
About 1,000 people rushed to a New Zealand beach over the weekend to try to save a pod of whales that stranded overnight, overwhelming conservation workers who were appealing for specialist assistance.

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Friday called for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to be released from prison in London, urging an end to what he described as his “torture” in detention.

China moved to pump more cash into its financial system, suggesting that Beijing remained concerned about faltering growth despite signs that the world's second-largest economy was stabilizing.

A portrait of the Queen with the next three heirs to the throne has been released to mark the start of the new decade. It shows the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince George standing with the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

Qantas Airways was named the safest airline in the world on a Top 20 list published by AirlineRatings.com, followed by Air New Zealand and Taiwan's Eva Airways. Singapore Airlines was sixth, Cathay Pacific Airways ninth and Virgin Australia Holdings 10th.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose Conservative Party trounced Labour in last month's elections, has vowed to strike new trade deals with countries outside Europe after Britain's departure from the European Union.

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was appointed chancellor of Queen's University Belfast on Thursday, taking up the mainly ceremonial role in Northern Ireland where the peace process was one of the greatest successes of her husband's presidency.

China on Friday confirmed more cases of a mystery viral pneumonia that has sparked fears about a resurgence of SARS, the flu-like virus that killed hundreds of people more than a decade ago. The 44 cases, up from the initial 27 announced on Tuesday, include 11 severe cases, health authorities in the central Chinese city of Wuhan said in a statement.

The Australian navy on Friday began evacuating around 1,000 people stranded on the east coast of the fire-ravaged country as a searing weather front was set to whip up more blazes across the states of Victoria and New South Wales (NSW).

US President Donald Trump ordered the killing of Iran Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, who died in Baghdad “in a decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad”, the Pentagon said on Thursday.