CPC plenum concludes, adopting recommendations for China's 15th Five-Year Plan

The 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) convened its fourth plenary session in Beijing from Monday to Thursday.

Participants at the session deliberated over and adopted the Recommendations of the CPC Central Committee for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development, according to a communique of the session released on Thursday.

The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee presided over the meeting. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered important addresses, according to the communique.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng to have trade talks with U.S. in Malaysia on Oct. 24-27

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, will lead a delegation to Malaysia from Oct. 24 to 27 to hold economic and trade consultations with the U.S. side, China's Ministry of Commerce announced Thursday.

The two sides will hold consultations on important issues in China-U.S. economic and trade ties in accordance with the important consensus reached by the heads of state of the two countries during their phone calls this year, a ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

Israel freezes legislative process for West Bank annexation

Israel on Thursday froze the West Bank annexation bills that passed a preliminary vote in the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, the day before.

Ofir Katz, chairman of the government coalition, said in a statement that the bills for the full annexation of the West Bank and the annexation of the large-scale settlement of Maale Adumim near Jerusalem will not be advanced until further notice.

Israel's parliament voted Wednesday in favor of the two bills to apply Israeli law and administration to all settlements in Maale Adumim and the West Bank.

Hamas, Fatah hold talks on post-war arrangements in Gaza

Delegations from Hamas and Fatah are currently meeting in Cairo to discuss arrangements for the post-war phase in the Gaza Strip, Egyptian TV channel Al-Qahera News reported Thursday.

Hamas' delegation is led by senior leader and chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, while Fatah's delegation is headed by Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh and Palestinian intelligence chief Majed Faraj, according to the report.

It added that Cairo is also hosting talks among Palestinian factions on the second phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza, noting that Egypt is preparing to host a conference on Gaza's reconstruction in the second half of November.

Putin says new U.S. sanctions not to significantly impact Russia's economy

New U.S. sanctions on Russian oil companies will not significantly impact Russia's economic health, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

Putin called the sanctions "an attempt to put pressure on Russia" and "unfriendly," adding that they do not strengthen Russia-U.S. relations.

Commenting on U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks on Wednesday that he had canceled his planned meeting with Putin, the Russian president said Russia has always supported continued dialogue.

4 killed in Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon

Four people, including two Hezbollah members, were killed on Thursday in Israeli airstrikes targeting eastern and southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese sources.

Two people were killed and two others injured by Israeli airstrikes in the evening targeting a house in the town of Arabsalim, deep in the south, whereas two were killed and several others injured by earlier Israeli airstrikes targeting areas in the Baalbek district, eastern Lebanon, the official National News Agency reported.

A Lebanese army intelligence source told Xinhua the two dead in eastern Lebanon were Hezbollah members identified as Mohammad Haidar Jazini and Hisham Khalil.