Australia's bushfires and other climate change effects are devastating the habitats of critically endangered species and driving the native platypus towards extinction, according to surveys highlighting the country's vulnerability to rising temperatures. The unprecedented blazes that have...

Pakistani authorities refused to let a top human rights lawyer leave the country, citing her "anti-state activities", she told AFP on Monday, in what appeared to be the latest example of an ongoing rights crackdown. Jalila Haider, who last year featured on a BBC list of 100 inspiring and...

Thousands of Iraqi anti-government protesters grappled with security forces in a bid to shut streets across the country on Monday, a deadline they had given authorities to implement long-awaited reforms. Rallies have rocked Iraq since October but fearing they would lose momentum amid...

Iranian artists, athletes and media personalities have lent their voices to anti-government protests in the Islamic republic over the accidental downing of a passenger plane that killed 176 people. Among them have been actors vowing to boycott a film festival, a star volleyball player who...