* Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar held a telephone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday, discussing regional and international developments, particularly efforts to promote peace and stability.
* Ukrainian forces struck one of Russia's largest petrochemical complexes in the Tyumen region, causing fires and damage at the facility, Ukraine's Special Operations Forces (SOF) said in a statement on Telegram on Monday.
* The U.S. State Department on Monday announced that it has revoked more than 175,000 visas since January 2025, when U.S. President Donald Trump began his second term.
* The Singaporean government on Tuesday raised the country's 2026 economic growth forecast to 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent, from the previous 2 percent to 4 percent, citing a better-than-expected performance in the first half of the year and an improved outlook for the rest of the year.
* Passenger train services between Finland and Sweden resumed on Monday after a nearly 40-year suspension, restoring a cross-border rail link in the far north of the two Nordic countries.
* Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and visiting Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker highlighted great potential in bilateral cooperation during a live-streamed joint press conference in Ankara on Monday. The press conference came after a meeting between Erdogan and Stocker, who was making his first visit to Türkiye as chancellor.
* Indonesia aims to restore 15,000 hectares of degraded ecosystems in 2026 as part of efforts to strengthen environmental conservation, an official said on Monday.
* A MiG-29 fighter jet of Ukraine's air force crashed on Monday evening in the country's southern Odesa region while on a combat mission, the air force said in a statement. The pilot successfully ejected from the aircraft and was taken to a medical facility.
* Türkiye's parliament on Monday approved a legal framework for the disarmament and reintegration of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a key step toward ending a decades-long conflict.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that he is "likewise demanding compensation from Iran," noting that he has instructed his representatives to put this into any future negotiations.
* Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has appointed six new military commanders for the country's armed forces, according to statements published on his website on Monday.
* Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno on Monday called on citizens to keep promoting national unity and patriotism as the country prepares to celebrate its Independence Day.
* The Israeli army on Monday closed a Palestinian village and arrested 13 Palestinians in the West Bank, according to Israeli media and Palestinian sources.
* Three crew members were reportedly killed on Tuesday after Yemen's Houthi group attacked a commercial vessel in the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, a Yemeni television channel reported.
* Yemen's internationally recognized government said Monday it will respond to continued Houthi attacks, as an intensifying wave of missile and drone strikes across government-held areas raises the risk of large-scale fighting.
* An Israeli drone struck ambulances of the Islamic Health Organization, Bayt al-Talaba and the Islamic Risala Scouts on Tuesday in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, according to the National News Agency.
* Brazil's exports to the European Union (EU) increased by about 4 percent in the first 60 days since a free trade agreement between the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) and the EU took effect, Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin said Monday.
* Trade between Thailand and its free trade agreement (FTA) partners rose 21.8 percent year on year to 243.67 billion USD in the first half of 2026, accounting for 57.3 percent of the country's total trade, official data showed on Monday.
* Brunei has set a target of attracting around 1 million tourists and generating approximately 630 million Brunei dollars (about 493.11 million USD) in tourism revenue during Visit Brunei Year 2027, a government minister said on Monday.
* Singapore's non-oil domestic exports (NODX) grew 27.4 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, extending the 9.6 percent growth recorded in the first quarter, Enterprise Singapore said on Tuesday.
* Hungary's Paks nuclear power plant began gradually increasing the output of its Unit 2 on Monday evening after a rise in the Danube's water level improved conditions for drawing cooling water, the plant said.
* Mongolia continues to face fuel shortages amid the peak summer vacation and tourism season, with the back-to-school period also approaching.
* Global ocean surface temperatures reached a record high for July as developing El Nino conditions helped drive exceptionally warm waters across the tropical Pacific, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Monday.
* France's groundwater drought worsened further in July amid repeated heatwaves, with 63 percent of groundwater monitoring points recording levels below normal, the French Geological Survey (BRGM) said Monday.
* The death toll from the June 24 earthquakes in Venezuela has risen to 6,301, according to an official update released Monday by National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez.
* The death toll from extreme rainfall triggered by Tropical Cyclones Luis and Maymay and the southwest monsoon has risen to 19, with 15 others injured and four still missing, according to the Philippine government on Tuesday.
* China's Beijing activated a Level II flood-control emergency response, the second-highest level, on Tuesday as authorities warned of heavy rain and heightened risks of urban waterlogging and landslides.
* The Australian government on Tuesday announced it will begin vaccinating high-risk birds in captivity against the H5N1 strain of avian influenza amid an ongoing surge in cases.
* The death toll from the Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria has risen to 237, with 1,000 confirmed cases reported so far in 2026, public health authorities said Monday.
* At least 16 Bangladeshi nationals have been killed in a devastating fire in Saudi Arabia, a ministry notification said in Dhaka on Monday.
