Following are the top foreign stories at 2000 hours

    
     FGN47 UK-NIRAV-2NDLD APPEAL
     Nirav Modi seeks permission to appeal extradition in UK top court
     London: Nirav Modi, wanted in India to stand trial on fraud and money laundering charges, has filed an application in the High Court in London seeking permission to appeal against his extradition order in the UK Supreme Court.

    
     FGN37 PAK-ARMY-ALVI-KHAN
     President Alvi rushes to Lahore to consult Imran Khan over appointments of top military brass
     Islamabad: President Arif Alvi on Thursday dashed to Lahore to meet Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan over the appointments of the top military brass, hours after the Prime Minister's Office sent a summary of two top generals to the President House.
    
    
     FGN44 PAK-LDALL ARMY CHIEF
     Pakistan appoints former top spy Lt Gen Asim Munir as new Army chief
     Islamabad: Pakistan's former spy master and senior-most Lt General Asim Munir was on Thursday appointed as the new Army chief by President Arif Alvi, ending intense speculation over the most powerful position in the coup-prone country, where the military wields considerable power in matters of security and foreign policy.
    
     FGN46 UK-STUDENTS-INDIANS
     Indians overtake Chinese as largest group of foreign students in UK
     London: Indian students have for the first time overtaken Chinese as the largest group of foreign students studying in the UK with a massive 273 per cent hike in visas granted over the past few years, according to the country’s official immigration statistics released on Thursday.
    
     FGN43 BANGLA-IORA-INDIA-INDOPACIFIC
     India calls for peace, security and prosperity in Indo-Pacific
     Dhaka: India on Thursday voiced its strong commitment to the strengthening of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) to promote peace, security and prosperity in the Indian Ocean Region and in the wider Indo-Pacific.
    
    
     FGN39 VIRUS-CHINA-2NDLD LOCKDOWN
     China’s COVID cases touch record high; Beijing resorts to community lockdowns
     Beijing: Doggedly persisting with its much-criticised zero-COVID policy, China has slipped deeper into the coronavirus quagmire as it reported a record 31,444 infections on Thursday with many of its cities, including Beijing, resorting to community lockdowns to stem the virus amid worsening wintery weather.
    
    
     FGN41 NEPAL-LD POLLS
     Nepal polls: Nepali Congress-led coalition leads in counting
     Kathmandu: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's Nepali Congress-led ruling coalition was on Thursday inching towards winning Nepal's parliamentary elections as the five-party alliance has bagged 52 seats out of the 90 declared so far. PTI FZH

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)