News brief: Big stories of the day

Ex-liquor baron  Vijay Mallya said he had "met the finance minister" before leaving for the UK and had repeated his offer to settle with Indian banks. Speaking to reporters outside London's Westminster Magistrates' Court, Mallya said: "I met the finance minister before I left, repeated my offer to settle with the banks."

President Vladimir Putin suggested Wednesday Russia and Japan sign a peace deal "without any preconditions" by the end of the year, a historic proposal to try to solve a territorial dispute after decades of deadlock.

After China declared that the US should abandon its "prejudice" over Xinjiang, President Xi's government said it "resolutely opposes the United States using Xinjiang-related issues to interfere in China's internal affairs."

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who recently visited Kabul, said on Tuesday that the Afghan government was increasing the vetting and training of local forces in order to minimise so-called insider attacks.

Israel welcomed on Wednesday the Trump administration's move to close the Palestine Liberation Organization's office in Washington out of concern about Palestinian attempts to prompt an ICC investigation of Israel.