
CHINA
Protest held in Hong Kong ahead of vote
Protesters take to the streets of Hong Kong ahead of a vote on a political reform package.

Protesters take to the streets of Hong Kong ahead of a vote on a political reform package.

Flooding kills at least eight people in the Georgian capital, and sets dangerous animals on loose after destroying zoo enclosures.

Senior officials from the US and Venezuela have met in Haiti in an attempt to “normalize relations.”

The International Criminal Court (ICC) urges South Africa to arrest Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, who is in Johannesburg.

A ban on prostitution in Northern Ireland won’t reach England over politicians, says a report.

Iran is planning to build eight condensate refineries in southern Bushehr province.

Washington aims to "stigmatize" and "isolate| China by leveling allegations that Chinese hackers stole data of US federal employees’ records, says a professor.

A German daily says the International Monetary Fund has "torpedoed" a proposal by the European Commission on Greece debt talks.

Somali army troops kill a top al-Shabab commnader during an ambush in southwestern Somalia.

A Saudi airstrike targets a wedding party in Yemen, killing at least seven people, including the bride.

A senior Afghan government official and three policemen are killed in a bomb attack in Takhar Province.

An advisor to Iran's president says attracting investors is the best strategy to develop Iran's free trade zones.

Protesters in Italy rally to slam Western sanctions imposed on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine.

South Korea reports seven new cases of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

President Obama sent additional forces to Iraq despite warnings from his top military commanders that the plan would risk American lives.

Ethnic Albanians rally in Macedonia to denounce the government’s discriminatory policies toward them.

US women are being involved in combat roles while this has been barred for them for centuries, a journalist says.

Syrian Kurdish fighters are engaged in heavy fighting with ISIL terrorists near the northern Syrian border town of Tal Abyad in Raqqa Province.