Enormous explosions in a major Chinese port city killed at least 44 people and injured more than 500, leaving a devastated industrial landscape of incinerated cars, toppled shipping containers and burnt-out buildings.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced he had fired the mission chief in the Central African Republic, declaring "enough is enough" after a string of allegations of child sex abuse by peacekeepers.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, and called on regional countries to "fight terrorism and extremism".
Kiev's public relations war with Moscow scaled new heights as Ukraine released a list of prominent Russian reporters and authors whose books will be banned from sale.
Pop star Justin Bieber will release his latest album in November, after a three-year gap in which he has been better known for his personal troubles than his tunes.
Now 73 and sitting in his Tokyo home, Yohachi Nakajima fights back tears when he thinks of his Chinese adopted mother and the farming village he once called homeю
London's Underground staff are to hold two further 24-hour strikes later this month, threatening more chaos for commuters already hit by strikers protesting plans for night services.
The Donald Trump bullet train charged full speed ahead, as the unfiltered US presidential hopeful slammed China, Barack Obama's administration and Republican rival Jeb Bush.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said his government would remain opposed to gay marriage during the current parliament, but suggested the issue could be put to a popular vote after the next election.
If the United States cancels the Iran nuclear deal, the blow to its credibility may be such as to hasten the end of the dollar's reign as the world's reserve currency.
