Media captionPolice intercepted the car at Gympie, 90km (55 miles) from the hostel A British backpacker who says she was held against her will during a car trip in Australia was rescued after texting her location to her father in England. Mary Kate Heys, 20, had agreed to ride with …

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Dutch vessel Fugro Equator is the only ship still involved in the search operation The one remaining ship still looking for missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 has begun what is likely to be its final search. Dutch-owned Fugro Equator left the Australian port …

Image copyright Robert Willemse Image caption The golf course in Far North Queensland is known for its wildlife Australian golfers have watched a 4m scrub python swallow a wallaby at a course in Far North Queensland. The incident happened on the 17th fairway at Paradise Palms Golf Course in Cairns …

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Australian woman Sara Connor, far right, is accused of murder The widow of a policeman allegedly murdered in Indonesia has rejected a “donation” from his accused Australian killer. Wayan Sudarsa’s body was found on Bali’s Kuta beach on 17 August with head and neck …

Ex-Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev says the dissolution of the USSR in 1991 was “a crime and a coup”. In a rare interview marking 25 years since the demise of the Soviet Union, he told the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg he resigned to avoid a bloody civil war. But today the West …

Image copyright Thinkstock Image caption The animals are now having to swim across more water as the environment changes The world’s largest wild reindeer herd has fallen by 40% since 2000, scientists have warned. They say that the animals, which live in the Taimyr Peninsula in the northernmost tip of …

Image copyright Alexei Navalny Image caption Mr Navalny spoke of the importance of a “clash of ideas” in the 2018 campaign One of the Kremlin’s most vocal critics, Alexei Navalny, has said he will stand for the Russian presidency in 2018. The activist and anti-corruption campaigner said those in power …

The 2014 Winter Olympics were held in Sochi The Russian city of Sochi will not host the 2017 bobsleigh and skeleton World Championships. The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) said it would not be “prudent” to hold the championships in Russia, a country accused of state-sponsored doping. A report …

Image copyright AFP Image caption Mr Vucic (R) is pro-EU but Serbia still has a long way to go before it can join Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic has cut short a visit to Brussels, accusing Croatia of blocking his nation’s progress towards EU membership. Serbia’s anger at Croatia – which …

Image copyright AP Image caption Most Cubans can only access the internet from public wi-fi hotspots Cuba’s state-run telecommunications company Etecsa has signed a deal with Google that will enable faster access to content from the American company. Under the deal, the technology giant will install servers in Cuba to …