Charges were read Wednesday against more than 20 Hong Kong protesters who have been accused of rioting — the most serious charge brought since mass demonstrations began in the city last month.

Standing in a heavy rain, supporters rallied outside the court and chanted "Reclaim Hong Kong, revolution of our times," in what has become a familiar refrain. They are protesting China's influence in the city, a semi-autonomous Chinese territory with its own laws and legal system.

A roadside bomb tore through a bus in western Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing at least 32 people, including children, a provincial official said.

Mohibullah Mohib, spokesman for the police chief in Farah province, said 15 others were wounded with most in critical condition, indicating the death toll could rise.

Yemen's internationally-recognized government says the Houthi rebels were behind a strike on a market that killed at least 14 civilians, including children, and wounded 27.

Other Yemeni officials and the rebels' health ministry, however, have said that a Saudi-led coalition airstrike was behind Monday's attack in Saada province, a stronghold of the Iran-aligned Houthis.

Top diplomats from the Asia-Pacific region started gathering Tuesday in the Thai capital to discuss issues of concern to the area, including security on the Korean peninsula and China's territorial claims in the South China Sea.

The meetings in Bangkok are hosted by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, chaired this year by Thailand. Thai officials say there will be 27 meetings in all through Saturday, and 31 countries and alliances will participate.

A day after two North Korean missile launches rattled Asia, the nation announced Friday that it had tested a "new-type tactical guided weapon" that was meant to be a "solemn warning" about South Korean weapons development and its rival's plans to hold military exercises.

The message in the country's state media quoted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and was directed at "South Korean military warmongers." It comes as U.S. and North Korean officials struggle to set up talks after a recent meeting on the Korean border between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump seemed to provide a step forward in stalled nuclear negotiations.

The Justice Department said Thursday the federal government will resume executing death-row inmates for the first time since 2003, ending an informal moratorium even as the nation sees a broad shift away from capital punishment.

Attorney General William Barr instructed the Bureau of Prisons to schedule executions starting in December for five men, all accused of murdering children. Although the death penalty remains legal in 30 states, executions on the federal level are rare.

A Lebanese indie band is to play at a music festival in Byblos next month, but only after apologizing for two songs deemed offensive to Christians, organizers said.

Hot, hotter, hottest! Paris, London and places across Europe are bracing for record temperatures Thursday as the second heat wave this summer bakes the continent.

Climate scientists warn this could become the new normal in many parts of the world. But temperate Europe — where air conditioning is rare — isn't equipped for the temperatures frying the region this week.

China said it will not renounce the use of force in efforts to reunify Taiwan with the mainland and vowed to take all necessary military measures to defeat "separatists."

In a national defense white paper released Wednesday, China listed among its top priorities its resolve to contain "Taiwan independence" and combat what it considers separatist forces in Tibet and the far west region of Xinjiang.

With Boris Johnson confirmed as the next leader of the Conservative Party and British prime minister, the outlook for the British economy has certainly become murkier — and potentially more perilous.

Johnson's comprehensive victory over Jeremy Hunt has made it more likely that Britain could leave the European Union on Halloween without a withdrawal agreement, a prospect that even the most ardent Brexit believers concede would be disruptive in the short-term before any benefits start to manifest.