World News in Brief: November 20

The COP27 summit on Sunday agreed an overarching climate deal at a closing plenary session in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Iran will export 250 tons of foodstuffs and agricultural products per day to Qatar during the FIFA World Cup, said Iran's Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) head on Sunday.
Iran will export 250 tons of foodstuffs and agricultural products per day to Qatar during the FIFA World Cup, said Iran's Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) head on Sunday.

* No single party or political coalition gained simple majority in Malaysia's 15th general election, according to the results released early Sunday on the website of the country's election commission (EC).

* Kazakhstan on Sunday held a snap presidential race, and six candidates, including incumbent President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, are running for the Central Asian country's top job.

* Nepalis went to the polls on Sunday morning for elections to the House of Representatives of the federal parliament and seven provincial assemblies. About 17.988 million voters are eligible to elect 275 members to the lower house and 550 members to the seven provincial assemblies.

* China and Russia kicked off the "audio-visual communication week-2022," a major cultural exchange program, via video link on Sunday.

* China said on Sunday it is open to a meeting with the US defence secretary on the sidelines of a regional security forum in Cambodia this week, in a sign of thawing relations after the countries' top leaders met earlier this month.

* Millions of Nepalis went to the polls on Sunday to choose a new government to steer the Himalayan country through a time of economic peril.

* Powerful explosions shook the area of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) on Saturday evening and Sunday morning, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said, amid escalating conflicts between Ukraine and Russia.

* Visiting Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in Lisbon on Friday that Brazil and Portugal need to have a close relationship.

* The first-ever direct flight between Israel and Qatar took off on Sunday, said Cyprus' leading airline TUS Airways. The flight is part of at least six round-trip flights that TUS Airways scheduled for flying Israeli and Palestinian fans during the 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar.

* The Iranian nuclear chief vowed on Sunday that Iran will give a "firm response" towards the adoption of an anti-Tehran resolution by the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), according to the official news agency IRNA.

* Israel's total imports from China reached an all-time annual high in 2022, according to data released by Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics on Sunday. Total Israeli imports from China, excluding diamonds, reached 10.82 billion USD during the first 10 months of the year, higher than the whole year of 2021, which stood at 10.71 billion dollars.

* A senior Palestinian official on Sunday stated that Palestine is committed to achieving peace in the Middle East by implementing relevant international resolutions.

* Turkey's defence ministry said on Sunday that 89 targets, including shelters and ammunition depots, were destroyed in air strikes on Kurdish militant bases in northern Iraq and northern Syria.

* More than 4,000 health workers in Zimbabwe have left the country in droves over the past year, a senior official at the Health Services Board (HSB) revealed on Sunday.

VNA, Reuters, Xinhua