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TOKYO (AP) — Japan is considering leaving the International Whaling Commission to resume commercial hunts, the Fisheries Agency said Thursday, after unsuccessfully campaigning for decades within the organization to gain support for the cause.

The agency said officials haven’t made a final decision but are considering the step.

Japan’s request for a resumption of commercial whaling was most recently denied at the IWC meeting in September. IWC imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling in the 1980s due to dwindling stocks.

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock prices plunged Thursday, following Wall Street down after the Federal Reserve raised U.S. interest rates.

KEEPING SCORE: In early trading, France’s CAC 40 index fell 1.4 percent to 4,709.13 points and Germany’s DAX lost 1.3 percent to 10,620,79. London’s FTSE 100 retreated 1.2 percent to 6,682.26. On Wednesday, the FTSE 100 rose 1 percent, the DAX added 0.2 percent and the CAC 40 rose 0.5 percent. On Wall Street, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index both fell 0.6 percent.

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese and U.S. envoys will hold talks in January aimed at resolving a tariff battle, a Ministry of Commerce spokesman said Thursday.

Timing and other details are being worked out following discussions by phone about intellectual property protection, trade balances and other issues, said spokesman Gao Feng. He didn’t respond to a question about a possible location.

New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) Huge investment opportunities exist in India in various sectors including construction for Turkish companies, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said Tuesday.

He said all issues such as trade deficit, raised by Turkey, would be looked upon by India.

"There is a huge potential for Turkish construction companies to operate in India," Prabhu said here at India-Turkey Business Forum meet.

While India's exports to Turkey stood at USD 5 billion, imports were only USD 2.2 billion in 2017-18.

18 Dec 2018; AFP: President Xi Jinping warned Tuesday that no one can "dictate" China's economic development path as the Communist Party marked 40 years of its historic "reform and opening up" policy amid a stern challenge from the United States.

In a speech at the grandiose Great Hall of the People, Xi vowed to press ahead with economic reforms but made clear that Beijing will not deviate from its one-party system or take orders from any other country.

18 Dec 2018; AFP: Japan will get its first aircraft carriers since World War II and buy dozens of fighter jets under a new defence plan approved Tuesday that is intended to counter China's growing military power.

The new five-year defence plan calls for the upgrade of two existing helicopter carriers so that they can launch fighters, and is the latest in a series of steps under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to boost Japan's military.

18 Dec 2018; AFP: President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged the Federal Reserve, the US central bank, to not make "another mistake" by raising interest rates.

"I hope the people over at the Fed will read today's Wall Street Journal Editorial before they make yet another mistake," he tweeted. "Also, don't let the market become any more illiquid than it already is. Stop with the 50 B's. Feel the market, don't just go by meaningless numbers. Good luck!"

18 Dec 2018; AFP: Losses from natural and man-made disasters are estimated to total $155 billion (136 billion euros) this year, down sharply from a hurricane-plagued 2017, the reinsurance giant Swiss Re said Tuesday.

The trio of hurricanes Harvey, Maria and Irma last year pushed losses to $350 billion, but Swiss Re noted that a "number of smaller and mid-sized events, alongside some major man-made disasters" in 2018 were still cause for serious concern.

18 Dec 2018; AFP: The British government on Tuesday said it was allocating two billion pounds ($2.5 billion) to fund Brexit and putting 3,500 troops on stand-by after ministers agreed to make no-deal planning "an operational priority".

The news came amid continued opposition to Prime Minister Theresa's May draft divorce deal, just 14 weeks before the country leaves the EU.

New Delhi, Dec 17 (PTI) Terming the exit of Urjit Patel as credit negative, S&P Global Ratings said the increasing involvement of the government in the affairs of the RBI could undermine the hard-fought improvements in the banking system over the past few years.

"In particular, S&P Global Ratings views as credit negative the circumstances leading to the recent resignation of Urjit Patel, governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). We await any changes to banking system regulation at the next RBI board meeting in January 2019," it said.