The Malian government on Thursday declared a state of emergency, a day after an attack in the centre of the country left 17 soldiers dead and 35 wounded.

The US Justice Department has moved to seize more than US$1 billion in assets including luxury real estate and a jet allegedly bought with money pilfered from the 1MDB state investment fund.

 Some 70 dead whales have been found in southern Chile less than a year after more than 330 whales washed up in a remote Patagonian inlet.

French lawmakers have voted massively to extend a state of emergency as President Francois Hollande said that a call to boost reserve forces had paved the way towards a "National Guard".

Republicans formally chose Donald Trump as the party's presidential nominee yesterday, a landmark moment in American politics and a stunning victory for a man whose White House ambitions were once openly mocked.

Tokyo was struck by a third earthquake in four days today, but there were no reports of damage or casualties.

Seventeen soldiers were killed and 35 wounded in central Mali yesterday in an assault on their base that authorities called a "coordinated terrorist attack".

France's National Assembly voted in the early hours of today to extend the country's state of emergency for six months following last week's massacre in Nice.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned that Islamic State fighters could set up new cells across Libya and north Africa as they are driven from their, stronghold of Sirte.