The smells of grilled cheese and cooked corn waft over the protesters in the Lebanese capital -- with daily crowds filling the the capital's main squares, the movement has been a boon for street vendors.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday slammed Tehran's treatment of an inspector with the UN's nuclear watchdog agency last week as "an outrageous and unwarranted act of intimidation."

The top US diplomat said Iran "detained" the inspector, who the International Atomic Energy Agency has said had been briefly prevented from leaving Iran.

Catastrophic bushfires have killed at least two people and forced thousands from their homes in eastern Australia, with the death toll expected to rise as firefighters struggle toward hard-to-reach communities.

In the normally picturesque coastal town of Forster -- one among dozens hit along a swathe of the eastern seaboard -- vast plumes of smoke shot out from multiple blazes as water bombers swooped in overhead.

Police in three Bolivian cities joined anti-government protests Friday, in one case marching with demonstrators in La Paz, in the first sign security forces are withdrawing support from President Evo Morales after a disputed election that has triggered riots.

Hong Kong police said Saturday they have arrested three pro-democracy lawmakers over a brawl in parliament, deepening the city's crisis a day after the death of a student sent tensions soaring.

The international finance hub has been upended by five months of huge and increasingly violent pro-democracy protests but Beijing has refused to give in to most of the movement's demands.

Bangladesh authorities have evacuated around 100,000 people from the country's low-lying coastal villages and islands with Cyclone Bulbul set to slam into the country later on Saturday, officials said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan on Saturday for his "cooperation" on a visa-free corridor allowing Indian Sikhs to visit one of their religion's holiest sites across the border in Pakistan.

The Islamic State group on Friday claimed responsibility for a deadly attack against a Tajik border post this week, but Central Asia watchers cast doubt on the jihadists' claim as well as official Tajik statements on the incident.

Eager to be reunited with her jailed lover, the girlfriend of Brazilian ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva tweeted "I'm coming for you, wait for me," shortly after a Supreme Court ruling that could free him. 

White House Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney snubbed demands by House impeachment investigators to testify Friday, claiming immunity as a top aide to President Donald Trump.