WELLINGTON, July 21 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese citizen was injured in Thursday's deadly shooting in New Zealand's Auckland, a spokesman for the Chinese Consulate General in Auckland said on Friday.

The conditions of the Chinese are stable, the spokesman told Xinhua.

The Auckland police Friday afternoon informed the consulate on the injured person, following which, consulate officials went to the hospital to learn about the conditions, said the spokesman.

ISLAMABAD, Jul 21 (NNN-APP) – The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of Pakistan, approved a request by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), to allocate funds of 42.528 billion rupees (over 149 million U.S. dollars), for the forthcoming general elections, the finance ministry said in a statement.

The committee allocated 10 billion rupees yesterday, while the remaining money will be allocated in phases, according to the requirement of the ECP, the statement added.

HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong court will hand down a closely-watched decision over whether to ban the broadcast and distribution of “Glory to Hong Kong,” a protest song after the government asked it to do so in the name of national security.

The song was written during the 2019 anti-government protests and its lyrics call for democracy and liberty. But it has been mistakenly played at several international sporting events instead of China’s national anthem, “March of the Volunteers.” The decision is expected next Friday.

LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's governing Conservatives lost two strategically important parliamentary seats on Friday but unexpectedly retained former leader Boris Johnson's old constituency in a setback for the opposition Labour Party.

The Conservatives' narrow victory in Uxbridge and South Ruislip gave Sunak some breathing space to try to narrow Labour's large lead in the polls by tackling inflation and a cost-of-living crisis before a national vote expected next year.

SHUSHA (Azerbaijan), Jul 21 (APP): President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev inaugurated the first-ever Global Media Forum on “New Media in the Era of the 4th Industrial Revolution” here on Friday.

The media forum was organized on the occasion of the 148th anniversary of the Azerbaijan National Press which brought together 150 participants from 49 countries, including 34 state news agencies – Associated Press of Pakistan among them – and 12 international and media organizations, besides 60 local media heads and representatives.

BEIRUT, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's security chief said on Friday that the recent decision by the European Parliament to support Syrian refugees' stay in Lebanon is "unrealistic" and "non-binding," the National News Agency reported.

"We will not surrender to any decision issued against the interest of Lebanon, and I believe the country cannot bear such a decision," Lebanese Director General of Public Security Elias al-Baissari told a delegation from the Lebanese Press Syndicate.

MOSCOW, July 21. /TASS/: Plans may be in the works to use an intended Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian joint military unit as an occupation force in western Ukrainian territories, and any Polish forces entering Lvov are certain to remain there, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a working meeting of the Security Council.

NEW DELHI (AP) — Sri Lanka and India signed a series of energy, development and trade agreements on Friday, signaling growing economic ties between the neighboring countries.

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe arrived in New Delhi a day earlier for the official visit, his first since taking up the top job last year after an economic meltdown forced his predecessor to flee.

HANOI, July 20 (NNN-Bernama) — Vietnam rolled out the red carpet for Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the official welcoming ceremony in the Presidential Palace here Thursday.

Anwar was received on arrival at the Presidential Palace by his counterpart Pham Minh Chinh.

The national anthem of Malaysia, Negaraku and Vietnam’s national anthem Tien Quan Ca were then played by the military band before Anwar accompanied by Chinh inspected the Guard of Honour.

MOSCOW, July 21 (Reuters) - Russia's Defence Ministry said on Friday that its Black Sea Fleet had practised firing rockets at surface targets in a live fire exercise, two days after it warned that ships heading to Ukraine's Black Sea ports could be considered military targets.

Russia issued its warning earlier this week after it quit the Black Sea grain deal on Monday, revoking security guarantees for ships carrying Ukrainian grain.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 21 (APP): Pakistan has welcomed as “bold and perhaps timely” UN Secretary-General’s new policy brief outlining his vision of a more robust multilateral framework to boost peace and security, for a world in flux.

Commenting on UN chief Antonio Guterres’ New Agenda for Peace, Ambassador Munir Akram said that his initiative comes at a time “when we may be at the dawn of a darker era of history.”

SEOUL, July 21 (Xinhua) -- South Korean fishermen on Friday held a maritime protest rally against Japan's planned discharge of contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean.

A group of local fishermen gathered on the seashore of the southwestern coastal county of Jangheung, carrying a rally called "flower bier" about 200 meters along the coast to protest against the contaminated water release plan.