New York's same-sex marriage

Waves of gay couples rushed on Saturday to make wedding plans that had been dreams for decades, as euphoria over New York's legalization of same-sex marriage promised to turn a traditional pride parade into an enormous roving engagement party.

In the minutes and hours after the law was passed and signed by Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo on late Friday, sparkling rings were offered and accepted and champagne corks flew to kick off wedding plans likely to add an estimated US$284 million to the state's economy.

Ex-Ukraine PM to go on trial

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko must stand trial on a charge of abuse of power, a judge ruled in a pre-trial hearing on Saturday.

Earlier, the 50-year-old political firebrand had continued to argue that the accusation against her, which relates to the signing of a 2009 gas deal with Russia when she was in power, was part of a wider political plot.

Cambodian court opens landmark trial

Four top Khmer Rouge leaders went on trial at Cambodia's U.N.-backed war crimes court on Monday for genocide and other atrocities during the group's reign of terror in the late 1970s.

The case, described as the most complex since the Nazi trials after World War II, has been long awaited by survivors of the regime, which wiped out nearly a quarter of the population.

World heritage listing

The picturesque West Lake in Hangzhou has garnered worldwide attention as one of five sites just added to Unesco's World Heritage List on Friday.

Regarded as one of the country's best natural attractions, the 3,322-hectare site features numerous temples, pagodas, pavilions, gardens and ornamental trees, as well as causeways and artificial islands. It is the 41st Unesco-listed heritage site in China.

Top NCEE scorers

Two senior high students, a boy and girl from Shenzhen Middle School in Luohu District, were the city's top scorers in science and art subjects in the National College Entrance Examinations (NCEE), the school said on Sunday.

Qian Pengyu received 699 out of 750 points in science subjects, while Chen Shuangyang scored 670 out of 750 in art subjects, the school said. Qian's score was also reported to be the highest in Guangdong.