Ties between China and Japan continue to improve as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits Beijing this week, NATO will kick off its largest exercise since the end of the Cold War on Russia's doorstep, and Brazilians will go to the polls to choose between far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro and his leftist rival Fernando Haddad in a runoff vote.

Abe will pay an official visit to China from Thursday to Saturday at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. The tour, which comes five months after Li's trip to Japan, will be the first official visit to China by a Japanese prime minister since December 2011, underscoring the increasing rapprochement between the two countries after years of ups and downs.

Apart from bilateral talks between Chinese leaders and the Japanese prime minister, the two sides will also hold a reception marking the 40th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship and a forum on third-party market cooperation. Beijing hopes Abe's visit will help enhance and consolidate mutual trust between the two countries and boost their cooperation in various fields, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

On Sunday, just one day after Abe wraps up his China tour, the Japanese prime minister will welcome his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in Tokyo as the latter begins a two-day official visit to Japan.

NATO is scheduled to launch its Trident Juncture 18 military exercise in and around Norway on Thursday, deploying a huge force into one of Moscow's neighbors just two months after Russia's massive Vostok-2018 drills.

Lasting until November 7, Trident Juncture 18 will bring together around 50,000 personnel from 31 NATO allies and partners; about 65 vessels, 150 aircraft and 10,000 vehicles will take part, making it the largest exercise of the bloc since the end of the Cold War.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the exercise will send a clear message that NATO is ready to respond to any threat from any direction. On the other hand, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned: "The escalation of NATO's military and political activity in the Arctic region, namely, in the immediate vicinity of Russia on the territory of northern Norway, hasn't gone unnoticed."

Three weeks after an inconclusive first-round vote, Brazil's presidential runoff will take place on Sunday with a showdown between Bolsonaro and Haddad.

Dubbed "Brazil's Donald Trump," 63-year-old Bolsonaro is leading in the polls over Haddad, a former mayor of Sao Paulo and former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's hand-picked candidate.

A seven-term congressman, Bolsonaro has presented himself as an anti-establishment politician, appealing to voters who are angry about widespread graft, rising violence and a weak economy.

With Lula imprisoned after a corruption conviction, Haddad is struggling to escape the shadow of a figure who is either loved or loathed by many in Brazil.

Nonetheless, polls show Bolsonaro is also widely disliked by many in the electorate who have been alienated by years of his misogynist, racist and homophobic comments.

Monday: US President Donald Trump attends a rally in Houston to campaign for Senator Ted Cruz in his re-election bid.

Tuesday: Liberation Day is celebrated in Libya.

Wednesday: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte visits Russia, and the United Nations Day is marked.

Thursday: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe kicks off a three-day official visit to China, and NATO's Trident Juncture 18 exercise begins.

Friday: Abe continues his visit to China, and Ireland holds its presidential election.

Saturday: Abe concludes his visit to China, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosts a Syria summit with the leaders of Russia, Germany and France in Istanbul, and the second round of the Gabonese legislative election takes place.

Sunday: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins a two-day visit to Japan, Jair Bolsonaro and Fernando Haddad compete in Brazil's presidential runoff, and Georgia holds its presidential election.

(With inputs from Reuters)