Russia sent the army on Saturday to battle wildfires that have killed at least 28 people and were threatening dozens of towns and villages. Thick smoke and ash slowed firefighting efforts and thousands of people were being evacuated.Half

Fire crews working through the night beat back flames and built containment lines around a two-day old wildfire that charred nearly 22 square miles of brush in the high desert north of Los Angeles.The blaze was 62 percent

Three Kenyans have been charged with the murders of 76 people killed when bombs exploded as they watched the World Cup on TV in Kampala, Uganda.Related stories * Doubts over Uganda's role in Somalia * Uganda's World Cup

A report into Australia's worst bushfires has called for sweeping changes to the way the authorities respond to natural disasters.Some 173 people were killed when fires tore across Victoria in early 2009.Over 155 days a royal commission heard

Germany has held an emotional memorial service for 21 people killed at the Love Parade dance festival last weekend.At the service, a top state official vowed that authorities would do everything to find out who was responsible for

Colombia's largest left-wing rebel group, the Farc, says it is willing to talk to the new Colombian government.The Farc leader known as Alfonso Cano said the Marxist rebel group was willing to search for a political solution to

The BBC's Jim Muir: "A lot of Lebanese will be looking to these meetings to defuse tensions"The Syrian and Saudi leaders have called on Lebanon's rival factions to avoid turning to violence amid mounting political tensions in the