* Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez announced a cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday, appointing new ministers for defense, housing, and electric energy.
* Afghanistan and Pakistan have announced the suspension of military operations during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, officials from both countries said on Wednesday.
* The work of the Russia-U.S.-Ukraine trilateral working group on security issues is currently suspended, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told Russian daily Izvestia on Wednesday.
* The European Union (EU) and Iceland signed a security and defense partnership in Brussels on Wednesday, vowing to deepen defense cooperation in areas including support for Ukraine, Arctic matters and maritime security.
* If Iran attacks Qatar again, the U.S. military "will massively blow up the entirety" of the South Pars gas field in Iran, President Donald Trump warned in a post on his Truth Social on Wednesday.
* The Pentagon has asked the White House to approve a request exceeding 200 billion USD for Congress to fund the ongoing U.S. strikes on Iran, a move likely to stage a major partisan battle on Capitol Hill, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing a senior U.S. official and three other people familiar with the matter.
* NATO deploys an additional Patriot air defense system to the southern Adana province of Türkiye, the Turkish Defense Ministry said Wednesday, after a ballistic missile fired from Iran toward Turkish airspace was intercepted last week.
* New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon warned Thursday of a prolonged Middle East conflict that could disrupt global oil supplies, as the government considers raising its fuel escalation level next week.
* German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday called for efforts to achieve a swift end to the war against Iran through diplomatic means, warning that the ongoing conflict damages all parties, including the United States.
* Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday announced that the federal government has established a fuel security task force amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
* French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday called for an immediate end to military strikes on civilian infrastructure, particularly energy and water supply facilities, in the current Iran war.
* The government of Tajikistan has sent humanitarian aid to the people of Iran at the instruction of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, the presidential press service said Wednesday.
* Countries that join the U.S.-proposed coalition to escort vessels through the Strait of Hormuz would, under international law, become parties to the conflict and accomplices in U.S. and Israeli aggression against Iran, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.
* Foreign ministers of 12 Arab and Islamic states held a consultative ministerial meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday on the regional development, during which they urged Iran to halt its attacks, and condemned Israel's "expansionist policy" in the region.
* U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Wednesday that Iran has not rebuilt its nuclear enrichment program since U.S. strikes in June "obliterated" Iran's underground nuclear facilities and sealed their entrances.
* The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on Thursday that its air force struck and dismantled an Iranian Mi-17 military helicopter at Sanandaj Airport in Hamadan, western Iran, overnight.
* The Rafah crossing, the channel linking the Gaza Strip with Egypt, reopened on Thursday, according to an official security source. The crossing reopened "in both directions," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
* The Iraqi Shiite militia Kata'ib Hezbollah announced on early Thursday a five-day suspension of operations targeting the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, contingent upon several conditions.
* Residents in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, received mobile alerts early Thursday warning of a potential missile threat and urging them to seek shelter.
* Poland will invest 1 trillion Polish zlotys (270 billion USD) in its energy sector over the next decade, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday.
* The Spanish government has announced it will release 11.5 million barrels of oil from its strategic reserves to limit market volatility following the conflict between Israel, the United States and Iran.
* The United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities said on Thursday that operations at the Habshan gas facilities have been temporarily suspended due to falling debris from interceptions of missiles.
* Saudi air defences intercepted 8 ballistic missiles launched toward Riyadh on Wednesday evening, the country's Ministry of Defence announced.
* Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Wednesday exchanged views on the developments in the Middle East in the wake of the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran.
* Iraq's Electricity Ministry said on Wednesday that Iran's gas shipments to Iraq have ceased entirely, resulting in a loss of more than 3,000 megawatts (MW) from the national power grid amid heightened regional tensions.
* Qatar's Interior Ministry said on Wednesday that the civil defense team is responding to a fire in the Ras Laffan area following an Iranian targeting.
* Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed four ballistic missiles launched toward the capital Riyadh on Wednesday evening, the Ministry of Defense announced.
* The Bank of Japan (BOJ) decided to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at around 0.75 percent after concluding its two-day monetary policy meeting on Thursday.
* New Zealand's economy grew modestly in the December 2025 quarter, with gross domestic product (GDP) rising by 0.2 percent from the previous quarter, Stats NZ reported Thursday.
* Myanmar exported about 350,000 tonnes of rubber in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year 2025-26, according to the Myanmar Rubber Planters and Producers Association on Thursday.
* European gas and oil prices rose sharply in early trading on Thursday as escalating tensions in the Middle East and attacks on energy infrastructure in Qatar and Iran have heightened concerns over supply disruptions.
* The Bank of Canada on Wednesday announced that it will maintain its target for the policy rate at 2.25 percent, amid heightened global economic risks stemming from the conflict in the Middle East.
* Kazakhstan's national atomic company Kazatomprom plans to invest up to 85 billion tenge (around 175.9 million USD) in geological exploration by 2030, the presidential press service reported Wednesday, citing the company's CEO Meirzhan Yussupov.
* Brunei has exceeded its greenhouse gas emissions reduction target under the Brunei National Climate Change Policy (BNCCP), a government minister said on Wednesday.
* The United Nations on Wednesday announced a 2.16 billion USD humanitarian response plan for Yemen in 2026, aiming to deliver life-saving assistance to millions across the war-torn country.
* The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday warned that targeting energy facilities associated with Iran's South Pars gas field poses a threat to global energy security as well as the regional security and stability.
* The Israeli army on Wednesday struck and destroyed two additional bridges over Lebanon's Litani River, according to a statement from Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.
* The United Nations and its humanitarian partners continue to scale up assistance in Lebanon, providing food, shelter, water, medical care and nutrition support to families forced to flee their homes, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Wednesday.
* At least 17 people were killed and 30 others injured in rain-related incidents in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Wednesday, officials said.
* Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki erupted on Thursday at 2:36 p.m. local time, sending a thick column of gray ash up to 1,000 meters above its 1,703-meter peak, according to the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG).
* Latvia has recorded its first measles outbreak since 2018, Ilze Udre, a spokesperson for the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) noted Wednesday.
