WORLD

– Every 14th wedding celebrated in Germany between October 2017 and December 2018 was for same-sex couples, according to figures from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Destatis data sent to Xinhua showed that a total of 449,466 marriages were contracted in Germany during this period, of which 16,766 were between …

Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Catholic cleric to be convicted of sexual abuse, has failed in a legal bid to quash his convictions in Australia. Pell was jailed for six years in March after being found guilty of abusing two boys in a Melbourne cathedral in the 1990s. He …

The Tory party has “failed” the UK and a general election is the “change of direction the country needs”, Jeremy Corbyn has said. The Labour leader said the UK is facing a Brexit “crisis” and vowed to do “everything necessary” to stop the UK leaving the EU without a deal. …

A Syrian government air strike aiming to stop a Turkish convoy reaching a rebel-held town in northern Syria has killed three civilians, Turkey alleges. Another 12 people were injured in the attack in Idlib province on Monday, the Turkish defence ministry said. Idlib, one of the few areas not under …

The brother of Afghan Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada has been killed in a powerful bomb blast at a mosque in southwestern Pakistan, Taliban sources have confirmed. A senior Taliban source said that Hafiz Ahmadullah was the imam of the Khair Ul Madarais mosque in the town of Kuchlak, on the …

Singer R. Kelly has missed a court hearing, with prosecutors claiming he “refused transport” from jail. The R&B star was due at a pre-trial hearing for his sex abuse case in Chicago, Illinois, on Thursday. Kelly’s lawyer said it was “not 100% true” that the singer had refused transport, but …

The former head of the Sudanese intelligence service, Salah Gosh, has been banned from entering the United States because of his alleged involvement in human rights violations. In a statement, the US State Department said it had credible evidence that Mr Gosh was involved in torture when he was in …

Hong Kong International Airport has cancelled departing flights, as anti-government protests in its main terminal continue for a fourth day. Thousands are gathered at the airport – which is one of the world’s busiest. In a statement, officials said operations had been “seriously disrupted” by the public assembly. Many of …

Police officers in Hong Kong stormed enclosed railway stations on Sunday, firing tear gas in an effort to force out protesters. One video inside Tai Koo station showed officers firing what appeared to be non-lethal ammunition at close range. It also showed several police beating people with batons on an …

The FBI has opened a formal investigation into how US financier Jeffrey Epstein was able to apparently kill himself in prison while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His body was discovered early on Saturday at a facility in New York. Last month Epstein was found semi-conscious in his cell …