Iraq's acting deputy justice minister was kidnapped from his vehicle on September 8 by black-clad gunmen in northern Baghdad, security sources said, the second high-profile abduction in the capital in less than a week.

At least 850,000 people are expected to cross the Mediterranean seeking refuge in Europe this year and next, the United Nations said on September 8, giving estimates that already look conservative.

An explosion shook a chemical plant in the Chinese province of Zhejiang, state media said on September 7, though there were no immediate reports of casualties in a country on edge after blasts killed more than 160 people last month.

Struggling to cope with record numbers of asylum seekers, Germany told its European partners on September 7 they too must take in more refugees, as police in Hungary used pepper spray on desperate migrants who broke out of a reception center at the border.

Austria said on September 6 it planned to end emergency measures that have allowed thousands of refugees stranded in Hungary into Austria and Germany since September 5 morning.

The European Union and the United States have clinched a deal protecting personal data shared for law enforcement purposes such as terrorism investigations, according to a document seen by Reuters.

China's top state planner said on September 7 that the country's power usage, train freight and property market have all shown improvement since August, indicating that the economy is stabilizing.

Britain moved closer to military action in Syria as a senior minister on September 5 said Europe's migration crisis had to be tackled at its source and a newspaper said a parliamentary vote on bombing Islamic State militants in Syria could take place next month.

Thousands of exhausted migrants streamed into Austria on September 5, bussed to the border by a Hungarian government that gave up trying to stop them as Europe’s asylum system buckled under pressure from the sheer numbers reaching its frontiers.

Russian oil giant Rosneft said on September 4 it had signed an agreement to drill offshore exploration wells in Vietnam with Japan Drilling Co .