* Romania's National Liberal Party (PNL) has severed political ties with its coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), but will remain in government, PNL Chairman Nicolae Ciuca said on Monday.
* Russia said on Tuesday that it still had an emergency hotline with the United States and the NATO military alliance to deflate crises as nuclear risks rise amid the gravest confrontation between Moscow and West since the depths of the Cold War.
* China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced Tuesday that it will impose temporary anti-dumping measures on brandy originating in the European Union (EU) by requiring importers to pay a cash deposit on purchase.
* The top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) would never allow the destruction of the balance of force on the Korean peninsula, but develop defence science and industry to bolster up the war deterrent for self-defence "limitlessly," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Tuesday.
* South Korea and Singapore have agreed to embark on a strategic partnership next year, marking the 50th anniversary of their establishment of diplomatic relations, the city state's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Tuesday.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during his upcoming visit to Turkmenistan, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said Monday.
* Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico on Monday agreed to establish an Eastern European energy hub, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.
* Romania is set to enhance its air defense capabilities by acquiring four AN/MPQ-64 F1 Sentinel radar systems via the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program, the Ministry of National Defense said Monday.
* Hungary has formally requested an exemption from the European Union (EU)'s asylum and migration regulations, Minister for European Union Affairs Janos Boka announced in a Facebook post on Monday.
* Indonesia will open thousands of kitchens across the country next year as the incoming government led by president-elect Prabowo Subianto kicks off his multi-billion dollar free meals programme, the head of the agency running the initiative said on Tuesday.
* Pakistan is scheduled to sign agreements worth around $2 billion with an visiting Saudi delegation later this month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday.
* Colombia is in talks with Germany for a debt-for-nature swap as the country seeks to fund its $40 billion plan to transition away from fossil fuels and protect the environment, Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo told Reuters on Monday.
* The number of irregular migrants relocated from Malta so far this year has risen to 175, with sixteen people relocated from the country on Monday, the Home Affairs Ministry has announced.
* The year-long "brutal" war has turned the Gaza Strip into a graveyard for tens of thousands and a sea of rubble, the UN agency for Palestine refugees said Monday.
* U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday condemned the massacre of innocent people by Hamas and mourned the loss of civilian lives in Gaza in a call with Israeli President Isaac Herzog as the world marks the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
* Many European leaders on Monday called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip while repeating their support for the two-state solution.
* On the first anniversary of Hamas' assault on Israel which falls on Oct. 7, thousands of protesters took to the streets of New York City to express solidarity with the Palestinians and demand an immediate ceasefire from Israel amid the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
* The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Tuesday morning announced the killing of Suhail Hussein Husseini, commander of the Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah headquarters.
* Hezbollah forces fired approximately 105 rockets toward Haifa Bay, the Upper Galilee, and Central Galilee on Tuesday, the Israeli military said, adding that interceptors were deployed to counter the attack.
* Hezbollah's deputy leader said in comments broadcast on Tuesday that the group backs efforts to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon, and for the first time omitted any mention of a Gaza truce deal as a pre-condition to halting the group's attacks on Israel.
* Iran's foreign minister warned Israel against launching an attack, saying on Tuesday any strike on Iranian infrastructure would be met with a stronger retaliation.
* Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi will visit Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region starting on Tuesday to discuss regional issues and work on stopping Israel's "crimes" in Gaza and Lebanon, Iran's state media reported.
* Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 41,965 Palestinians and wounded 97,590 since Oct. 7, 2023, the Palestinian enclave's health ministry said on Tuesday.
* A World Health Organization official warned on Tuesday of disease outbreaks in Lebanon due to crowded conditions in displacement shelters and hospital closures as medics have fled Israel's assault.
* Turkish navy ships will evacuate Turks who have applied to leave Lebanon by sea on Wednesday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
* Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno has said that the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East would pose negative impacts on foreign tourist visits in Indonesia as the unstable geopolitical situation would delay flights.
* The World Bank on Tuesday lowered its 2024 economic growth forecast for Cambodia to 5.3 percent from its April prediction of 5.8 percent. The Southeast Asian country's growth traditionally relies on garment export, tourism, agriculture, as well as construction and real estate.
* Unemployment rate in the Philippines fell to 4 percent in August from 4.7 percent in July, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Tuesday.
* United Arab Emirates' cabinet has approved the budget for the 2025 fiscal year with expenditures of 71.5 billion dirhams ($19.47 billion), the state news agency said on Tuesday.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday said it has approved additional grant financing of 15 million USD to scale up Tajikistan's ongoing project to reconnect its power system to the Central Asian Power System (CAPS) through interconnections with neighboring Uzbekistan.
* More than 300 delegates drawn from Africa's tax revenue institutions, United Nations agencies, and Africa's regional economic blocs are meeting in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, on Monday to discuss ways to promote borderless trade in the continent.
* Haji Abdul Manaf, Brunei's minister of primary resources and tourism, called for a whole-nation effort to boost tourism on Wednesday, according to a local media report.
* Britain's population grew by 1% in annual terms to 68.3 million as of mid-2023, mainly due to high immigration, official data showed on Tuesday.
* SpaceX launched the Hera mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) to interplanetary transfer orbit on Monday. The spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 10:52 a.m. Eastern Time. Later SpaceX confirmed Hera's deployment.
* Rome's city authorities announced on Monday that it had begun measures to protect the city's famed Trevi Fountain, ahead of an influx of visitors for the 2025 Jubilee celebrations.
* At least a million people in Kenya are struggling with food insecurity and in need of humanitarian assistance, the country's National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) said Monday.
* Some 200 people may have been buried after a landslide occurred Monday in a port area of Manacapuru, Brazil's Amazonas state, according to official sources.
* Days of devastating flash floods, triggered by heavy rains and upstream torrents, have stranded hundreds of thousands of people in Bangladesh's northern Mymensingh region, with thousands of homes still under water.
