* Thailand's Constitutional Court on Wednesday dissolved the main opposition Move Forward Party, ruling its efforts to amend a law against defaming the kingdom's royal family violated the constitution.
* Tunisian President Kais Saied sacked Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani and appointed Social Affairs Minister Kamel Maddouri as his replacement, the Tunisian presidency said in a statement late on Wednesday.
* Mozambique's National Election Commission (CNE) has announced the positioning of political parties on the ballot paper for the October elections, with the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM) taking the first position, the ruling party Frelimo the second, and the main opposition RENAMO the third.
* Bolivian President Luis Arce on Wednesday said the armed forces need to undergo a "profound transformation," including updating military doctrine, to avert further attempted coups.
* The Italian lower house on Wednesday gave its final approval to measures aimed at easing the prison overcrowding. The law passed with 153 votes in favor, 89 against, and 1 abstention, after being already approved by the Senate.
* China has released a plan to standardize carbon emission calculations across key sectors, as part of efforts to meet its carbon reduction targets.
* Russian forces are actively fighting in the Sudzha district of Russia's Kursk region and pushing back Ukrainian fighters there, the TASS reported on Thursday, citing an acting deputy governor of the region.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed the legislation to extend the current martial law and general military mobilization in Ukraine for another 90 days, the parliament press service reported Wednesday.
* Ukraine's foreign ministry said on Thursday Niger's decision to cut diplomatic ties with Kyiv was "regrettable" and that Kyiv saw the move as based on groundless and untrue allegations.
* Thousands of anti-racism protesters took to the streets in many cities and towns of the United Kingdom on Wednesday to counter far-right demonstrations after days of unrest following Southport stabbing.
* The Canadian government said on Wednesday it has decided to pull the children and guardians of its diplomats out of Israel, amid fears of a widened conflict in the Middle East, the Canadian Press reported.
* Britain and Egypt asked their airlines on Wednesday to avoid Iranian and Lebanese airspace amid growing fears of a possible broader conflict in the region after the killing of senior members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
* Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Walid al-Khuraiji stated on Wednesday that the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran was a violation of Iran's sovereignty and international law, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
* Kuwait's First Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Fahad Yusuf Al-Sabah on Wednesday urged his country to remain alert amid rising regional tensions, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.
* A Chinese envoy on Wednesday reiterated the call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
* Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty emphasized on Wednesday the need to bolster efforts to secure navigation in the Red Sea amid escalating regional tensions, according to a statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.
* A seemingly endless cycle of violence-induced displacement is making it increasingly difficult for Gazans to access the assistance they need, UN humanitarians said on Wednesday.
* The U.S. military has destroyed two drones and a ground control station, and three anti-ship cruise missiles, in strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen in the past 24 hours, said the Central Command on Wednesday.
* Russia's Gazprom GAZP.MM said it would send 37.3 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Thursday, down from 39.4 mcm on Wednesday.
* Taylor Swift's three concerts in Vienna have been cancelled after government confirmation of a planned attack at the stadium, the organizer said late on Wednesday.
* The Russian Central Bank reported a 4.4 percent GDP growth in annual terms for the second quarter this year, and predicted a 3.2 percent rise in the third quarter, according to the bank's medium-term forecast published on Wednesday.
* Germany's foreign trade surplus shrank in June, with exports dropping by 3.4 percent and imports increasing by 0.3 percent compared to the previous month, the Federal Statistical Office reported on Wednesday.
* Australia's central bank will not hesitate to raise interest rates if needed to control inflation, its top central banker said on Thursday, reinforcing its hawkish messaging as the pace of underlying inflation remained high.
* Cambodia attracted fixed-asset investment of 396 million USD in July 2024, the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) said in a news release on Wednesday.
* The Philippines' gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2024 grew 6.3 percent from a year earlier, up from the adjusted 5.8 percent in the previous quarter, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Thursday.
* South Korea's state-run think tank on Thursday revised down the Asian economy's growth outlook for this year by 0.1 percentage point. Real gross domestic product (GDP), adjusted for inflation, was forecast to expand 2.5 percent in 2024, according to the Korea Development Institute (KDI).
* The Swedish National Institute of Economic Research has revised down its forecast for the country's economic growth in 2024 to 0.7 percent from its previous projection of 0.9 percent in June.
* Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday that 16.8 billion USD were invested in a new refinery operating in southeast Mexico, with most of the funding derived from combating fuel theft.
* Sri Lanka will permit the import of vehicles in stages starting in 2025, as the country seeks to boost revenue through customs duties, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Wednesday during a meeting with heads of media organizations.
* Last month was the second hottest July for the planet on record, breaking a 13-month period when each month was warmest, which had been in part fuelled by the warming El Nino weather pattern, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Thursday.
* Chongqing Municipality in southwest China issued a red alert on Thursday for high temperatures, the highest level in the country's high-temperature alert system.
* Hurricane Debby has made landfall near Bulls Bay, South Carolina, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Thursday. The hurricane was about 65 miles (100 km) southwest of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, packing maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85kph).
* The World Health Organization (WHO) is convening an emergency committee in response to the spread of mpox outside the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the potential for further international transmission, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.
