Hong Kong police threaten ‘live bullets’ during university siege

Hundreds of firefighters are battling the blaze at the edge of Greece's Dadia national park. The European Commission described it as the largest single fire in the history of the EU.

A group of senior Gabonese military officers appeared on national television in the early hours of Wednesday and said they had taken power, minutes after the state election body announced President Ali Bongo had won a third term.

At least 63 people were killed and 43 injured in a fire in the central business district of South Africa's biggest city of Johannesburg on Thursday, the municipal government said.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday called the more than 70 deaths in an apartment block fire in Johannesburg "a tragedy." Johannesburg officials initially suggested the building had been occupied by squatters, but Ramaphosa said that criminal gangs were exploiting vulnerable families by levy rents on buildings like the one that burnt.

Officials said Soaloa could be the strongest typhoon to make landfall in the region encompassing Hong Kong and other major cities since the founding of the current Chinese state.

The regional bloc CCAS, and the country's opposition coalition, have urged international partners to push for a rapid return to civilian rule. Also in this edition: In Democratic Republic of Congo, at least 48 protesters are reported to have been killed in the eastern city of Goma. And finally: In South Africa, the death toll rises to 76 after the devastating Johannesburg fire at an abandoned apartment block that housed dozens of homeless people and squatters.

A landmark case on LGBTQ rights saw Hong Kong's top court rejecting a bid for full marriage equality of same-sex couples. However, the judges also said the government needed to create a legal framework for the issue.

Hong Kong has sounded the alarm with its highest-level rainstorm warning. Rescue operations have begun in several districts and schools remained shut.

Some 70 people were rescued from the multi-story apartment block, which is believed to house 150. Deadly fires have engulfed several Vietnamese establishments in recent years, including entertainment venues.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Friday.

The French Catholic Church is facing new accusations of a sexual abuse scandal within Paris’s Foreign Missions Society, an organisation dedicated to spreading Christianity overseas. As a criminal investigation has been opened into accusations against three clergymen from the group, a FRANCE 24 investigation by journalists Karina Chabour and Julie Dungelhoeff sheds light on the allegations against the society.

Polish consulates reportedly handed out visas to migrants from Asia and Africa in exchange for thousands of dollars. The allegations could hurt Poland's anti-migration ruling party in upcoming elections.