Multiple arrests were made overnight in Chicago and New York during protests over police shootings of two black males, U.S. media reported.

In Chicago, several people were arrested after protesters began taking lights off a Christmas tree in Millennium Park, local NBC affiliate WMAQ reported.

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia had not received any apology from Turkish leaders over the downing of a warplane, nor any proposals to compensate Moscow.

"We still have not heard any articulate apologies from Turkey's highest political level nor any proposals to compensate for the harm and damage, nor promises to punish criminals responsible for their crimes," Putin said at the Kremlin in televised remarks.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief said Thursday that he expects to provide next week a final report on its long-stalled probe into alleged efforts by Iran to develop nuclear weapons.

This "possible military dimensions" report is separate to verifying whether Iran complies with the landmark nuclear deal struck with six major powers in July.

An Indonesian court Thursday handed three Hong Kong men long jail terms for drug trafficking, two weeks after a drug lord from the Chinese city was sentenced to death in the country.

Prosecutors had demanded the death sentence for the three men after they were caught in the capital Jakarta with 49 kilograms (108 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine.

French nuclear giant Areva said Thursday it had linked up with Hitachi GE Nuclear Energy to help Japan dismantle boiling-water nuclear power stations.

Following a massive accident at the Fukushima reactor, hit by a tsunami in 2011, Japan said it would shut down 11 nuclear reactors, although it has put two back on stream this year.

The last Indian families trapped in enclaves in neighbouring Bangladesh for decades finally headed home in emotional scenes Thursday, after resolution of one of the world's most intractable border disputes.

Thousands of people living in the enclaves -- pockets of one country's territory surrounded by the other -- had been kept in stateless limbo for nearly 70 years as India and Bangladesh failed to resolve the dispute.

China on Thursday confirmed it is in negotiations with Djibouti to build a logistics hub for military operations in the strategically vital African entrepot.

The announcement comes as Beijing seeks to expand its international security role, particularly in regions where it has significant economic interests, such as Africa.

An art show highlighting domestic violence has been shut down at the last minute by Beijing authorities, organizers said Thursday, apparently the latest victim of Chinese cultural controls.

More than 60 artists -- half of them women -- contributed work to the show, timed for Wednesday's United Nations-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Bangladesh police shot and killed a top militant who was the main suspect behind deadly bomb blasts at a Shiite shrine during late-night raids, officers said Thursday.

Five militants from banned local Islamist outfit Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) were also arrested during the raids carried out by police in Dhaka late Wednesday.

Away from public view, U.S. President Barack Obama signed a defense bill Wednesday barbed with measures designed to undo his bid to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

In a terse statement, the White House said Obama has signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2016, along with several other pieces of legislation.