* Thailand's house speaker said on Thursday that a parliamentary vote to select the country's next prime minister would be postponed, prolonging a political deadlock that has stretched on since a May general election.
* The BRICS bloc can play an "exceptional role" globally as it can help reduce inequality by offering developing countries financing without the onerous terms, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Wednesday.
* Russia has added Norway to its list of foreign states that have committed so-called "unfriendly" acts against Russian diplomatic missions, news agencies reported on Thursday.
* The Ukrainian president's office on Wednesday unveiled a three-step strategy to implement Ukraine's Peace Formula.
* Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's chief adviser Akif Cagatay Kilic will represent Turkey at the Ukraine peace talks to be hosted by Saudi Arabia on Saturday, semi-official Anadolu Agency reported Wednesday.
* In vowing to remain committed to helping the most vulnerable people in Niger, UN humanitarians on Wednesday called for unhindered access to all people in need in the country.
* West African defence chiefs conclude a two-day meeting on Thursday that is discussing last week's coup in Niger - talks they have promised will send a strong message about their intolerance for unconstitutional takeovers.
* The self-declared new leader of Niger on Wednesday said the junta would not bow to pressure to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, intensifying a standoff with the West African bloc which has threatened to intervene after last week's coup.
* The U.S. State Department on Wednesday ordered a partial evacuation of the U.S. embassy in Niger, citing the unstable situation in the west African country following a recent coup.
* Palestine's ties with the United States are at the lowest level as Washington fails to pressure Israel to stop its actions against Palestine, a senior Palestinian official said Wednesday.
* The British embassy in Niger's capital Niamey will temporarily reduce the number of staff due to the security situation, Britain's foreign ministry said on Thursday, days after a military junta took over the African country.
* Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday slammed Israel as a state "above the law" in terms of its "persecution" against Palestinians, calling on the international community to stop the practices.
* Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi officially invited United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to visit Tehran in the near future, the semi-official Tasnim agency reported on Thursday.
* The British government said it was assessing feedback on its post-Brexit border control plan in response to a media report that it was once again set to delay the introduction of import checks on goods coming from the European Union.
* The African Union and United Nations missions in Somalia have reaffirmed their support for Somalia's state-building process, the AU mission said on Wednesday.
* The UN Security Council on Wednesday adopted a resolution expanding the mandate of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia to include monitoring a ceasefire between the Colombian government and a guerrilla group.
* Ethiopia's military has clashed with fighters from a militia in the Amhara region, residents said on Wednesday, in an escalation of a simmering feud between the two former allies that a doctor said had caused more than a dozen injuries.
* Russia's first lunar station in nearly 50 years, Luna-25, will fly to the Moon in the early morning of Aug. 11, local media reported on Thursday.
* Economies in the Pacific are projected to grow collectively by 3.3 percent in 2023 and 2.8 percent in 2024 as the subregion continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest Asian Development Bank (ADB) report released on Thursday.
* Japan's average retail gasoline price has climbed to its highest level in 15 years, official data showed Wednesday, as the government's subsidy to prevent price hikes has been progressively reduced.
* Thailand's central bank raised its key policy rate to a nigh-year high on Wednesday to control inflation and maintain policy flexibility amidst a highly uncertain economic outlook.
* The Philippine government on Wednesday officially submitted to Congress a 5.768 trillion pesos (104.58 billion USD) national budget for 2024, 9.5 percent higher than the 2023 budget.
* Sri Lanka plans to earn 900 million USD from exports of rubber products and another 700 million dollars from exports of coconut products this year, an official said on Wednesday.
* A ferry boat with about 70 people on board sank off Quezon province in the south of Luzon island in the Philippines, local media reported on Thursday.
