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Ukrainian Foreign Minister: Our focus will be on peace efforts and Europe playing a positive role, while also coordinating our positions ahead of the Ukraine-US-Russia trilateral meeting in Abu Dhabi. We will also discuss increasing sanctions pressure on Russia, strengthening Ukraine's capabilities and air defenses, and providing energy support before winter.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Gujarat Energy Company signed a 10-year liquefied natural gas supply agreement.

The Nikkei 225 index has just broken through the 57,600.00 mark, currently trading at 57,586.19, down 5.72% on the day.

The Nikkei 225 index just broke through the 57,700.00 mark, currently trading at 57,707.79, down 5.52% on the day.

[Japan's House of Representatives Passes Food Consumption Tax Reduction Bill, Tax Rate to Drop from 8% to 1% Starting in April 2027] (1) On the afternoon of November 6, the plenary session of the House of Representatives of the Japanese Diet voted on the consumption tax reduction bill submitted by the Takashi City Government; the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Restoration Party passed it with a majority of votes in favor, while the opposition parties, including the Democratic Party for the People, Komeito, the Democratic Reform Party, and the participating parties, voted against it. (2) Before the vote, former Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba walked out of the room, reportedly telling others that he "could not approve of such a thing"; in addition, several other Liberal Democratic Party members also walked out before the vote. (3) The Takashi City Sanae government had previously passed a food consumption tax reduction policy, deciding to reduce the tax rate from the current 8% to 1% starting in April 2027, with the policy valid for two years. (4) Due to Japan's huge fiscal deficit and the difficulty in eliminating the subsequent risks of the policy, Japanese public opinion is concerned that the policy will have limited effect. (5) Sanae Takaichi made a promise to "zero out the food consumption tax" during her campaign for prime minister, but the full implementation of the zero tax rate would require companies to make large-scale changes to their POS systems, which would be difficult to implement. The Liberal Democratic Party eventually adjusted the plan to reduce it to 1%. (6) If the policy is successfully implemented, it will be the first time that Japan has lowered the consumption tax rate since the introduction of the consumption tax in 1989.

The Nikkei 225 index just broke through the 57,600.00 mark, and is currently trading at 57,628.25, down 5.65% on the day.