* Lao officials gathered for the government's monthly meeting for August, providing a platform to discuss key national issues, with a focus on flood relief, fuel and commodity prices, and other pressing concerns, Lao News Agency reported on Monday.
* Thailand's labor market continued to grow in the second quarter of 2026 due to increases in both agricultural and non-farm employment, led by the construction sector, official data showed on Monday.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday said holding elections is impossible under the country's current conditions, the Ukrinform news agency reported.
* Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Monday departed for Iran as part of Islamabad's efforts to promote regional peace and stability, the country's military said.
* The European Commission on Monday approved 6.1 billion euros (about 7.12 billion USD) in new defense procurement for Ukraine, covering air defense systems, missiles, ammunition and radars.
* Russian air defense systems have intercepted and destroyed 351 fixed-wing Ukrainian drones over its territory overnight, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.
* The Philippine House of Representatives on Monday resumed deliberations on the 2027 National Expenditure Program, which proposes a budget of 7.2 trillion pesos (116.6 billion USD).
* The U.S. government has racked up 40 trillion dollars in debt, raising concerns that the mounting burden could trigger a major economic crisis if left unaddressed. U.S. government debt has surged from 19.4 trillion dollars a decade ago, nearly doubling after massive COVID-era spending and years of deficits.
* Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi is scheduled to visit Iran on Tuesday for consultations on bilateral and regional issues, Iran's Foreign Ministry announced Monday.
* Iran has not received any official invitation to join the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei on Monday.
* Senior Syrian and Israeli delegations held talks in Jordan on Sunday under U.S. mediation, focusing on de-escalation and efforts to revive negotiations toward a security agreement, Syria's state news agency SANA reported, citing a diplomatic source.
* A tanker was struck by an unknown projectile 63 nautical miles west of the Red Sea port of Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Monday.
* More than 50,000 people marched through central Stockholm, the Swedish capital, on Sunday to demand stronger action on climate change, organizers said, three weeks before Sweden holds national elections.
* New Zealand's government moved ahead with plans to ban children under 16 from using social media, with legislation set to be introduced to parliament on Monday.
*A powerful cyclone swept northward across the three Baltic states on Saturday, killing two as strong winds, torrential rain and thunderstorms ravaged Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
* Confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have surpassed 5,500, with more than 2,600 deaths, government figures showed Monday, as the World Health Organization (WHO) said the outbreak reached a "defining moment" more than 100 days after it was declared.
* Authorities in the Australian state of Victoria have started vaccinating 5,000 little penguins at popular tourist sites against the H5N1 bird flu.
* Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic visited the wildfire-hit Deliblato Sands nature reserve on Sunday as firefighters continued efforts to contain a blaze that has affected more than 3,500 hectares of the protected area.
* Around 5,000 customers in Poland's northeastern Podlaskie province remained without electricity on Sunday afternoon after strong winds damaged power infrastructure a day earlier, the Polish Press Agency (PAP) reported.
* Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on Monday ordered stronger measures to prevent forest and land fires, calling for tougher action against illegal burning and companies suspected of involvement.
* China's National Meteorological Center (NMC) on Monday issued blue alerts for typhoons and severe convective weather and a yellow alert for rainstorms, with multiple typhoons forecast to bring heavy rainfall and strong winds to parts of the country.
* The death toll from the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck Indonesia's Flores region on Aug. 15 has risen to 100, with 1,603 people injured and over 180,000 still displaced, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said Monday.
* A landslide at the Dar-es-Salam rubbish dump on the outskirts of Conakry, the Guinean capital, on Sunday has killed 30 people and injured 22 others, according to a statement issued by the Guinean government.
* Scorching heat is expected to grip much of western and eastern Japan on Monday, the weather agency said, urging people to take extra caution against heatstroke.
* A Hungarian military fighter jet crashed near the central city of Szolnok on Monday morning, Prime Minister Peter Magyar said. The prime minister later said that no one was injured and no civilian infrastructure was damaged, according to preliminary information.
* At least 29 people were injured after a bus overturned on an intercity road in northeastern Iran on Monday morning, the official IRNA news agency reported.
