* Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae told a senior ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) official that she intends to dissolve the House of Representatives when its regular Diet session convenes on Jan. 23 and call a snap election, Kyodo News reported on Tuesday, citing a source familiar with the matter.
* The Lao government has convened a high-level meeting to assess its performance in 2025 and define priority tasks and plans for 2026, with discussions focusing on economic self-reliance, infrastructure development, and other national priorities.
* Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country is ready for war but remains open to dialogue, after U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. military is considering "very strong options" regarding Iran amid recent unrest.
* White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday diplomacy remains the preferred approach for the United States to deal with Iran, though the Trump administration will not rule out military options if necessary.
* The U.S. Virtual Embassy Iran on Monday updated a travel warning urging U.S. citizens to leave Iran immediately amid the unrest across the Middle East country.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that any country doing business with Iran will pay a tariff rate of 25 percent on any business conducted with the United States. The order is "effective immediately," Trump announced on Truth Social, adding that it is "final and conclusive."
* China is closely monitoring the development of the situation in Iran, and will take all necessary measures to protect the safety of Chinese citizens, a foreign ministry spokesperson said here on Tuesday at a daily press briefing.
* Iran's foreign ministry summoned the envoys of Britain, Germany, France and Italy on Monday after their governments expressed support for protests in the country, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
* European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said Monday that she has ordered a ban on all diplomatic staff and other representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran from entering any European Parliament premises.
* Russia and Ukraine reported overnight strikes against each other amid intensified military actions on Tuesday, with Moscow saying it had carried out a large-scale attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, while Kiev reported a strike on a drone production facility inside Russia.
* Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal said Tuesday that Ukraine received 23 long- and medium-range air defense systems and 11,000 missiles for those systems in 2025, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.
* Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez said Monday that Venezuela has its own acting president and is moving ahead with its international relations, after U.S. President Donald Trump posted an image on social media calling himself "Acting President of Venezuela."
* Venezuela on Sunday reiterated its "historic stance" toward Cuba, reaffirming its unwavering commitment to the principles of "fraternity, solidarity, cooperation and complementarity," despite mounting pressure from Washington for Caracas to isolate the Caribbean nation.
* Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez met on Monday with members of the diplomatic corps from the European Union, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said.
* U.S. desire to take over Greenland cannot be accepted under any circumstances, said Greenland's government on Monday. The government said it will increase its efforts to ensure that the defense of Greenland is carried out within the framework of NATO, noting that all NATO member states, including the United States, share a common interest in Greenland's defense.
* Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt will attend talks held in Washington with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday, said Danish local media on Tuesday.
* German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday said NATO members are currently discussing the security of Greenland, noting that he expects the United States to be involved in the initiative.
* The European Union (EU) could help provide security for Greenland if Denmark requests it, European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius said on Monday, warning that any U.S. military takeover of the Arctic territory would cause the end of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
* Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum held a phone conversation on Monday with U.S. President Donald Trump, during which she ruled out any U.S. military intervention in Mexican territory.
* Mexico is willing to act as a mediator if the United States and Cuba agree to dialogue, President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday.
* The United Nations has not yet received any official notification from the United States regarding the latter's decision to withdraw from 31 UN entities, a UN spokesperson said Monday.
* Portugal on Monday resumed testing the European Union's (EU) new border control system for non-EU citizens at Lisbon Airport, following weeks of suspension due to prolonged waiting times for arriving passengers.
* Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Monday in an interview that Afghanistan does not accept any form of foreign military presence and will never hand over Bagram Air Base to the United States.
* No Croatian troops will be sent to Ukraine, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic reiterated at a joint press conference with visiting North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday.
* The remains of 32 Cuban military personnel killed during the U.S. military attack on Venezuela will arrive in Cuba on Thursday, the Cuban government said Monday.
* Australia's Ambassador to the United States will resign a year before the end of his term, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday.
* The U.S. State Department announced Monday that it has revoked over 100,000 visas since U.S. President Donald Trump took office nearly a year ago.
* Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday declared that a national day of mourning will be held on Jan. 22 for the victims of the terror attack at Sydney's Bondi Beach.
* More than 1,000 types of new and upgraded military equipment were deployed by Russia for frontline testing in 2025, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov told President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
* More than 100 children have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire went into effect since October 2025, a spokesperson for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Tuesday.
* Tens of thousands of pro-government citizens took to the streets across Iran on Monday, responding to calls from Iranian authorities to demonstrate solidarity.
* The Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) said on Monday that any committee formed to govern the Gaza Strip must be headed by a minister from the Palestinian Authority (PA).
* Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Tuesday that it is unacceptable for Lebanon to continue being subjected to Israeli attacks, expressing dissatisfaction with the performance of the ceasefire monitoring committee tasked with overseeing the truce.
* Syria's army declared on Tuesday the Kurdish-held areas of Deir Hafir and Maskanah east of Aleppo in northern Syria as "closed military zones," warning civilians to stay away as it moves to prevent what it described as renewed armed activity by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and its allied groups.
* Jordan on Monday sent a humanitarian aid convoy to Syria, according to a military statement. The convoy, organized by the Jordanian Armed Forces, comprises 51 trucks carrying essential food items and relief supplies.
* The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Tuesday launched the 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) for South Sudan, noting that more than 10 million people may require humanitarian assistance this year.
* African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf on Tuesday called for strengthening multilateral systems to address global challenges amid the U.S. decision to withdraw from various international institutions.
* Ugandan military and police have deployed both motorized and foot patrol personnel on major streets in the country's capital city Kampala ahead of the general elections scheduled for Jan. 15.
* Malaysia is considering legal action against Elon Musk's social media platform X over its AI tool Grok being used to generate obscene content, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said on Tuesday.
* Sri Lanka on Tuesday officially kicked off its national rebuilding program to guide the country's recovery and reconstruction following widespread damage caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
* Russian nuclear power plants (NPPs) generated 218.35 billion kWh of electricity in 2025, up 1.3 percent from 2024, Russia's national NPP operator Rosenergoatom said Monday.
* Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia said that Indonesia will stop importing diesel fuel for private gas stations starting in 2026, following the expansion of domestic refining capacity.
* Thailand's exports are expected to expand 2 percent to 4 percent in 2026, bolstered by potential growth in the electronics sector amid significant domestic and external headwinds, the Thai National Shippers' Council (TNSC) said on Monday.
* Kazakhstan's GDP grew by 6.5 percent year on year in 2025, Kazinform news agency reported on Monday, citing preliminary data released by the country's Bureau of National Statistics.
* Cambodia earned 603.6 million USD in revenue from exports of natural rubber latex in 2025, down 9 percent from 663.8 million dollars in the year before, said an official report on Tuesday.
* Indonesia will allocate up to 300 trillion rupiahs (about 17.8 billion USD) under its microcredit program, known as Kredit Usaha Rakyat (KUR), for the agricultural sector in 2026, aiming to strengthen national food security, a senior minister said here Tuesday.
* Net foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Philippines declined to 642 million USD in October 2025, the Philippine central bank said on Monday.
* France recorded a negative natural population balance in 2025 for the first time since the end of World War II, as deaths outnumbered births, the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) said on Tuesday. According to INSEE, France's 2025 population was estimated at 69.1 million as of Jan. 1, 2026, up 0.25 percent from the previous year.
* Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency has initiated a weather modification operation in the Jakarta area on Tuesday as a preventive step to lessen the danger of hydrometeorological disasters and severe weather.
