US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet his Russian counterpart ahead of the release of a UN report on human rights violations in Ukraine.

Iraq launches military operation to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit from Islamic State, Iraqi TV says.

Thieves take 15 "priceless" Chinese artefacts from Fontainebleau castle in France, in a raid that lasted just seven minutes.

Bill Gates is declared the richest man in the world for the 16th time by Forbes magazine's annual ranking of global billionaires.

Nearly 100 South African firefighters are battling a blaze on Cape Town's mountain range.

Libya's internationally recognised government in Tobruk names former controversial anti-Islamist Khalifa Haftar as the new head of the national army.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner defends her economic policy in her last speech to Congress before she steps down in December.

An ex-minister in Peru is charged with involvement in the killing of a journalist during the Shining Path rebel insurgency in the 1980s.