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China's media regulators are clamping down on some of the country's most popular satellite TV channels, warning them not to air too many star-studded entertainment shows, while calling for more content lauding the achievements of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under Xi Jinping, state media reported on Friday.

Efforts by Chinese diplomats to stop cultural events deemed critical of the government in Beijing have met with mixed results in Europe, succeeding in Germany but being rebuffed by a city government in Italy.

The joint Chinese-Russian naval drill has enhanced the ability of both sides to counter security threats at sea and maintain regional security and peace, a Chinese military spokesperson told a press conference on Thursday.

The US Senate has voted unanimously to approve legislation to prevent companies such as Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd or ZTE Corp. from receiving new equipment licenses from US regulators.

Belarusian authorities have blocked access to Germany's state-backed international broadcaster Deutsche Welle and Current Time, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, amid an intensifying crackdown on the media and civil society following last year's disputed presidential election.

The U.S. Embassy in Minsk said on October 29 that Belarusian authorities were "forcing the closure" of its humanitarian and outreach programs that have benefited thousands of people in the authoritarian country.

Australia's defense minister says French President Emmanuel Macron is playing to domestic political sensibilities by expressing sustained outrage in a recent submarine row with Canberra.

A junta-appointed court in Myanmar has handed down a 20-year jail sentence to Win Htein, a close aide to the country's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar media and family members said Friday a long-time colleague and fellow party member of the country's ousted leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been found guilty of treason and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Paramilitary troops were deployed in the central Pakistani province of Punjab on October 29 to confront thousands of supporters of a banned Islamist party on a protest march toward the capital despite warnings from the government.

Thousands of protesters from a banned Islamist group traveled toward Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, Friday in a bid to get their leader released from prison and force the government to expel the French ambassador.

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Washington demands that 55 more Russian diplomats and administrative and technical workers of the Russian embassy and consulates leave the United States in the coming months, the situation on the diplomatic "front" will worsen as a result, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

As Russia's COVID crisis raged on, prompting lockdowns, paid holidays, and a mix of pleas and pressure for the populace to get vaccinated, President Vladimir Putin took aim at the West again. Meanwhile, the clampdown on Kremlin opponents, independent media, and civil society continued.

The European Union's top diplomat has said that Russia is weaponizing its natural-gas supply to bully Moldova, one of Europe's poorest nations, as a gas dispute between Moscow and Chisinau continues.

The Moldovan government and Russia's state-controlled Gazprom say they have agreed to extend a contract for Russian natural gas supplies from November 1, for a period of five years.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has defended the use of a Turkish-supplied armed drone to strike Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, saying the military acted in self-defense and did not violate any agreements.

French Ambassador to the UK summoned to FCDO over threats made against the UK and Channel Islands

The UK has warned France over the seizure of a British scallop dredger in French territorial waters, saying London could order the boarding of more French vessels in retaliation for the move.