* Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio said on Thursday it was important to take bilateral relations in a positive direction as the two leaders marked 50 years of normalised diplomatic ties amid rising tensions.
* Britain intends to spend up to 500 million pounds ($542.30 million) in the Indo-Pacific region and will work with public-private partnerships in green infrastructure projects, foreign minister James Cleverly said on Thursday.
* Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday called for solid efforts to carry out the country's policies aimed at stabilizing economic recovery.
* President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Thursday authorising the Russian government to ban some Western trucks from transiting across Russian territory.
* A nationwide strike in France on Thursday called by several hard-left trade unions demanding higher pay caused disruption in the energy sector as nuclear power industry workers joined the walkout.
* A major demonstration took place in the Czech capital Prague on Wednesday, calling for the country's direct contracts with gas suppliers at low prices, military neutrality, and political independence in decision-making with regard to the European Union (EU).
* Incidents on two major undersea gas pipelines from Russia to Germany look like "an act of terrorism" and require investigation in cooperation with a number of countries, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
* EU leaders will discuss next week what the bloc has denounced as sabotage on the subsea Nord Stream gas pipelines, an EU official said on Thursday, adding that the incident had changed the nature of the conflict in Ukraine fundamentally.
* Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday discussed the recent developments of the Russia-Ukraine conflict over phone.
* The Lebanese parliament failed to elect a new head of state on Thursday to replace President Michel Aoun when his term ends on Oct. 31, and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said he would call another session when consensus emerged on a candidate.
* Fiji's Permanent Secretary for Industry, Trade and Tourism Shaheen Ali Thursday reaffirmed the Pacific island country's commitment to reducing carbon emissions in a speech marking the World Maritime Day, noting relying on fossil fuel will not be part of the future of the country's shipping industry.
* Pakistan is committed to the preservation of its green marine environment and greener shipping through the advancement of eco-friendly technologies, Pakistani Minister for Maritime Affairs Syed Faisal Ali Subzwari said.
* The remains of around 64 indigenous New Zealanders that were stolen in the 19th century will officially be welcomed home on Sunday following more than 70 years of negotiations, the head of the repatriation team said on Thursday.
* French business executives see wage gains picking up over the next 12 months but remaining below expected inflation over the period, a quarterly survey by the central bank showed on Thursday.
* Israel is "ready" to share its state-of-the-art nuclear technology with Arab countries that have signed a peace deal with it, Israeli Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) Director General Moshe Edri said Wednesday.
* A total of 133 people, mostly security members, were wounded on Wednesday as the Iraqi parliament reconvened after nearly two months of suspension, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in a statement.
* Cuba launched recovery efforts on Wednesday in the wake of Hurricane Ian's destructive path across the island's western tip.
* Ian has weakened into a tropical storm but is still expected to produce strong winds, heavy rains, and storm surge across portions of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, the US National Hurricane Center said on Thursday.
* European Central Bank policymakers continued to line up behind another big interest rate hike as inflation is set to hit a new record high, but differed on whether it was time to think about mopping up cash from the economy.
* German inflation likely grew significantly in September based on initial data from its most populous state, which saw the biggest jump since the early 1950s, according to its statistics office.
* Republic of Korea's currency was forecast to fall further versus the USD on expectations for the US Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes and the RoK's continued trade deficit, market watchers said.
* The Bank of England (BoE) on Wednesday announced temporary purchases of long-dated United Kingdom (UK) government bonds "on whatever scale is necessary" in an emergency action to restore orderly market conditions.
* Ukraine needs about 15 billion USD to restore its farmland irrigation network, the government-run Ukrinform news agency reported Wednesday, citing adviser to the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykhailo Sokolov.
* European Union countries are poised to approve a package of emergency measures including windfall profit levies on energy companies and a cut in electricity demand at a meeting of ministers on Friday, a senior EU official said.
* The passing of a bill to end the export of livestock by sea next year will protect New Zealand's reputation for world-leading animal welfare standards, Agriculture and Trade Minister Damien O'Connor said on Wednesday.
