Hong Kong's swanky new M+ museum — Asia's largest gallery with a billion-dollar collection — is set to open on Friday amid controversy over politics and censorship.

M+ boasts 183,000 square feet (17,000 square meters) of exhibition space, 33 galleries and over 6,400 works in its collection that range from modern and contemporary art to architecture and moving images. Designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, M+ aims to put Asia on the global map for art and was built to rival London's Modern Tate and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Brazil fans have pleaded with coach Tite to bring striker Vinicius Jr. into the starting lineup since the beginning of the season. But if Wednesday's practice formations are any indication, that's unlikely to happen in the Seleção's World Cup qualifier against Colombia.

The 21-year-old Vinicius, with nine goals in 16 matches for Real Madrid, only traveled to Sao Paulo to join the national squad after Roberto Firmino picked up an injury. Coach Tite appears to believe the young striker is behind Raphinha and Antony, who have already delivered goals for the team.

It won't be long before Liverpool great Steven Gerrard is back at Anfield as a Premier League manager.

Not in charge of his boyhood team, though.

The British economy slowed down during the third quarter of the year as widespread supply chain problems hobbled the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, official figures showed Thursday.

The Office for National Statistics said the economy grew by 1.3% between July and September from the previous three-month period, with the health sector and housing market particularly buoyant. The increase was slightly below market expectations and lower than the second quarter's 5.5% boost.

China's Singles' Day, the world's largest online shopping festival which falls on Nov. 11 every year, is losing its shine, with less marketing hype and a crackdown on the technology industry.

Singles' Day has been viewed as the largest online marketing event of the year. It is heavily advertised for weeks ahead of time with brands and merchants offering deep discounts to attract consumers looking for bargains.

The Turkish lira slid to a record low against the U.S. dollar again Thursday after a surge in U.S. consumer prices inflamed concerns over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's push to cut interest rates.

The lira dropped to an all-time low of 9.97 against the dollar early Thursday before settling at around 9.93 against the U.S. currency. The Turkish currency has lost some 25% of its value since the start of the year.

Senior U.S. and South Korean diplomats discussed how to restart stalled talks with North Korea on Thursday, days after the North conducted artillery firing drills in its latest weapons tests.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink was in Seoul for talks on security issues including North Korea, economic cooperation and other matters.

China's leaders have approved a resolution on the history of the ruling Communist Party that was expected to set the stage for President Xi Jinping to extend his rule next year.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the resolution on the major achievements and historical experience of the party was adopted during a four-day meeting of its Central Committee that ended Thursday.

Russia sent two nuclear-capable strategic bombers on a training mission over Belarus for a second straight day Thursday in a strong show of Moscow's support for its ally amid a dispute over migration at the Polish border.

The Belarusian Defense Ministry said two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers practiced bombing runs at the Ruzany firing range, located in Belarus about 60 kilometers (just over 37 miles) east of the border with Poland. As part of the joint training, Belarusian fighter jets simulated an intercept, the ministry said.

A SpaceX rocket carried four astronauts into orbit Wednesday night, including the 600th person to reach space in 60 years.

The repeatedly delayed flight occurred just two days after SpaceX brought four other astronauts home from the International Space Station. They should have been up there to welcome the newcomers, but NASA and SpaceX decided to switch the order based on Monday's ideal recovery weather in the Gulf of Mexico and pulled it off.