Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was poised on August 14 to issue a statement marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two, remarks that will be closely analyzed abroad to see whether he dilutes past apologies over the conflict.

Two massive explosions caused by flammable goods ripped through an industrial area in the northeast Chinese port city of Tianjin late on August 12, killing 17 people and injuring around 400, official Chinese media reported.

The United States launched its first manned air strikes against Islamic State targets from the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey on August 12, the US military said.

Iraq's parliament voted unanimously on August 11 for the biggest shakeup in its governing system since the US military occupation, eliminating entire layers of government and giving Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi new powers.

Greece and its international lenders reached an 85 billion euro bailout agreement on August 11 after nailing down the terms of new loans needed to save the country from financial ruin.

Russia and Saudi Arabia failed in talks on August 11 to overcome their differences on the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a central dispute in Syria's civil war that shows no sign of abating despite renewed diplomacy.

Greece and its international lenders were locked in marathon overnight talks to seal a multibillion-euro bailout deal on August 10, racing against a countdown to European Central Bank debt repayments falling due in days.

Two women shot at the US consulate in Istanbul on August 10 and at least nine people were killed in a wave of separate attacks on Turkish security forces, weeks after Ankara launched a crackdown on Islamic State, Kurdish and far-left militants.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani demanded that Pakistan crack down on the Taliban after a car bomb explosion near Kabul airport claimed by the Islamist militants killed five people on August 10, the latest in a series of suicide attacks to rock the capital.

A typhoon battered China's east coast on August 9, killing 14 people and forcing the authorities to evacuate hundreds of thousands more.