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Thousands of students in Hong Kong have begun a week-long boycott of classes to protest Beijing's decision to rule out fully democratic elections in the former British colony.

Turkish officials say more than 130,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Turkey since late last week in order to flee an advance by Islamic State militants.

French President Francois Hollande said Thursday Paris will conduct airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq in the near future. The announcement comes as the militant group released a new video of a foreign hostage.

Negotiators for Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany, known as the P5+1, have held a series of talks in New York on Iran's nuclear program this week, ahead of plenary negotiations on Friday. A senior U.S. administration official said it is clear that negotiators on both sides have come to the city to “go to work.”

The murders of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid worker David Haines by the so-called Islamic State (IS) were strongly condemned by the European Parliament in a resolution voted on Thursday. The EU must use all possible means to help the Iraqi national and local authorities combat the IS, including appropriate military assistance, they said.

The European Parliament welcomes signs of hope in moves towards peace in Ukraine and in the newly-ratified EU-Ukraine association agreement, but worries about Russia’s real intentions in the undeclared "hybrid war" there. In a resolution adopted on Thursday, it urges the EU to stand up to Russia and step up support for EU farmers hit by its trade ban.

Anna Fotyga

Polls have opened across Scotland for a historic referendum that will decide whether the country leaves Britain and becomes an independent nation.

Australia has launched its biggest-ever counter-terrorism operation at homes and businesses in Sydney and Brisbane. Officials say 800 heavily armed police officers have taken part in the raids, in which 15 people have been arrested so far and one formally charged.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has strongly denounced Islamic State as being shamefully anti-Islam, but called the U.S.-led coalition to fight the extremists "ridiculous."