* It could take until the closing years of the century for Gaza's economy to regain its pre-conflict size if hostilities in the Palestinian enclave were to cease immediately, the U.N. trade body said in a report published on Wednesday.
* China has remained Africa's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years, with bilateral trade reaching a record 282.1 billion USD in 2023, a Ministry of Commerce official said on Wednesday.
* The Indian government will spend a record 11.11 trillion rupees (about $134 billion) on infrastructure creation in 2024/25, to ensure the Asian nation remains one of the world's fastest growing major economies.
* Yemen's Houthis on Wednesday said their naval forces carried out an operation targeting an "American merchant ship" in the Gulf of Aden hours after firing missiles at U.S. Navy destroyer Gravely.
* Mali said on Wednesday it was not planning to leave West Africa's currency zone while Burkino Faso indicated it would do so after they and Niger announced their withdrawal from the region's political bloc in protest.
* Iranian oil minister Javad Oji on Wednesday departed for Caracas to hold talks with his Venezuelan counterpart, oil minister Pedro Tellechea, Iran's official news agency IRNA said.
* Some 290,000 Finnish workers will begin two days of strike action on Thursday to protest against the government's planned labour market reforms and proposed cuts to the social welfare system.
* Greek farmers are planning protests across the country for Feb. 1, demanding sufficient financial aid pledged by the government with no delays.
* High migration levels to Finland persisted in 2023, the Finnish Immigration Service (MIGRI) said on Wednesday. The Finnish Immigration Service estimates that approximately 8,000 to 12,000 applicants for temporary protection will arrive in Finland in 2024.
* Sweden's central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at 4.00% on Thursday as expected and said it might be able to ease policy sooner than was indicated in the November forecast.
* The European Commission will analyse carefully Britain's new package of post-Brexit trading measures intended to strengthen Northern Ireland's place in the United Kingdom, the British government said on Wednesday after a call between officials.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday said it committed 9.8 billion USD in climate finance from its resources in 2023, a more than 46 percent increase on its 2022 climate financing commitments.
* The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday approved the most recent review of its $44 billion program with Argentina, allowing for the disbursement of $4.7 billion.
* Japan's exports of automobiles in 2023 came in at more than 4.42 million units, up 15.98 percent from a year earlier, industry data showed on Wednesday.
* Bitcoin will remain legal tender in El Salvador during the second term of President Nayib Bukele, his vice president said on Wednesday.
* Canada's real gross domestic product (GDP) by industry is expected to grow 1.5 percent in 2023 and 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter with December's advance estimate, Statistics Canada said on Wednesday.
* Over 200,000 tourists have arrived in Sri Lanka in the first month of 2024, the latest statistics by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority showed.
* Health authorities in the Australian state of Victoria on Thursday warned residents of the summer temperatures to hit the 40-Celsius-degree mark, with a heatwave warning also having been in place for Western Australia.
