SYDNEY/DUBAI, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Australia will join the United States in a security mission to protect merchant vessels traveling through key Middle East waterways after Iran seized a British-flagged vessel, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday.

STOCKHOLM, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday Tehran "will do its best" to see if the death sentence on Swedish-Iranian scientist Ahmadreza Djalali can be delayed.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis allowed a girl suffering from an undisclosed illness to move around undisturbed clapping and dancing on the stage for most of his general audience on Wednesday, delighting the crowd.

BRUSSELS, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Five European Union countries will take in migrants who had been stranded on the Open Arms rescue ship before being allowed to disembark on the Italian island of Lampedusa on Tuesday night, a European Commission spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

VATICAN CITY, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Pope Francis allowed a girl suffering from an undisclosed illness to move around undisturbed clapping and dancing on the stage for most of his general audience on Wednesday, delighting the crowd.

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danes expressed shock and disbelief on Wednesday over U.S. President Donald Trump's cancellation of a state visit to Denmark after its prime minister rebuffed his interest in purchasing Greenland.

PARIS, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Russia's readmission to the Group of Seven nations depends on progress in Ukraine peace talks, a French diplomatic source said, responding to comments by U.S. President Donald Trump that Moscow should be allowed to rejoin the group.

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government agreed on Wednesday to exempt most taxpayers from the solidarity tax that was introduced after the county's reunification.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A major bank warned on Wednesday that weeks of protests in Hong Kong could hit the economies of the Chinese-ruled city and mainland China itself as demonstrators headed for a sit-in at the subway site of a mid-summer mob attack.