Telescopes at a global astronomy research hub appear to have survived a devastating Australian bushfire that destroyed nearby homes and damaged several buildings on the site, officials said on Monday.

Telescopes at a global astronomy research hub appear to have survived a devastating Australian bushfire that destroyed nearby homes and damaged several buildings on the site, officials said Monday.

As dozens of unpredictable bushfires break out in Australia's extreme heat, military-style operations are in full swing at a "nerve centre" that harnesses state-of-the-art technology allied to the power of social media.

Australia's top research observatory, which houses telescopes used by scientists from around the world, was damaged by a large wildfire Sunday as hot weather and storms stoked dozens of new blazes.

Australia's top research observatory home to several telescopes used by scientists from around the world was under threat from wildfires on Sunday as hot weather and lightning storms stoked scores of new blazes.

Three years after a massive earthquake ravaged Haiti, President Michel Martelly said Saturday his country was slowly rebuilding, despite the ongoing day-to-day misery of many survivors.

A desperate search for three people missing in a landslide in southwestern China ended on Saturday when their bodies were pulled from the mud, taking the final death toll to 46 -- many of them children.

The Philippine government plans to move about 100,000 squatters from their homes on crucial waterways in Manila by June as a flood control measure and for their own safety, an official said Saturday.

Firefighters were battling scores of wildfires raging in Australia on Saturday, as a government commission warned that climate change had raised the risk of scorching heatwaves becoming more frequent.

Mother nature in all her fury tossed them about like toys. Now they fill two airport runways -- parked, obedient and damaged -- as they await nibbles from buyers.

Three people remain missing after a landslide which killed 43, including seven from a single family, struck a remote village in southwestern China, state media said Saturday.

Three people have died, and nearly 5,000 households have been ruined as floods swept through parts of Malawi, officials told AFP on Friday.

A landslide killed at least 42 people including seven from a single family when it smashed into a remote village in southwestern China on Friday, state media said.

A landslide killed at least 36 people including seven from a single family when it smashed into a remote village in southwestern China on Friday, state-run media said.

India and French group Areva are close to agreement on a contract for Areva to build a nuclear power station on the west coast of India, Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said in a newspaper interview on Friday.

A landslide in southwestern China on Friday killed at least 22 people, including seven from one family, with some two dozen others trapped, local authorities said.

Western Australians were bracing for a cyclone with residents warned to batten down for storms and destructive winds gusting up to 140 kilometres per hour (90 mph).

A landslide in southwestern China on Friday killed at least 18 people, including seven from one family, with more than two dozen others trapped, state media and local authorities said.

Australians who fled for their lives from raging bushfires faced the trauma Friday of returning to see if they still had homes, as firefighters battled worsening conditions to douse about 100 blazes.

Australians who fled for their lives from bushfires faced the trauma Friday of returning to see if they still had a home, as firefighters battled worsening conditions to douse more than 100 blazes.