Countries in South and Southeast Asia have been coping with a weeks-long heatwave which has seen record temperatures sweep parts of the region.

China has been branded "a bully" and an international lawbreaker after its ships blasted Philippine vessels with water cannon in the South China Sea.

Heavy rains in southern Brazil have killed 37 people, local authorities have said, with dozens still unaccounted for.

A crew member on a 120-day voyage around the world is missing at sea.

Three suspects have been charged by Canadian police over the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in Vancouver last June, in an incident that sparked a diplomatic spat between Ottawa and New Delhi.

Scientists fear bird flu has spread from mammals to humans for the first time, marking another step in the evolution of the deadly virus.