Following are the top foreign stories at 1715 hours

FGN14 PAK-SAUDI-LD MINISTER

Saudi FM to visit Pak to address concerns after Imran's Malaysia summit pull-out Islamabad: Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal will visit Pakistan on Thursday in what appears to be a damage control exercise by Riyadh to address the growing criticism against the Gulf Kingdom after Islamabad pulled out of the Kuala Lumpur summit of Muslim nations under what Turkey termed Saudi threats, a media report said on Wednesday. By Sajjad Hussain

FGN10 YEAR-CHINA

Modi-Xi bonhomie, key factor of stability for Sino-India ties in turbulent 2019 Beijing: Buoyed by the bonhomie generated by the two informal summits between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping, India-China relations managed to maintain a "sound momentum" in 2019, notwithstanding the serious differences over issues like Kashmir and the UN designation of a terror group leader based in Pakistan. By K J M Varma

FGN7 CHRISTMAS-MASS-LD POPE

Pope Francis ushers in Christmas with message of 'unconditional love' Vatican City: Pope Francis ushered in Christmas on Wednesday for the world's 1.3 billion Catholics with a message of unconditional love, saying "God continues to love us all, even the worst of us". (AFP)

FGN11 BURKINA-3RDLD ATTACK

35 civilians killed in double Burkina Faso attack Ouagadougou: Jihadists in Burkina Faso killed 35 civilians, almost all of them women, when they simultaneously attacked a town in the north and its military base in one of the deadliest assaults in nearly five years of jihadist violence in the West African country. (AFP) IND

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