* China and Nepal agreed on Saturday to upgrade their relations to a strategic partnership of cooperation featuring ever-lasting friendship for development and prosperity. The agreement was made and announced when Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his Nepali counterpart, Bidya Devi Bhandari.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin said any new constitution that is drawn up for Syria should guarantee the rights of all ethnic and religions groups.
* German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday called for an immediate end of the Turkish military operation in northern Syria in a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told his cabinet on Sunday that a Brexit deal was still possible but that there was significant work to be done to reach one, a spokeswoman from his office said in a statement.
* France on October 12 announced the suspension of arms exports to Turkey following Ankara's offensive in northeastern Syria.
* Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday the decision to receive additional US troops, Saudi Press Agency reported.
* Joint French-Cypriot naval exercises are underway off an unspecified point of the Cypriot coast, as a Turkish drillship is stationary in a Cypriot marine block which is licensed to France's Total and Italy's Eni energy companies, Cypriot Defense Minister Savvas Angelides confirmed on Sunday.
* Jayez Mousa, governor of Syria's northeastern province of Hasakah, has ruled out any communication with the Kurdish forces amid the ongoing Turkish assault against them in northern Syria, pro-government al-Watan newspaper reported Sunday.
* Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said on Sunday that he will meet Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in the Russian capital of Moscow over the issue of the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) built on the Nile River.
* Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan left for Iran on Sunday on a one-day visit as part of his initiative to promote peace and security in the region, officials said.
* At least one person was killed and 18 others injured on October 12 in a massive collapse at a hotel under construction in downtown New Orleans, Louisiana, the United States, authorities confirmed.
* A traffic accident in Ethiopia's Amhara regional state located in the northern part of the country has left 17 people dead, an Ethiopian official said on Sunday.
