PAKISTAN: Pakistan’s election oversight body announced today that it will hold the next parliamentary elections in the last week of January, delaying the vote which was to be held in November under the constitution.

The announcement by the Election Commission of Pakistan has ended uncertainty about the fate of the vote after some political parties had feared the election could be delayed for an indefinite period.

RUSSIA: Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed on Wednesday that he has accepted the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit China next month for the Belt and Road Forum.

Speaking at a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Mr Putin said he “was certainly pleased to accept the Chinese president’s invitation to visit China in October as part of an event promoting the Chinese idea of One Belt, One Road.”

GREECE: Greece’s civil servants walked off the job Thursday on a 24-hour strike that disrupted public transport and left ferries tied up in ports.

Public-sector unions called the strike to demand the withdrawal of a labour law the government says will increase flexibility in the job market, but that unions decry as an assault on their rights.

MOROCCO: Morocco’s King Mohammed VI said on Wednesday that the country will spend 120 billion dirhams (£9.4bn) to rebuild the regions destroyed by the September 8 earthquake.

The funds will also be used to support the more than 4.2 million people in the provinces most impacted by the earthquake.

A spokesperson for the palace said the funds would be used to “rehouse affected people, reconstruct homes and restore infrastructure” over a period of five years.