* African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat on Wednesday called on Gabon's army to ensure the safety of President Ali Bongo and his family, after military officers announced that they had seized power.
* Spain will evaluate peacekeeping missions in Africa after coups in Niger and Gabon, acting Defence Minister Margarita Robles said on Wednesday at a European Union defence ministers meeting in Toledo.
* China and Britain made tentative steps to repair relations on Wednesday, with Beijing promising better ties if both showed "mutual respect" and London saying it wants to keep lines of communication open, including between the countries' leaders.
* Indian police have banned flying sub-conventional aerial platforms, including drones and hot air balloons, in the national capital territory (NCT) ahead of the G20 summit scheduled next month, officials said Wednesday. The ban that was announced on Tuesday night will remain in force until Sept. 12.
* BRICS has become "more powerful, stronger and more important" since it was announced last week that more countries were joining the bloc of emerging economies, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Tuesday.
* Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on Wednesday approved the establishment of a unit at the cabinet's headquarters to facilitate the country's cooperation with BRICS countries, the cabinet said in a statement.
* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan will discuss a proposal by Moscow for an alternative to the Black Sea grain deal when they meet this week, Lavrov's ministry said on Wednesday.
* The United States announced on Tuesday an additional package of military assistance to Ukraine worth 250 million USD.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed security guarantees for his country during phone talks with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, the president's press service said Tuesday.
* Germany's coalition government on Wednesday listed Georgia and Moldova as safe countries of origin in a bid to cut asylum applications from those nations, which are almost always rejected.
* The government of the United Kingdom (UK) has announced a fifth delay to the introduction of post-Brexit checks on food, plant and animal products from the European Union (EU).
* The Yemeni government welcomes Qatar's support for the unity and stability of Yemen, Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak said on Tuesday.
* Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) Chairman Rashad Al-Alimi met on Tuesday with the United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg in Aden, southern Yemen, to discuss ongoing efforts to renew a truce in the war-torn country.
* The rover of India's Chandrayaan-3 has detected signs of the presence of oxygen and several minerals on the lunar surface, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Tuesday. The moon probe landed on the moon's south pole on Aug. 23.
* Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, who is currently participating in the longest-ever Arab space expedition on the International Space Station (ISS), is set to return to Earth on Sep. 3 after concluding a six-month mission.
* The U.S. economy grew at a slightly less brisk pace than initially thought in the second quarter as businesses liquidated inventory, but momentum appears to have picked up early this quarter as a tight labor market underpins consumer spending.
* Cambodia exported 170,968 tons of dry rubber in the first seven months of 2023, up 3 percent from the same period last year, said a General Directorate of Rubber report on Wednesday.
* Supermarket prices in France will not fall significantly before March, the boss of grocery chain Les Mousquetaires said on Wednesday, echoing a warning by a rival group that French consumers were spending less due to the high cost of living.
* Finland's economy is projected to enter a moderate recession within the next 12 months, according to a recent forecast by OP Financial Group (OP), one of the largest financial companies in Finland.
* Sweden's gross domestic product (GDP) shrunk by 1 percent year-on-year in the second quarter (Q2) of 2023 while household consumption decreased for the fourth consecutive quarter, according to statistics released on Tuesday.
* Canadian farmers are projected to produce less wheat, canola, barley and oats in 2023, according to recent yield model estimates using satellite imagery and agroclimatic data, Statistics Canada said Tuesday.
* Colombia will need to spend up to 2 trillion pesos ($487 million) to repair around 580 bridges that are in critical condition, investment that would leave the country with a significant deficit, Transport Minister William Camargo said.
* Israel's natural gas and oil revenues totaled 1.007 billion shekels (about 270 million USD) in the first half (H1) of 2023, according to a report issued by the country's Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure on Tuesday.
* The maritime bureau of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region activated a Level-IV emergency response for Typhoon Saola, the ninth typhoon this year, at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
* Super typhoon Saola has triggered floods and landslides in seven regions in the Philippines, affecting nearly 200,000 people, the government said on Wednesday.
* Hurricane Idalia plowed into Florida's Big Bend region on Wednesday as an "extremely dangerous" Category 3 storm that forced millions of residents to evacuate or hunker down in anticipation of a life-threatening surge of tidal waters.
* Heavy rains have caused floods and landslides in the Primorye region of the Russian Far East, affecting the wildlife and infrastructure of two national parks, "Land of the Leopard" and "Kedrovaya Pad," local authorities said on Wednesday.
* The world body has carried out 200 cross-border missions to Northwest Syria since the first inter-agency visit to Idlib on Feb. 14, following the earthquakes that struck Syria and Turkey that month, a UN spokesman said Tuesday.
