* China is willing to deepen its strategic cooperation with Indonesia, state media cited President Xi Jinping as saying on Thursday.
* China has offered to hold joint military exercises with the Philippines, local media reported on Thursday, quoting Manila's military chief.
* Thailand's parliament is scheduled to sit on Aug. 4 to try again to pick the country's next prime minister, according to a document outlining the house agenda issued on Thursday.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin told African leaders at a summit on Thursday that Moscow is ready to work with them on the development of their finances, and to use regional currencies for trade payments.
* The European Union (EU) on Wednesday reiterated its strong and determined rejection of the desecration of the Islamic holy book of Quran, said a statement released by the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon.
* The Swedish state does not sanction or condone Koran burnings but they are permitted by Swedish freedom of speech laws, Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said on Thursday.
* Ukraine has allocated 40 billion hryvnias (about 1.1 billion USD) this year to develop its drone production, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Wednesday.
* The Sudanese army's delegation to talks in Jeddah has returned to Sudan "for consultations", the army said in a statement on Thursday.
* The Iraqi Foreign Ministry welcomed on Wednesday the approval by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) of a resolution on promoting interreligious and intercultural dialogues to counter hate speech.
* A United Nations (UN) mission in Libya warned on Wednesday against unilateral moves to resolve the country's political stalemate after the Libyan House of Representatives approved a roadmap on parliamentary and presidential elections and announced the nomination of a new government.
* The European Union Election Observation Mission (EOM) on Wednesday deployed its 46 long-term election observers to Zimbabwe's 10 administrative provinces to commence their work.
* South Korea's population fell for the second consecutive year in 2022 on the chronically low birthrate and the rapidly aging population, statistical office data showed Thursday.
* Israel's president urged both sides of a dispute over government plans to overhaul the judiciary to refrain from any violence, using the occasion of a Jewish fast on Thursday to appeal for reconciliation as protesters planned more demonstrations.
* The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points to the range of 5.25 to 5.5 percent, the highest level in over two decades, as it continues to ramp up its fight against inflation.
* European shares rallied to nine-week highs on Thursday, driven by hopes the Federal Reserve was done with interest rate hikes and some upbeat earnings reports, while investors looked ahead to the European Central Bank's policy decision.
* South Korea's export volume marked the first rebound in four months last month owing to demand for transport equipment and chemical products, central bank data showed Thursday.
* The U.N. climate chief and the incoming president of the COP28 climate summit called on Thursday for the Group of 20 major economies to lead the way on delivering a positive outcome on climate change mitigation at this year's meeting.
* Canada will likely publish the final regulations of a plan to cap and cut greenhouse gases from the oil and gas sector by mid-2024, its environment minister told Reuters on Thursday.
* Germany aims to significantly accelerate the market ramp-up of hydrogen as part of an update to its National Hydrogen Strategy, doubling the target for domestic electrolysis capacity in 2030 to at least 10 gigawatts (GW).
* China on Thursday braced for the imminent landfall of Typhoon Doksuri, shutting schools and businesses in some coastal cities, while its national observatory renewed its most severe weather alert after overnight heavy rainfall in the country's southwest.
* High temperatures were forecast across Japan on Thursday, with heatstroke alerts having been issued for all or parts of 35 prefectures, out of the total 47, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).
* Large areas of the Mediterranean have sweltered under an intense summer heatwave in recent weeks and Greece, Algeria and other affected areas are battling wildfires together.
* Firefighters have "stabilised" a wildfire that ravaged 400 hectares of woodland in the centre of the Spanish island of Gran Canaria, local emergency services chief Federico Grillo said on Thursday.
* At least 19 were killed when a passenger boat capsized amid strong winds near the Philippine capital Manila on Thursday, a municipal disaster agency said.
