More than 1.5 million people have been asked to evacuate their homes along the Virginia, North and South Carolina coasts as Category 5 storm Hurricane Florence approaches, an official said.

International human rights bodies urged Australia on Wednesday to end its military ties with Myanmar and impose sanctions on those responsible for "atrocities" committed against the Rohingyas.

At least 19 people were killed and 57 wounded on Tuesday in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province in a suicide attack on protesters who were calling for the dismissal of a police commander.

Bangladesh on Tuesday urged the international community to put more pressure on Myanmar to provide a permanent solution to the Rohingya refugee crisis and ensure their safe return.

Fifty of the 105 inmates who escaped from a maximum-security prison in Brazil's Paraiba state have been apprehended while the 55 others still remain at large, officials said.

 The US on Monday announced the closure of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)'s office in Washington, citing its lack of steps to advance direct negotiations with Israel.

At least 31 members of the security forces and 81 Taliban rebels were killed, while dozens of others were wounded in three offensives by the insurgents earlier in the day in the northern and central Afghanistan, an official told the media on Monday.

Palestinian officials on Monday vowed not to bend to what they called the Trump administrations "bullying tactics" after being informed that their office in Washington would be shut down.