The High Court in London ruled Thursday that the British government alone cannot start the process of leaving the European Union but requires the approval of parliament, in a landmark judgment that could delay Brexit.

Three senior judges said Prime Minister Theresa May's government does not have the power itself to trigger Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon treaty, the formal notification of Britain's intention to leave the bloc.

Two Hong Kong lawmakers who advocate a split from China should be banned from taking up their seats, government lawyers argued in court Thursday, as concerns grow Beijing will wade into the escalating row.

Widespread fears that China is tightening its grip on the semi-autonomous city are fueling an independence movement in Hong Kong.

At least 20 people have been killed and dozens more injured after two trains carrying hundreds of passengers collided in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi during morning rush hour Thursday, officials said.

Witnesses described watching in horror as one train sped into the city's Quaidabad Railway Station and rammed into the second, which was stationary, with the roar of the crash swiftly followed by the screams of people trapped inside.

South Korean prosecutors detained a former presidential aide as an influence-peddling scandal moves closer to embattled leader Park Geun-Hye, with the justice minister warning Thursday that Park could face a probe.

China's president slammed "conspiracies" in the ruling party Wednesday, saying corruption and election fraud had undermined the country's governance and that a tighter ideological grip on its leaders was needed.

A top Venezuelan opposition leader accused President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday of trying to divide his enemies to undermine talks on defusing the country's political crisis.

Over 1,600 unaccompanied minors left in Calais after the demolition of the infamous "Jungle" migrant camp were bussed to shelters across France on Wednesday, even as many still hoped to be admitted to Britain.

Swiss police arrested an imam at a controversial mosque near Zurich on Wednesday after he allegedly urged followers to kill fellow Muslims who refused to join communal prayers. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday called Turkey's latest arrests of opposition newspaper journalists "highly alarming" and said they would impact Ankara's EU membership negotiations.

Tehran's notorious former chief prosecutor, Said Mortazavi, has been sentenced to 135 lashes for misappropriation and waste of public money while head of Iran's welfare program, Iranian media reported Wednesday.