* Russian forces had taken back control of the settlement of Martynovka in the Kursk region, Major General Apti Alaudinov, commander of Chechnya's Akhmat special forces, told Russian state television.
* The U.S. and French Navy conducted bilateral operations in the Philippine Sea on Tuesday to advance their interoperability "in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific", the U.S. 7th Fleet said in a statement on Thursday.
* South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol offered on Thursday to establish a working-level consultative body with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to discuss ways to ease tension and resume economic cooperation, as he laid out his vision on unification of the neighbours.
* Chinese State Councilor Shen Yiqin visited Serbia from Aug. 12 to 14, meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and holding talks with Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic.
* The transport ministers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden signed a key declaration on Wednesday to enhance cooperation in the development of commercial electric flights.
* Slovakia has stepped up security measures for some protected persons and designated buildings in light of "an increase in announced public gatherings," the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.
* Qatar will host Gaza ceasefire talks in its capital Doha on Thursday, Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday. According to the report, U.S., Qatari, and Egyptian mediators have called on Israel and Hamas to attend the talks aimed at negotiating a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
* A Hamas official announced on Wednesday that the movement will not participate in the upcoming ceasefire negotiations in Qatar.
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has authorized an Israeli delegation to attend talks in Qatar aimed at negotiating a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, his office announced on Wednesday.
* Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty held phone talks with his counterparts in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Turkey to discuss joint efforts to contain regional tensions, including the Sudanese crisis and the war in the Gaza Strip, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
* U.S. President Joe Biden said in a phone call with Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino that US-funded flights would start this month to repatriate migrants illegally crossing into Panama through the Darien jungle, according to a Panama government statement.
* Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday that Turkey will continue to support the Palestinian cause and push the international community to increase pressure on Israel, his office said.
* The ongoing conflict in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has forced more than 800,000 people to flee into neighboring South Sudan since April 2023, a South Sudanese official said Wednesday.
* At least 1,000 deaths have been reported in the Gaza Strip due to the Israeli army's ongoing closure of the Rafah crossing for over 100 days, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said on Wednesday.
* The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Wednesday expressed concern about recent unilateral actions taken by some political parties in the country.
* Indonesia will close the Suralaya Steam Power Plant in Cilegon, Banten province, as part of efforts to reduce air pollution in Jakarta, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said on Wednesday.
* Russia successfully launched the Progress MS-28 cargo spacecraft into orbit on Thursday via the Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket, Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos said Thursday.
* China's job market remained stable in the January-July period as the surveyed urban unemployment rate dropped on a year-on-year basis, official data showed Thursday.
* Japan's economy expanded by a much faster-than-expected annualised 3.1% in the second quarter, rebounding from a slump at the start of the year thanks to a strong rise in consumption and backing the case for another near-term interest rate hike.
* Britain's economy grew 0.6% in the second quarter of 2024, official figures showed on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast an expansion of 0.6%, building on a rapid 0.7% recovery in the first quarter of the year from a shallow recession in the second half of 2023.
* Australia's unemployment rate has risen to its highest level in over two years. According to official data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday, the unemployment rate rose to 4.2 percent in July - up from 4.1 percent in June and the equal-highest figure since November 2021.
* Russia's Gazprom GAZP.MM said it would send 42.4 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Thursday, the same volume as on Wednesday.
* The European Union (EU) on Wednesday launched the production of 12 planes to be used in the fight against rising numbers of wildfires.
* Russian authorities confirmed on Thursday that there is no threat of monkeypox spreading in the country.
* The Ethiopian Ministry of Health announced Wednesday that "stronger than usual" health monitoring and inspection measures are being implemented across the country's border-crossing points and major international gateways in connection with the ongoing mpox outbreak in Africa.
* Serbia is grappling with another extreme heatwave, with temperatures projected to climb between 35 and 41 degrees Celsius until Aug. 18. The Serbian capital is expected to experience highs ranging from 36 to 39 degrees, accompanied by tropical nights in urban areas.
* Almost 500 million children, mainly in West and Central Africa, spend more than half the year in temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday.
* The death toll of the garbage dump site landslide in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, climbed to 30 Wednesday, a police spokesperson said here.
* Typhoon Ampil bore down on Tokyo on Thursday, prompting airlines to cancel hundreds of flights and railways to suspend part of their operations in the peak summer travel season.
