* A key partner in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition announced on Wednesday that it was quitting the government. The ultra-Orthodox Shas party said it was stepping down in protest over the coalition's failure to secure a future exemption from military conscription for students of Jewish religious seminaries.
* UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said Wednesday that Israel must be held to the same principles and laws of all other states in terms of protection of civilians.
* Hungary has formally proposed that the European Union (EU) place three senior Ukrainian military officials on its sanctions list in response to alleged abuses linked to violent conscription practices in Ukraine, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced on Wednesday.
* The Russian Aerospace Forces shot down a MiG-29 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
* China's mutual visa-exemption agreement with Malaysia officially took effect on Thursday, further expanding the country's visa-free travel policy.
* Cambodia's trade volume with its fellow ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member states hit 8.45 billion USD in the first half of 2025, an increase of 6 percent over the same period last year, an official report said on Thursday.
* U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled a plan to impose a unified tariff rate on more than 150 countries and regions, according to a report by Politico.
* The European Commission on Wednesday proposed a two-trillion-euro (2.33 trillion USD) budget for 2028-2034 for the European Union (EU). The budget proposal would raise EU spending to an average of 1.26 percent of the bloc's gross national income, up from around 1.1 percent during the current 2021-2027 cycle.
* Israel's military said on Wednesday it had established a new military road in the Gaza Strip, bisecting eastern and western Khan Younis in the south of the strip.
* Syrian interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa on Thursday strongly condemned Israeli airstrikes on Damascus, reaffirming the government's commitment to protecting all Syrians, especially the Druze community.
* A fragile ceasefire entered into effect Wednesday night in Syria's southern province of Sweida, as Syrian interim government troops began withdrawing from the city following days of deadly clashes between government forces, Druze fighters, and Bedouin tribes, according to the state-run media outlets.
* Israel's military said it intercepted a missile launched by Houthi forces from Yemen towards southern Israel on Wednesday night. The missiles triggered air raid sirens in the Dead Sea region and the Negev Desert. No injuries were reported.
* The UN-led humanitarian response in Gaza has been sidelined since the breakdown of the ceasefire in March, even though the world body was doing a good job, said UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Catherine Russell on Wednesday.
* Yemeni authorities announced on Wednesday the seizure of 750 tons of weapons, including various missile systems, in the Red Sea.
* Japan's trade surplus in June dropped 30.8 percent from a year earlier to 153.1 billion yen (about 1 billion USD), as shipments to the United States continued to fall amid hefty tariffs, government data showed Thursday.
* China's railway network recorded a historic high of 2.24 billion passenger trips in the first half of 2025, the national railway operator said Thursday.
* Singapore's non-oil domestic exports (NODX) surged 13.0 percent year-on-year in June, reversing the 3.9 percent decline recorded in May, according to data released by Enterprise Singapore on Thursday.
* Cambodia's total import of diesel fuel, gasoline, and combustion gas dropped by 13.2 percent in the first half of 2025, a Ministry of Commerce's report showed on Thursday.
* Belarusian gross domestic product (GDP) grew 2.1 percent year on year in the first half of this year, data from the country's statistical committee showed Wednesday.
* Thailand's industrial confidence fell for a fourth straight month in June, driven by concerns over border tensions with Cambodia, U.S. trade measures, and geopolitical conflicts, data showed on Wednesday.
* Australia's unemployment rate rose to 4.3 percent in June, the highest level in almost four years, according to official data released on Thursday.
* New Zealand food prices rose 4.6 percent in the year to June 2025, slightly up from 4.4 percent in May, the statistics department Stats NZ said on Thursday.
* Around 50 people were killed in a massive fire at a hypermarket in Kut, the capital city of Iraq's Wasit province, the regional governor said Thursday. Wasit’s Provincial Governor Mohammed Jameel al-Maihy declared three days of mourning for the victims of the fire.
* The Philippines' population reached 112,729,484 as of July 1, 2024, the Philippine Statistics Authority said on Thursday. According to the agency, the figure reflected the total number of persons living in the country's 18 administrative regions as of 12:01 a.m. local time on July 1, 2024.
* A total of 93 people lost their lives in disasters across Nepal in the last three months, a government agency said on Thursday.
* An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 jolted 87 km south of Sand Point, Alaska, the United States, at 20:37:40 GMT on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The epicenter, with a depth of 36 km, was initially determined to be at 54.55 degrees north latitude and 160.34 degrees west longitude.
