A secret operation by specialist firefighters has saved the world's last stand of Wollemi Pines, a pre-historic species known as "dinosaur trees", from Australia's unprecedented bushfires, officials said.

India has slammed Pakistan for again trying to raise the Kashmir issue in the UN Security Council where it failed one more time to find any support, with New Delhi asserting that Islamabad needs to focus on the hard tasks it has to address in order to ensure normal relations with India.

Moscow: President Vladimir Putin accepted the resignation of his prime minister Wednesday after proposing constitutional amendments that could herald his intention to carve out a position that would let him stay at Russia's helm after his presidency ends.

New video footage has emerged showing two Iranian missiles tearing through the night sky and hitting a Ukrainian passenger plane, sending the aircraft down in flames and killing all 176 passengers and crew on board.

Katyusha rockets targeted an Iraqi airbase north of Baghdad hosting US-led coalition forces, the Iraqi military said on Tuesday, in the latest attack on installations where American troops are deployed.

 The air quality in Melbourne deteriorated to the "worst in the world" on Tuesday as smoke from the massive bushfires engulfed Australia's second biggest city with authorities issuing health warnings advising people to stay indoors and take precautionary measures.

 Iran's judiciary says arrests have been made over the shootdown of a Ukrainian plane that killed all 176 people on board.

Microsoft's Indian-origin CEO Satya Nadella on Monday voiced concern over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), saying what is happening is "sad" and he would love to see a Bangladeshi immigrant create the next unicorn in India.