaring war", a report says.

Five Czech nationals and their Lebanese driver are missing in Lebanon, prompting fears they may have been kidnapped.

A misunderstanding about a documentary members of a tour to China watched in their hotel led to their detention, says a spokesman for two of the group.

Brazil legend Pele has "back surgery" after suffering from a trapped nerve but should be released from hospital soon.

Former Fifa Vice-President Jeffrey Webb is to appear before a US judge as part of a massive corruption scandal at football's world governing body.

Saudi King Salman holds a rare meeting with the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, who is on pilgrimage to Mecca.

Nationalist protesters and anti-racist groups clash in Melbourne, with police deploying capsicum spray and horse squads to control the crowds.