World News Roundup: Pakistan sets election for January, likely minus Imran Khan; Exclusive-Japan, Britain and Italy plan to place advanced jet fighter project HQ in UK -sources and more

A decade after 67 people were killed during an attack by gunmen from Somalia's al Shabaab group at the upscale Westgate Mall in Nairobi and a subsequent four-day siege by security forces, militants from the group are still launching sporadic attacks on Kenyan soil. Poland, with election looming, says it isn't sending new arms to Ukraine Poland is only carrying out previously agreed arms deliveries to Ukraine, a government spokesman said on Thursday, amid souring bilateral relations due to a grain dispute just weeks before a Polish parliamentary election.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Pakistan sets election for January, likely minus Imran Khan

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday announced a general election for January, almost three months later than scheduled, removing political uncertainty over the timing to help salvage a falling economy. Elections in the politically and economically troubled South Asian nation were due to be held in November, but were delayed due to fresh demarcation of constituencies under a new census.

Exclusive-Japan, Britain and Italy plan to place advanced jet fighter project HQ in UK -sources

Japan, Britain and Italy plan to choose Britain as the headquarters for their next-generation fighter program, four sources in Japan said, putting London at the forefront of a partnership that could expand to include other nations. The three countries established the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) in December after Britain and Japan agreed to merge their fighter efforts in a ground-breaking collaboration that aims to deploy an advanced aircraft by the middle of the next decade.

Russia hits Ukrainian energy facilities in biggest attack in weeks

Russia pounded energy facilities across Ukraine on Thursday in its biggest missile attack for weeks, firing what Ukrainian officials saw as the first salvo in a new air campaign against the national power grid. Power cuts were reported in five Ukrainian regions in the west, centre and east, reviving memories of multiple air strikes on critical infrastructure last winter that caused sweeping outages for millions during the bitter cold.

Chinese navy seeks graduate students for warplane pilot program

The Chinese navy wants to hire graduate students to fly shipborne aircraft, and is raising the age limit to expand its search as it seeks to improve the qualifications of its air personnel and build a "strong army". Besides upgrading its hardware from warships to warplanes, China is also trying to improve the calibre of its recruits, as the military is a career path traditionally favoured by the less educated.

Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians seek guarantees before handing weapons to Azerbaijan

Ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh need security guarantees before giving up their weapons, an adviser to their leader said on Thursday, a day after Azerbaijan declared it had brought the breakaway region back under its control. Karabakh Armenian authorities accused Azerbaijan of violating a ceasefire agreed on Wednesday after a lightning Azerbaijani offensive forced the separatists to agree to disarm.

'Not a single round': Slovak election could see Kyiv lose staunch ally

"We are a peaceful country. We will not send a single round to Ukraine." That was Robert Fico's blunt message for some 300 supporters at a political rally last week in the western Slovakian town of Banovce nad Bebravou, ahead of a Sept. 30 election that the populist former prime minister is favourite to win.

ICC war crimes tribunal hobbled by hacking incident -sources

The International Criminal Court is operating under strong limitations on its digital systems after a hacking incident, sources and lawyers who work at the war crimes court said on Thursday. Two lawyers at the court, and a source close to it who asked not to be identified, said it had disconnected most of its systems that can access the internet, that employees cannot access e-mail and that employees who are not working on site cannot access documents.

Syria's Assad in China, seeks exit from diplomatic isolation

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has arrived in China's eastern city of Hangzhou, kicking off his first visit to the Asian nation since 2004 as he makes further strides to end more than a decade of diplomatic isolation amid Western sanctions. Assad arrived aboard an Air China plane in a heavy fog, which Chinese state media said "added to the atmosphere of mystery" in a nod to the fact the Syrian leader has seldom been seen outside his country since the start of a civil war that has claimed more than half a million lives.

Kenya pledges security boost as it commemorates 2013 mall massacre

Kenya pledged on Thursday to reinforce security measures against Somali militants as it commemorated a deadly mall attack which security analysts say led to improvements in the country's readiness to counter threats. A decade after 67 people were killed during an attack by gunmen from Somalia's al Shabaab group at the upscale Westgate Mall in Nairobi and a subsequent four-day siege by security forces, militants from the group are still launching sporadic attacks on Kenyan soil.

Poland, with election looming, says it isn't sending new arms to Ukraine

Poland is only carrying out previously agreed arms deliveries to Ukraine, a government spokesman said on Thursday, amid souring bilateral relations due to a grain dispute just weeks before a Polish parliamentary election. Poland's decision to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports has annoyed Kyiv. Poland has been seen until recently as one of Ukraine's staunchest allies in its war with Russia.