* International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi on Wednesday stressed the crucial role of the UN nuclear watchdog as more countries are shifting their attention to nuclear energy.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin may take part in an upcoming summit of the G20 grouping of nations in Bali via video link, state news agency RIA said on Thursday, citing the Russian embassy in Indonesia.
* China's cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou-5, is ready for launch, according to the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, under the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, in China's southern island province of Hainan.
* India is in talks with the governments of other countries to export green hydrogen made in the South Asian nation, an official of its foreign ministry said on Thursday.
* Cambodia and Thailand on Thursday vowed to further promote bilateral ties and cooperation for mutual benefits, the Cambodian foreign ministry said in a press statement.
* US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that 2022 midterm voters are "frustrated," as control of the next Congress is still up in the air.
* The New Zealand parliament passed two bills on Thursday that are necessary to ratify the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Britain.
* Russia will announce a number of initiatives related to gas cooperation with Turkey and grain exports at a gathering of leaders from the Group of 20 (G20) nations in Indonesia next week, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday welcomed the decision of the European Commission to propose a support package for Ukraine of up to 18 billion euros (about 18 billion USD) for next year.
* The world body continues to conduct consultations in an effort to have the Black Sea Grain Initiative renewed, said a UN spokeswoman on Wednesday.
* Iranian Petroleum Minister Javad Owji said in Tehran on Wednesday his ministry has signed with Russian energy giant Gazprom cooperation agreements worth nearly 40 billion USD.
* French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday the official end of the French military operation Barkhane in the Sahel region in Africa.
* A senior commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said Thursday that the country has built a hypersonic ballistic missile that is capable of penetrating "all missile defense systems."
* The European Parliament on Thursday cleared the way for the admission of Croatia to the bloc's passport-free Schengen area, leaving the final decision in the hands of the EU's government leaders.
* Foreign direct investment (FDI) that flowed into the Philippines fell to 797 million USD in August, bringing the cumulative net inflows to 5.9 billion dollars for the first eight months of 2022, the Philippine central bank said Thursday.
* Malaysia, the world's second largest palm oil producer, saw its palm oil inventories rise 3.74 percent from the previous month to 2.4 million tonnes in October, official data showed Thursday.
* The Philippines' economy expanded by 7.6 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2022, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Thursday.
* Iran has agreed to a visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency this month to provide answers the U.N.watchdog and its 35-nation board have long called for on the origin of uranium particles found at three sites, an IAEA report on Thursday seen by Reuters said.
* Venezuela welcomed Wednesday the first Colombian flight from Satena Airline, after the reestablishment of diplomatic and commercial relations between the two nations in August.
* The Council of the European Union (EU) and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on Tuesday evening to tighten EU countries' greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets.
* Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo on Wednesday called on citizens to stand together in the face of the energy crisis.
* Lebanon's parliament on Thursday failed to elect a new president as political parties could not yet agree on a figure for the vacant presidential seat, the National News Agency reported.
* The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt agreed on Tuesday to develop one of the world's largest onshore wind farms in Egypt, Egypt's presidency said in a statement on its website.
* Yemen's Houthi group is piling on pressure to extract economic gains in U.N.-led talks for an extended truce deal with attacks on oil ports in government-held areas, which officials say have disrupted crude exports, choking state revenues.
* France said on Thursday it would allow an NGO ship carrying over 200 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean to dock at the port of Toulon, following tense exchanges with Italy, whose attitude the French government harshly criticised.
* Lebanon could still finalise a deal with the International Monetary Fund for a $3 billion bailout despite having no president and no fully-empowered government, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Thursday.
* Annual inflation in Ireland hit a 38-year high of 9.2% in October, up from 8.2% a month earlier after fresh electricity and gas price increases kicked in, Central Statistics Office data showed on Thursday.
* Italy will approve a package of measures worth more than 9 billion euros ($8.96 billion) on Thursday to lower energy prices, increase gas output and preserve stocks ahead of the winter, two government officials told Reuters.
* France has put the country on "high" alert for bird flu, forcing poultry farms to keep birds indoors to contain the spread of the highly contagious disease, the agriculture ministry said on Thursday.
* Türkiye foresees economic growth of 5 percent in 2022 and targets the same growth rate in 2023 as the government expects to "maintain its balanced outlook" next year, Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said on Thursday.
* The Czech economy is set to grow by 2.4 percent this year, although it is "currently going through a mild recession," the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday.
* The Finnish government said on Wednesday it has expanded the provision of state-funded COVID-19 booster vaccines and will let municipalities decide whether to offer booster shots to people of all ages.
