* Chinese and Russian forces conducted a joint aerial patrol on Wednesday, China's defence ministry said.
* The United Nations welcomes the first shipment of Russian-made fertilizer previously stranded in European ports and warehouses, said a UN spokesman on Tuesday.
* The leaders of the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization on Tuesday warned against the negative impact of deglobalization for the global economy, arguing instead for smart moves to diversify supply chains.
* The Indian government has lifted the ban imposed nearly three months ago on exports of organic non-basmati rice, including broken rice, said an official notification by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued late on Tuesday.
* Trade volume between east China's Fujian Province with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) reached 340.29 billion yuan (about 47.41 billion USD) in the first ten months of 2022, up 13.2 percent year on year.
* The United States, Costa Rica, Netherlands, the Republic of Korea and Zambia will co-host a second "Summit for Democracy" next year, the countries said on Tuesday in a joint statement issued through the White House.
* Indonesia will appeal to the World Trade Organization's (WTO) ruling on a nickel ore trade dispute, in which the European Union sued Indonesia over its nickel ore export ban, President Joko Widodo said on Wednesday.
* The civilian suffering caused by various conflicts across the world combined with a worsening climate emergency and rising food and energy prices will make 2023 a year of vast humanitarian need, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned on Tuesday.
* Remittances to low- and middle-income countries grew by nearly 5% to around $626 billion in 2022 - about half the expansion seen last year - and growth is expected to slow further to around 2% next year, the World Bank reported on Wednesday.
* Russia's foreign ministry said on Wednesday that Sweden and Finland joining NATO could accelerate the militarisation of the Arctic region.
* The European Commission approved on Wednesday Hungary's post-pandemic recovery plan but said Budapest would not receive any payments - worth a total 5.8 billion euros - until it implements reforms to bolster judicial independence and tackle corruption.
* Russia does not conduct a dialogue with the United States on the Ukrainian situation as they have "radically different" positions, but the two countries periodically "exchange signals" about how certain actions of Moscow and Washington are perceived by each other, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Tuesday.
* Talks between Russia and Ukraine could begin if Kiev shows political will and readiness to discuss Moscow's demands, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
* Russia will "pay special attention" to the construction of major facilities in 2023 for the country's strategic nuclear forces, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday.
* The European Commission on Wednesday proposed a plan to confiscate frozen Russian assets to compensate Ukraine for its damages caused by the conflict.
* Germany will have trained 5,000 Ukrainian soldiers on German soil by the summer of next year, Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht told a security conference on Wednesday.
* Hungary hopes that EU funds will be released in 2023 as the European Commission' proposal earlier in the day opens the door to a final agreement on funds, Hungary's minister responsible for negotiations on EU funds said on Wednesday.
* German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Wednesday called on Turkey to refrain from a ground invasion of northern Syria and military strikes in northern Iraq.
* Turkey said on Wednesday that Sweden and Finland had made progress towards NATO membership but that they still needed to do more to satisfy Ankara's requests on tackling terrorism.
* Hungary has promised to ratify the NATO bids of Finland and Sweden in early February of 2023, Finnish foreign minister Pekka Haavisto said on Wednesday.
* The Russian government on Tuesday approved a list of dual-use goods that are prohibited from being exported to "unfriendly countries."
* US President Joe Biden met with top congressional lawmakers on Tuesday to discuss the agenda in the lame-duck session on Capitol Hill.
* Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit on Wednesday condemned the escalations practiced by the Israeli forces in the West Bank.
* Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday he will "very likely" travel to Peru on Dec. 14 for a meeting of presidents from the Latin American trade bloc known as the Pacific Alliance.
* Indonesia's central bank has forecast the country's economy will grow in the coming years, supported by private consumption, investment, and positive export performance amid the slowing global economy, Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Perry Warjiyo said on Wednesday.
* Myanmar has vaccinated more than 37.53 million people for COVID-19 as of Tuesday, the Ministry of Health's data showed.
* Thailand's central bank said on Wednesday that the country's economic recovery remained on track in October despite downward pressure from lower merchandise exports following a slowdown in trading partners' demand.
* Japan's industrial output in October fell for the second straight month with a 2.6-percent decline from the previous month, official data showed Wednesday.
* Bangladesh Wednesday announced a target of getting 9 million people vaccinated for COVID-19 under a week-long special campaign from Thursday.
* Thailand's central bank on Wednesday decided to raise its key policy rate for a third straight time, by 0.25 percentage point, in an effort to balance efforts between easing inflation and supporting economic growth.
* The European Union set out plans on Wednesday to certify removals of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, while leaving key details to be worked out later - including how these removals will be counted towards EU climate change targets.
* The German government on Wednesday agreed plans to reform immigration law, as Berlin seeks to open up the job market in Europe's biggest economy to much-needed workers from outside the European Union.
* Egypt expects its economy to grow almost 5% by the end of the fiscal year 2022/23, its planning ministry said in a statement.
* Britain should be doing better on trade and has a strategy to boost falling export numbers, Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said on Wednesday, adding she believed the benefits of Brexit would be more long term.
* Sri Lanka's key inflation rate eased to 61% in November from 66% in October, the crisis-struck country's statistics department said on Wednesday.
* French authorities rescued 61 migrants including small children in the English Channel on Tuesday in one of the largest emergency operations in recent months as calm seas drew a rush of migrants in small boats towards the coast of Britain.
* Canada's real gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.7 percent in the third quarter, the fifth consecutive quarterly increase, Statistics Canada said Tuesday.
* France's gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the third quarter (Q3) slowed down to 0.2 percent in volume terms following a 0.5 percent rebound in Q2, the country's National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) said on Wednesday.
* Türkiye's economy grew 3.9 percent year on year in the third quarter, expanding at the slowest rate since the second quarter of 2020, the Turkish Statistical Institute data announced on Wednesday.
* The annual inflation rate in Germany, Europe's largest economy, declined slightly to 10 percent in November, according to preliminary figures published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Tuesday.
* The Iranian oil minister said Wednesday that Iraq has so far paid off all arrears for gas imports from Iran, according to the official news agency IRNA.
* The Iranian foreign minister said that Tehran understands Türkiye's security concerns along the common border with Syria and is ready to provide any assistance to help "politically" resolve the problems between the two sides.
* Over 30 militants and two soldiers were killed during a clash in Mozambique's northern province of Cabo Delgado, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission to Mozambique (SAMIM) said on Wednesday.
* A blast tore though a religious school during prayer time in the northern Afghan province of Samangan on Wednesday, killing 15 people, a provincial spokesperson said.
* At least 10 terrorists were killed during an intelligence-based military operation in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, the military said in a statement.
