Singapore police say they have uncovered more luxury watches, gold bars and other assets from a massive money laundering scheme that was busted last month, bringing the total amount of assets seized or frozen to 2.4 billion Singapore dollars ($1.75 billion).

The police had launched further operations related to a group of foreign nationals suspected to be involved in laundering the proceeds of their organized criminal activities, including scams and online gambling, police said in a statement on Wednesday.

Poland has said it will no longer arm Ukraine and instead focus on its own defense, as the two allies clashed at a key moment in Kyiv's fightback against invasion by Russia.

In a mounting row over grain exports from Ukraine, Poland summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to protest remarks at the U.N. by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Asian shares declined Wednesday as markets awaited a decision on interest rates by the Federal Reserve.

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.1% in morning trading to 33,200.34. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.6% to 7,152.70. South Korea's Kospi edged down 0.1% to 2,556.20. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 0.4% to 17,932.24, while the Shanghai Composite shed 0.3% to 3,115.10.

Leading Chinese planners voiced confidence on Wednesday in the outlook for the world's second-largest economy, holding key interest rates steady amid signs of improvement in some areas such as services.

The upbeat tone of officials speaking at a news conference in Beijing was in contrast to forecasts by the Asian Development Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which say weakness in the Chinese economy are expected to further dent global and regional growth.

Inflation across the U.K. fell unexpectedly in August to its lowest level since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, raising hopes that the Bank of England may pause interest rate hikes after another one on Thursday.

The Office for National Statistics said Wednesday that price rises, as measured by the consumer prices index, moderated to 6.7% in the year to August, down from 6.8% in July. The decline took inflation to its lowest level since February 2022, when Russia's invasion of Ukraine led to soaring energy and food prices.

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on seven people and four companies in China, Russia and Turkey who officials allege are connected with the development of Iran's drone program.

The U.S. accuses Iran of supplying Russia with drones used to bomb Ukrainian civilians as the Kremlin continues its invasion of Ukraine.

For most of this century, Germany racked up one economic success after another, dominating global markets for high-end products like luxury cars and industrial machinery, selling so much to the rest of the world that half the economy ran on exports.

Jobs were plentiful, the government's financial coffers grew as other European countries drowned in debt, and books were written about what other countries could learn from Germany.

Hong Kong's leader said Tuesday that the territory will tighten regulation of digital assets after police arrested six people following allegations of fraud at an unlicensed cryptocurrency exchange in the city.

The arrests on Monday followed an announcement by Hong Kong's securities watchdog last week that the exchange, JPEX, was unlicensed and did not have authority to operate its cryptocurrency trading platform in the city. The Securities and Futures Commission said it had received more than 1,400 complaints against JPEX involving more than 1 billion Hong Kong dollars ($127.9 million) in losses.

Foreign companies operating in China say tensions with Washington over technology, trade and other issues and uncertainty over Chinese policies are damaging the business environment and causing some to reassess their plans for investing in the giant market.

The results of surveys released Tuesday by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China largely concurred in appealing for greater certainty and clarity over China's stance toward foreign businesses.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Elon Musk to establish a factory in Turkey for his electric car company Tesla during a meeting in New York, Erdogan's office said.

Erdogan, who is in the U.S. to attend the U.N. General Assembly, also discussed potential cooperation between Musk's space exploration firm SpaceX and Turkey's space program, the Turkish president's office said.