* Karol Nawrocki was sworn in as president of the Republic of Poland on Wednesday after delivering his inaugural address, formally beginning his five-year term. In the address, Nawrocki announced that his administration would focus on a program of balanced and sustainable development for Poland, known as Plan 21.
* Myanmar's acting President U Myint Swe died at the age of 74 in Nay Pyi Taw, the capital of Myanmar, on Thursday morning, the National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) said. A state funeral will be held for the acting president, the NDSC said.
* Jordan's King Abdullah II on Wednesday approved a cabinet reshuffle in the government of Prime Minister Jafar Hassan, according to a statement by the Royal Court.
* Zambia's electoral body has denied reports that it is secretly amending the country's electoral laws to include electronic voting ahead of next year's general elections.
* The Parliament of Malawi on Tuesday reconvened and amended an electoral law to ensure that all eligible citizens, including those assigned to duty on election day, can cast their votes.
* The Ghanaian government has confirmed that eight people, including two senior ministers, were killed in a military helicopter crash on Wednesday. Minister of Defense Edward Kofi Omane Boamah and Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation Murtala Muhammed were killed in the crash, Julius Debrah, chief of staff at the Presidency, announced at a press briefing.
* U.S. President Donald Trump intends to meet in person with Russian President Vladimir Putin as early as next week and plans to follow up shortly afterward with a trilateral meeting involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, The New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the plan.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday held talks on Ukraine and the prospects for bilateral ties, said Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov.
* Several rounds of artillery fire were heard near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) on Wednesday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported, underlining the fragile nuclear safety situation at the site.
* U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order imposing an additional 25-percent tariff on imports from India in response to the country's purchases of Russian oil, according to a White House statement.
* India on Wednesday described U.S. administration's additional 25 percent tariffs on imports from India as "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable," and declared that New Delhi would take all actions necessary to protect its national interests.
* Mexico is looking to expand trade and investment with Canada beyond the existing United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on free trade, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday.
* Laos continues its efforts to boost agricultural production for domestic and export markets by improving access to capital for agricultural entrepreneurs, with the goal of reducing imports.
* Indonesia will tighten restrictions and strengthen supervision on imports to safeguard domestic industries and protect consumers, Trade Minister Budi Santoso said on Wednesday.
* Republic of Korea will grant visa-free entry to Chinese group tourists for nine months beginning in late September as part of efforts to boost local tourism, the prime minister's office said Wednesday.
* Estonian President Alar Karis expressed concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza on Wednesday during his meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, saying that the "catastrophic humanitarian crisis" cannot be the price of combating terrorism.
* Hundreds of students from Sanaa University held a protest parade in the Yemeni capital on Wednesday, denouncing Israel's ongoing military operation and blockade in the Gaza Strip.
* Several hundred people gathered in front of the Slovenian parliament on Wednesday to protest the ongoing violence in the Gaza Strip. While calling for an immediate ceasefire, the protesters also urged the Slovenian government to end all cooperation between public institutions and their Israeli counterparts.
* Slovenia on Wednesday introduced a ban on imports of goods produced in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, the government said after its session on Wednesday.
* At least 27 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on Wednesday, while 20 others died in a food truck overturn in the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian sources.
* Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Al busaidi and Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh on Wednesday discussed the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip in a phone conversation, calling for international action to end the violence and alleviate the suffering of civilians.
* Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, on Wednesday highlighted the necessity to end Israeli "crimes" in Gaza and ensure immediate delivery of humanitarian aid into the enclave.
* Seven Ethiopian migrants died from hunger and thirst during a harrowing week-long sea voyage from Somalia to Yemen, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Wednesday.
* Jordan on Wednesday condemned repeated attacks by Israeli settlers on its humanitarian aid convoys bound for the Gaza Strip, urging Israel to halt such violations, following a new attack on its convoy.
* Hezbollah on Wednesday rejected the Lebanese government's decision to bring weapons under state control, calling it a capitulation to foreign pressure. The decision reportedly mandates the Lebanese army to develop a plan to centralize and limit all weapons possession by the end of the year.
* The Philippines' gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2025 grew by 5.5 percent from a year earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Thursday.
* India's central bank Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Wednesday announced it has kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.5 percent. Repo rate is the rate at which the central bank lends money to commercial banks in the event of shortfall of funds.
* The Republic of Korea's current account surplus hit a record high in June thanks to strong demand for locally-made semiconductors and ships, and higher dividend income, central bank data showed Thursday.
* Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) could be impacted by zero-duty access for over 1,300 industrial products from the U.S., a business group representing the country's SMEs warned on Wednesday.
* Pakistan's exports rose 16.91 percent year-on-year in July, the first month of the fiscal year 2025-26, reaching 2.70 billion USD, official data showed. Despite the positive export trend, trade deficit widened as imports jumped to 5.45 billion dollars in July, a 29.25 percent increase from the previous year.
* The Swedish National Institute of Economic Research (NIER) on Wednesday revised its 2025 growth forecast for the Swedish economy downward, from 0.9 percent to 0.7 percent.
* Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov has proposed launching a global program for the transition to hydrogen energy covering the period 2030-2040.
* The population of Japanese nationals continued its sharp decline in 2024, falling by 908,574 people to 120.65 million as of Jan. 1, 2025, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
* French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said on Wednesday that the ongoing wildfire in France's southern department of Aude is a "disaster of unprecedented scale" during his visit to the site.
* The world saw its third-warmest July on record in 2025 with a slight respite from the unprecedented heat of the previous two years, which still reflects the ongoing trend of global warming, said the EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) on Thursday.
* Torrential rain continued on Thursday in the Hokuriku region on the Sea of Japan coast, the weather agency said, warning some regions could face heavy rainfall through Friday.
