BANGKOK (AP) – Sales during China’s largest online shopping festival, Singles’ Day, jumped almost 18% from a year earlier but the pace of growth slowed as bargain hunters opted for more affordable deals. Consumers have been tightening their belts, spending cautiously due to a prolonged slump in the property market.

ISLAMABAD (AP) – Pakistan’s prime minister on Wednesday offered talks to Afghanistan’s Taliban government in a renewed peace overture, about a week after negotiations between the two sides collapsed in Istanbul, raising fears that a ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkey could unravel and trigger new border clashes.

BANGKOK (AP) – Myanmar says it has commissioned Russian helicopters and Chinese airplanes into its air force as the two nations continue to supply the military-run government with equipment despite international pressure to end its bloody civil war.