Two Indian soldiers were killed in clashes with Pakistani forces in the disputed Kashmir territory.

An Indian army officer said Pakistani troops fired machine guns and grenades in the Gurez area of Bandipora district on Monday evening.

The violence occurred days before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit to Indian-administered Kashmir.

Ballots have gone out in Hawai'i to elect delegates to a convention which could create a government independent of the United States.

Polls to the convention, or 'aha, opened on Monday. Only Native Hawai'ians will be able to take part in the election, which will last till the end of the month.

A trilateral meeting between the leaders of China, Japan and South Kora has ended with the complete restoration of trade and security ties, at the first meeting of this nature since 2012.

Talks between South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Seoul, resulted in an agreement to continue work on concluding the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a 16-nation free trade area favoured by China.

Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AKP), led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has regained its majority in parliament, which it lost during elections in June.

State-run Anadolu Agency said AKP had won 49.4% of the vote, with the main opposition CHP on 25.4%.

However the party fell 14 seats short of the number required to call a referendum on changing the constitution and increasing the powers of the president.

The establishment of a humanitarian ceasefire and negotiations to end the civil war in Syria must not be delayed by disagreements over the eventual fate of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, said the UN Secretary General on Saturday.

Speaking at a news conference in Geneva on Saturday, Mr Ki Moon said,

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Peter Maurer called for states to act and ensure that violations of international law during war were punished.

In an “unprecedented joint warning,” they accused the world of responding to violations with “a disturbing paralysis.”

Condemning the routine violations of international law during war, Mr Ki Moon said,

An opposition MP was attacked in Myanmar, just a week ahead of historic elections in the country.

Naing Ngan Lin, an MP with Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, was attacked by men wielding knives and swords at a campaign rally.

"We have no idea what are the motives for the attack and who is behind it. It's important to take effective legal action after investigation," said NLD spokesman Nyan Win told Reuters.

Both allies and opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad agreed to intensify efforts to end the civil war in Syria at the conclusion of the Vienna talks.

Ministers involved in the talks agreed to call on the United Nations to start a process that would work towards a ceasefire and new elections in the region.

Following eight hours of discussions, the ministers agreed on:

A court in the US has dismissed a case over a cargo of Iraqi Kurdish oil, which faced controversy after Iraq attempted to block the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) from directly exporting oil, Reuters reported on Thursday.

The lawsuit was dismissed on Wednesday by District Court Judge Gray Miller because the vessel carrying the crude sailed away after the US-based buyer balked at taking delivery, due to the controversy and ongoing legal wrangling.

The US said that it believes Russian military aircraft hit a hospital whilst carrying out bombing raids in Syria.

In a statement released by the State Department on Thursday, spokesperson John Kirby said,