China’s top official in Hong Kong says Beijing backs city’s leader
China’s top representative in Hong Kong said on Thursday the central government in Beijing maintained its support for Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who is grappling with the city’s greatest political crisis since it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Imagine all the Post-its: Hong Kong protesters come together with ‘Lennon Walls’
During Hong Kong’s “Umbrella Movement” of 2014, colorful Post-it notes of support covered a wall near where protesters camped in the streets calling for democracy in the Chinese-controlled city, becoming a symbol of the movement.
Spain’s acting PM says he is not planning for another election
Spain’s acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday he is not planning to call a new election in the midst of complicated, multi-party talks ahead of a parliamentary vote on his investiture on July 22-23.
French quadriplegic at center of life support battle dies
A French quadriplegic in a vegetative state involved in a decade-long legal battle to maintain his life support died on Thursday after doctors ended treatment.
Exclusive: West, Japan rebuke China at U.N. for detention of Uighurs
Nearly two dozen countries have called on China to halt its mass detention of ethnic Uighurs in the Xinjiang region, the first such joint move on the issue at the U.N. Human Rights Council, according to diplomats and a letter seen by Reuters.
EU signals sanctions on Turkey over Cyprus drilling: draft
The European Union will put on hold high-level talks with Ankara and negotiations on an air transport agreement, as well as freezing funding for Turkey next year, over “illegal” drilling for gas and oil off Cyprus, according to a draft statement seen b…
Blast causes deaths in Syria’s rebel-held Afrin
A car bomb killed 11 people and wounded many others on Thursday in Syria’s Afrin city, which Turkey-backed rebels captured from Kurdish fighters last year, medical sources and a monitor said.
Activists lay sunflowers at memorial site for Hong Kong protester
Hong Kong activists on Thursday lay sunflowers and white lilies at a memorial site for a man who fell to his death during recent protests against an extradition bill that has plunged the former British colony into turmoil.
Exclusive: Echo chambers – Fake news fact-checks hobbled by low reach, study shows
The European Union has called on Facebook and other platforms to invest more in fact-checking, but a new study shows those efforts may rarely reach the communities worst affected by fake news.
Britain says Iran attempted to block its oil tanker
Three Iranian vessels tried to block the passage of a BP-operated tanker through the Strait of Hormuz but withdrew after warnings from a British warship, the British government said on Thursday.
