* Japan and India agreed on October 29 to enhance their security and economic exchanges and cooperation.
* Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga has submitted an official letter on dissolving the State Great Khural, or parliament, after financial irregularities by some members of parliament were made public, the president's press office reported Monday.
* German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday that she would not run for another term as chancellor in 2021 when the current term ends.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia and Turkey have been effective in addressing urgent regional and international issues. He made the remarks in a message of greetings to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the 95th anniversary of the establishment of Turkey.
* Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and his Panamanian counterpart Juan Carlos Varela pledged on October 29 to increase cooperation in areas such as trade and bilateral foreign investment to expand bilateral links.
* Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Bangladesh Awami League (AL) party has invited for talks with a newly floated major opposition alliance over the general election slated for December.
* Sri Lanka's Speaker of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya on Monday said the present political crisis should be settled through Parliament or else many lives would be lost.
* Mexico's President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on October 29 announced the cancellation of a major new airport project - the Mexico City's new international airport (NAIM) - after a public poll showed most Mexicans are against it.
* Pakistan's acting president Sadiq Sanjrani has said that the country is transforming into a hub of the regional and international trade thanks to strategically located Gwadar seaport in the country's southwest Balochistan province, local media reported Tuesday, October 30.
* US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with Brazilian President-Elect Jair Bolsonaro over phone on October 29 to discuss bilateral ties and collaboration on Venezuela.
* European and Arab leaders urged for the enhancement of collaboration between the two rapidly changing regions in order to deal with common challenges and build the foundations for a shared better future during a forum hosted in Athen on October 29.
* Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said Monday that the Syrian government is working hard to find a political solution to the more than seven-year-long crisis, according to the state news agency SANA.
* The Central Council of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) decided on October 29 to end the Palestinian commitment to the peace accords signed with Israel and to stop all types of security coordination.
* The Moroccan security services have arrested 26 people, including 12 Algerians, over their suspected links to illegal immigration network, the Moroccan police said in a statement on October 29.
* The Moroccan navy has rescued 397 migrants off Morocco's northern coasts since Saturday, the Moroccan army said on October 29. The rescued were on inflatable boats facing difficulties in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, the army said.
* United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on October 29 expressed sadness over an airplane accident in Indonesia. A passenger plane of Indonesia's Lion Air crashed shortly after taking off from Jakarta's international airport on Monday, local media quoted the country's search and rescue agency as saying.
* The Zambian government on October 29 asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in building the country's capacity in debt management. Zambia's foreign debt, believed to be around US$9.3 billion as of June this year, has been of serious concern.
* The Islamic State (IS) militant group on October 29 claimed responsibility for an attack on Libya's central town of Fug'ha in the Jufra District.
