*Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party (JIP), plan to begin working-level consultations in November on revising the country's three key security documents by the end of the year, with nuclear-powered submarines and a possible review of the Three Non-Nuclear Principles expected to be among the main issues, Kyodo News reported Tuesday.
* Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Tuesday that the government has decided to deploy 500 troops to Milan until the end of the year and introduce tougher penalties following violent clashes in the city and other parts of the country over the weekend.
* Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Wednesday that, at present, under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin, China-Russia relations are entering a new stage marked by greater achievements and faster development. Li made the remarks when holding talks with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
* U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to reach a deal with Russia to end the conflict.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed proposals for various ceasefire formats with U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo, Norway on Tuesday, Ukraine's state-run Ukrinform news agency reported.
* U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Wednesday to present points developed during talks on Ukraine in Oslo, Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported Tuesday.
* Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori and Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa on Tuesday signed the Lima 2026 Presidential Declaration in the Peruvian capital, agreeing to strengthen bilateral cooperation on security, trade and energy integration.
* Republic of Korea's non-regular workers hit a record high, driven by higher elderly employment, while the wage gap widened between regular and temporary workers, statistical ministry data showed Wednesday. The number of non-regular employees totaled 8,671,000 as of August, up 103,000 from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
* New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions from industries and households fell 2.9 percent in the June 2026 quarter, driven mainly by declines in manufacturing and household transport, official data showed Wednesday. Greenhouse gas emissions from industries and households decreased by 550 kilotons during the quarter, according to the national statistics agency Stats NZ.
* China's non-bank sectors, including enterprises and individuals, recorded net cross-border capital inflows of 40.7 billion USD in September, down 35 percent from August, as trade in goods continued to generate substantial inflows, the country's foreign exchange regulator said on Tuesday.
* Singapore has set aside more than 45 million Singapore dollars (about 35.22 million USD) over the next three years to help small and medium-sized enterprises in the advanced manufacturing sector adopt artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, Enterprise Singapore said on Wednesday.
* Qatar on Tuesday reaffirmed that diplomatic contacts and exchanges of messages between Washington and Tehran were continuing through mediation channels, according to Qatar's Foreign Ministry.
* French President Emmanuel Macron concluded his official visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday, during which the two countries discussed regional developments and ways to strengthen bilateral strategic ties, the official Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.
* Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that Israeli forces had destroyed more than 60 villages and 23,000 homes in southern Lebanon, while renewing a threat to seize additional territory if Hezbollah joins an Iranian attack on Israel.
* Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy said Tuesday that Israeli attacks and violations against residents in southern Lebanon were "unacceptable", calling for concrete Arab action to support Lebanon, strengthen state institutions and help residents return to their villages and homes.
* The Saudi-led Coalition in Yemen said on Wednesday that it had intercepted and destroyed a number of drones launched toward the kingdom. Coalition spokesman Turki Al-Maliki said in an X post that the coalition forces intercepted and destroyed four drones in Medina and the Eastern Province.
* Yemen's government forces said Tuesday they had carried out 744 strikes against Houthi military targets across several battlefronts over the past 24 hours as part of their ongoing "Dawn of Yemen" offensive.
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel was "committed" to overthrowing Iran's government and that he had discussed the goal with U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday.
* The number of jobs in Australia with workforce shortages has fallen year-on-year, according to government data. Jobs and Skills Australia on Wednesday released the annual occupation shortage list for 2026, revealing that 27 percent of assessed occupations have a national workforce shortage, down from 29 percent in 2025 and a record high of 36 percent in 2023.
* Japan recorded a trade deficit of 536.6 billion yen (about 3.4 billion USD) in September, marking its fifth consecutive month in the red, government data showed Wednesday. Exports rose 16.7 percent year on year to increase for a 13th straight month, supported by strong demand for semiconductors and artificial intelligence-related products, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance.
* Finland's unemployment rate rose to 10.4 percent in September 2026, up from 9.1 percent a year earlier, as the country's labor market continued to struggle despite signs of an economic recovery, official data showed on Tuesday.
* The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has called for greater global solidarity and international support to contain the rapidly expanding Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak.
* Uganda has reported no confirmed active Ebola cases following reports that a Nigerian woman who tested positive for the disease had transited through the country earlier this month, the Ministry of Health said in a statement issued late Tuesday.
* Earth Sciences New Zealand has raised the volcanic alert level for the White Island after the volcano began continuously emitting small amounts of volcanic ash. The agency said there was no threat to mainland New Zealand beyond the possibility of a noticeable sulfur smell and light ashfall, Radio New Zealand reported on Wednesday.
* All 460 people aboard a passenger ferry that caught fire off Indonesia's Java island on Tuesday afternoon were safely evacuated, with 11 requiring medical treatment, the Banten Search and Rescue Agency said on Tuesday night.
