* Former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte officially assumed office as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) secretary general on Tuesday, succeeding Jens Stoltenberg, who stepped down after a decade in the role.
* Austria's president will ask the outgoing conservative-led cabinet on Wednesday to stay on in a caretaker capacity while parties try to form a new government after the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) won Sunday's election.
* Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky will remain in the government as an unaffiliated member after his party, the Czech Pirate Party, decided to exit the coalition, Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced on Tuesday.
* Dutch far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders, who is leading the largest party in the four-party ruling coalition, on Tuesday intensified pressure on the government for emergency legislation to curb the influx of asylum seekers, hinting that the coalition could collapse if his demands are not met.
* Iran's Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi said the country's military action against Israel has concluded. He made the remarks in a post on social media platform X early Wednesday while elaborating on a missile attack by Iran Tuesday night against targets inside Israel.
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday that Israel would retaliate against Iran's missile attack earlier in the day, during which 180 missiles were fired toward Israel.
* The Kremlin on Wednesday said the situation in the Middle East was developing in an alarming direction and called on all sides to exercise restraint.
* The White House in a statement Tuesday said President Joe Biden has directed U.S. forces to aid Israel's defense against Iran, which launched missile attacks against the Jewish state.
* Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has allocated 5 billion rupees (approximately 16.6 million USD) to fund the parliamentary election scheduled for Nov. 14, said a spokesperson on Tuesday.
* French Prime Minister Michel Barnier delivered a comprehensive one-and-a-half-hour speech Tuesday in the National Assembly, detailing his government's key priorities including public deficit reduction, immigration reform, and retirement policies.
* Myanmar has kicked off a nationwide population and household census across the country, the state-run daily The Mirror reported on Wednesday.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday bared its plan to invest 25 million USD in a certified climate bond issued by Vivriti Capital Limited, the first such bond issued by a medium-sized nonbank financial company in India with proceeds to provide finance for companies engaged in sectors including electric vehicles, solar and wind energy, and waste management.
* France said on Wednesday it was sending additional military resources to the Middle East to tackle the Iranian threat and convened a United Nations Security Council meeting for later in the day after Tehran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel.
* South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered on Wednesday military aircraft to be deployed immediately to evacuate its citizens from Israel and other parts of the Middle East amid escalating tension, his office said.
* Spain plans to send two military aircraft to evacuate as many as 350 citizens from Lebanon as early as Thursday, Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles said on Wednesday.
* The Netherlands will help its citizens to leave Lebanon in the next few days, the Dutch Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday.
* Poland has decided to reduce its embassy staff in Beirut and will assist Polish citizens wishing to leave Lebanon, the Polish Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday.
* Several airlines operating in the Gulf have adjusted their flight routes to ensure passenger safety following Iran's attack on Israel.
* Yemen's Houthis targeted military posts deep in Israel with three winged 'Quds 5' rockets, the group's military spokesperson Yahya Saree said on Wednesday.
* At least nine Palestinians were killed and 20 injured in an Israeli air strike on a school and institute housing displaced people in Gaza, Palestine news agency WFA said on Wednesday.
* France condemns the Israeli airstrikes, which it said have caused an unacceptable number of civilian casualties, including dozens of children and women, France's Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday.
* More than 100,000 people have moved from Lebanon into Syria, as over 200,000 people have been displaced from southern Lebanon due to the evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military, a UN spokesman said on Tuesday.
* A "gradual" easing of monetary policy is appropriate for the Philippines as inflation returns towards the central bank's target, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday.
* Foreign direct investment (FDI) in South Korea hit a record high in the first nine months of this year due to a record investment in the manufacturing industry, government data showed Wednesday.
* The Bolivian government announced a new plan on Tuesday to ensure that necessities reach consumers at fair prices. The plan aims to fight speculation in the markets and curb smuggling to neighboring countries.
* Iceland's central bank on Wednesday cut its key policy interest rate by 25 basis points to 9.0% and said that inflation had eased.
* Bangladeshi people living and working abroad remitted home more than 6 billion USD in the first quarter of the current 2024-25 fiscal year beginning July, the latest central bank data showed.
* A total of 1.34 million visitor arrivals were recorded in Indonesia during August, up 18.3 percent year-on-year, according to the latest data released by Statistics Indonesia.
* The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a warning over an "extremely concerning malaria surge" in Ethiopia.
* As many as 224 people were confirmed dead in Nepal by Tuesday evening and properties worth over 17 billion Nepali rupees (127 million USD) were damaged in recent floods and landslides.
* An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 jolted 156 km ESE of Neiafu, Tonga, at 20:05:33 GMT on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The epicenter, with a depth of 10.0 km, was initially determined to be at 19.41 degrees south latitude and 172.73 degrees west longitude.
* The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday that 1,166 migrants were intercepted and returned off the coast of Libya in the past week.
* Forty-five migrants have died after two ships wrecked sank off the coast of the East African nation of Djibouti with many still missing, a spokesperson for the United Nations migration agency said on Tuesday.
* The death toll from the sinking of a boat carrying undocumented immigrants off the coast of Djerba Island in southeastern Tunisia has risen to 16, the Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP) reported on Tuesday.
* The Philippines' Taal Volcano near the capital region has erupted, the country's seismology agency said on Wednesday. The agency did not immediately provide details on the extent of the eruption but said the alert level remained at the lowest on the scale.
