* Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on Thursday vowed to take strict measures against any individual or group involved in organizing or participating in riots.
* Indonesian President Joko Widodo highlighted his economic, infrastructure and development successes in his final state of nation address on Friday, delivered months before he steps down after a decade as head of Southeast Asia's biggest economy.
* China and Cambodia should stay committed to developing their friendship and following the path of solidarity and win-win cooperation, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Chiang Mai, Thailand on Thursday.
* The Russian defense ministry said on Thursday that it had established a coordination council on military security issues in border areas. Defense minister Andrey Belousov held the first meeting of the council.
* Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said Friday that Washington is implicitly legitimizing terrorism by remaining silent on the bombing of Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines.
* The defense cooperation agreement (DCA) between Sweden and the United States took effect on Thursday, according to a press release from the Swedish government.
* Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation over strengthening bilateral relations, according to a statement by the press service of the president of Uzbekistan on Thursday.
* Russia would send its troops to help if Belarus were attacked, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday.
* The leaders of Australia and New Zealand have announced joint economic and energy commitments to support the clean energy transition in the region.
* Ukraine has taken control of 82 settlements in western Russia's Kursk region, Oleksandr Syrsky, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Thursday.
* The Israeli army ordered a fresh evacuation of areas in southern and central Gaza previously designated as a humanitarian safe zone on Friday, saying the areas had been used by Hamas as a base for firing mortars and rockets towards Israel.
* Without the international recognition of a unified Palestine, there won't be peace, solidarity and prosperity in the region, said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday during his visit to Turkey's Ankara.
* Egypt on Thursday urged all sides taking part in the Gaza ceasefire negotiations in Qatar's Doha to "find a consensus formula for reaching an immediate ceasefire."
* Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the leader of Yemen's Houthi group, revealed on Thursday that 73 people have been killed and 181 injured since the beginning of their military operations against Israel in October 2023.
* The UN Security Council on Thursday extended the authorization of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) until Dec. 31, 2024.
* The population of the Netherlands has surpassed 18 million, driven primarily by an influx of immigrants, according to data released by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) on Thursday.
* Some 20.1 million people were internally displaced in July in the Horn of Africa region, the United Nations migration agency said Thursday.
* The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) said on Friday that it had contingency measures in place to prevent a strike by the country's main aviation union that is set to begin on Aug. 19 from disrupting airport operations.
* Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Friday successfully launched its third and final developmental flight, Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV)-D3, carrying Earth Observation Satellite EOS-08, officials said.
* Indonesia aims to secure 25.2 billion USD in private sector investment for green hydrogen development by 2060, according to the Ministry of Industry.
* Mongolia's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 5.6 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2024, official data released by the country's National Statistics Office (NSO) showed Friday.
* The non-oil domestic exports (NODX) in Singapore expanded 15.7 percent year-on-year in July, reversing the 8.8 percent decline in June, the government agency Enterprise Singapore said Friday.
* Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos reached 3.21 billion USD in June, 2.5 percent higher than the 3.13 billion dollars recorded a year earlier, the Philippine central bank said Thursday.
* Israel's 12-month inflation rate rose to 3.2 percent at the end of July, up from 2.9 percent in June, according to data released by the country's Central Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.
* Swedish health authorities confirmed on Thursday that they have identified the first case of the more infectious Clade I variant of mpox in the country. The Public Health Agency of Sweden said this is also the first confirmed case of this variant outside Africa.
* Chinese customs authorities have announced tighter surveillance measures at ports of entry to prevent the import of the mpox virus, following a rise in global cases.
* The Czech Ministry of Health and the State Health Institute (SZU) issued a statement on Thursday, recommending people vaccinate and take preventive measures against mpox if traveling to areas where mpox is currently reported.
* Health authorities in Australia's largest state on Friday issued a warning over a surge in mpox cases. New South Wales (NSW) Health asked the community to be aware of symptoms of mpox - formerly known as monkeypox - following an increase in infections.
* Pakistan's health ministry has confirmed at least one case of the mpox virus in a patient who had returned from a Gulf country, it said on Friday, as provincial health authorities reported they had detected three cases.
* At least 54 people have been killed due to flooding following continuous rainfall in Chad's northern province of Tibesti, authorities and local media said on Thursday.
* The United Nations said on Thursday that severe flooding in Yemen has affected over 180,000 people since early August, prompting it to call for a 4.9-million-USD aid to enhance emergency response efforts.
* Japan grounded hundreds of flights and urged tens of thousands of people to evacuate in the eastern parts of the country on Friday, as a strong typhoon caused power blackouts in the middle of a major summer holiday week.
* The Japan Meteorological Agency on Thursday ended its week-long alert for a massive earthquake, but authorities are calling on people to remain cautious.
* Romania's National Meteorological Administration issued a red alert for extreme heat in seven counties from Thursday to Friday, with temperatures expected to peak at 41 degrees Celsius.
* A second team of Estonian firefighters left for Spain on Thursday to help fight its raging wildfires, the BNS news agency reported, citing Estonia's rescue department.
* Firefighters are trying to contain wildfires raging in three provinces of northwestern Turkey, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said late on Thursday, adding that the outlook was positive.
