* The Donald Trump administration has returned around 100 billion USD of tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to U.S. importers by the end of July, according to a court document filed on Tuesday.
* German authorities said Wednesday that a drone fitted with an unidentified explosive device had been found at Leipzig Airport in eastern Germany. The Dresden Public Prosecutor General's Office and the Saxony State Criminal Police Office said they had taken over the investigation, noting that the airport is part of Germany's critical infrastructure.
* The Israeli military said on Thursday that two soldiers, including a company commander, were killed and four others seriously wounded when an explosive device blasted in the southern Lebanese village of Majdal Zoun on Wednesday.
* Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Wednesday communication with Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is very "difficult at the moment," but his presence is a "great strength" for the country to continue its path.
* Iran and Oman are close to finalizing an agreement on new arrangements for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, under which the temporary northern and southern routes will be replaced by a new single route passing through Iran's territorial waters for two to four months, said a senior Iranian diplomat.
* Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip are disrupting civilian life, damaging shelters and increasing displacement, UN humanitarians said Wednesday.
* Yemen's Houthi group said Wednesday it had targeted a Saudi oil tanker with a ballistic missile in the Gulf of Aden, several hours after claiming a separate missile attack on another Saudi tanker in the northern Red Sea.
* A tanker reported hearing a loud explosion nearby while sailing in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen's southern coast on Wednesday, the latest incident amid heightened maritime tensions following a renewed Houthi campaign against shipping.
* The first direct commercial flight from Kuwait landed Wednesday at Deir al-Zour International Airport in eastern Syria, marking the return of international commercial air services to the airport after more than a decade.
* Venezuela's main Simon Bolivar International Airport, which serves the capital Caracas, has resumed commercial cargo operations after services were suspended due to damage caused by earthquakes in late June, Transportation Minister Francisco Garces said Wednesday.
* Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have officially initiated organizational and technical procedures for the transfer of two border villages, Chon-Gara and Tash-Tobo, from Uzbekistan to Kyrgyzstan, local media reported, citing the press service of the Batken regional government of Kyrgyzstan.
* Myanmar's Yangon Port received 402 container vessels in the first seven months of 2026, The Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Thursday, citing the Myanma Port Authority. The port handled 55 container vessels in July, with the highest monthly figures of 63 and 60 recorded in January and February this year, respectively, the report said.
* Kyrgyzstan exported 19,915.55 tonnes of dairy products to the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union and third countries during the first half of 2026, the Kyrgyz government said Wednesday.
* Georgia's economy expanded 8.6 percent year on year in June, while average economic growth for the first half of 2026 stood at 7.9 percent, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said Wednesday.
* The Ivorian government on Wednesday announced a promising biological solution against cocoa swollen shoot disease, a virus posing a major threat to the world's top cocoa producer.
* Both Slovakia and Austria recorded all-time high temperature records of more than 40 degrees Celcius on Wednesday amid the latest wave of scorching heat in Europe. According to provisional data released by the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMU), a record temperature of 41.4 degrees Celsius was measured on Wednesday afternoon in the southern village of Kamenica nad Hronom in the Nitra region, SHMU spokesperson Ivan Garcar said.
* Serbian emergency services are battling multiple wildfires across the country as strong winds, extreme heat and prolonged drought intensify fire conditions, with a reignited blaze in the Deliblato Sands protected nature reserve in northeastern Serbia burning around 300 hectares of pine forest on Wednesday.
* A wildfire that has burned through a nature reserve in the municipality of Venray in the southern Dutch province of Limburg is now under control, although it has not yet been fully extinguished, the local safety authority said on Wednesday.
* China's National Meteorological Center renewed a blue typhoon alert on Thursday as Typhoon Dolphin approaches the country's eastern coastal regions.
* Singapore's government agencies are ready to roll out action plans should air quality be impacted by transboundary haze, as drier and warmer weather linked to the developing El Nino increases the risk of forest fires across southern ASEAN, a government official said Wednesday.
* Myanmar's Department of Fisheries has urged fish and shrimp farmers nationwide to take preventive measures against potential flooding of aquaculture ponds amid heavy rains and rising river levels, the state-owned daily The Mirror reported on Thursday.
