* Botswana started voting on Wednesday in an election that will determine whether President Mokgweetsi Masisi secures a second term, with slowing economic growth driven by declining diamond demand the central issue.
* The ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) came first in a parliamentary election in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq, winning 39 seats, the election commission said on Wednesday, positioning it to lead the next regional government.
* With slow growth, high debt, and weak investment and trade deepening the divide between industrialized and developing nations, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has called for a fundamental rethink of global development strategies.
* The Kremlin on Wednesday dismissed a Financial Times report that Russia and Ukraine were in the early stages of negotiations about potentially halting airstrikes on each other's energy facilities.
* Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira on Tuesday called on the United States to lift the trade embargo that has crippled Cuba's economy for decades, local media reported.
* The Democratic People’s Republic of Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui will hold strategic consultations in Moscow with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
* The Japanese government has maintained its assessment that the country's economy is recovering gradually though stagnation in some areas still lingers. In its monthly economic report for October, the cabinet office observed mixed trends in consumer spending.
* Thailand, Myanmar and Laos on Tuesday officially launched a joint plan of action on tackling transboundary haze in strengthening cooperation to reduce regional air pollution.
* The prime ministers of Iceland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, along with the president of Ukraine, convened on Tuesday in Iceland, where they adopted a declaration at the conclusion of their meeting.
* Finnish travel and tourism industry welcomed China's unilateral visa-free policy to Finland, expecting this change, announced on Tuesday, to significantly ease travel for Finnish citizens to China.
* Eight Palestinians were killed and several wounded in an Israeli military strike in the north of the Gaza Strip, medics said on Wednesday.
* The Israeli military issued an evacuation warning on Wednesday to residents of the city of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon, a military spokesperson said on X.
* Hamas expressed on Tuesday its openness to any agreements or ideas for establishing a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
* Pakistan strongly condemned the latest Israeli attempt to dismantle the operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday evening.
* The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday summoned Germany's Ambassador Markus Potzel over "interventionist" stance adopted by some German officials, who questioned Iran's judicial jurisdiction.
* The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday that more than 14 million people had fled their homes since the beginning of the ongoing conflict in Sudan.
* Australia said it will establish domestic manufacture of artillery ammunition with France's Thales TCFP.PA, and guided rocket systems with Lockheed Martin LMT.N, to boost its weapons stockpiles and export to security partners including the United States.
* Russia's Gazprom GAZP.MM said that it would send 42.4 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Wednesday, the same volume as on Tuesday.
* Germany's gross domestic product unexpectedly increased in the third quarter, driven by government and household spending, skirting a recession amid fears that Europe's biggest economy would contract for a second consecutive quarter.
* The national minimum wage of the United Kingdom (UK) will rise from 11.44 to 12.21 British pounds (15.87 USD) per hour from April 2025, the UK government announced on Tuesday.
* French economic growth beat estimates by accelerating by 0.4% in the third quarter 2024 from 0.2% in the second quarter because of impact of the Paris Olympic Games, preliminary data from statistics agency INSEE showed on Wednesday.
* At least 51 people have been killed in flash floods sweeping the eastern Spanish region of Valencia following torrential rains on Tuesday that left roads and towns under water, local authorities said on Wednesday.
