* Iris Stalzer, the newly elected mayor of the western German town of Herdecke, was seriously injured in a knife attack on Tuesday, according to German public broadcaster WDR. Stalzer won the mayoral election in late September in Herdecke, a town in Germany's Ruhr area, and was scheduled to take office next month.
* China is willing to work with the Republic of Korea to strengthen mutual trust, avoid disruptions, deepen cooperation and contribute to each other's success so as to safeguard regional peace, stability and prosperity, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Tuesday.
* A meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday ended without a concrete agreement to end the punitive U.S. tariffs, local media reported.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russian armed forces currently maintain full strategic initiative in the area of the special military operation, Kremlin said in a press release Tuesday evening.
* Chinese and Malaysian armed forces will conduct a joint drill in Malaysia and its adjacent waters in mid-to-late October, according to a statement released by the Chinese Ministry of National Defense on Wednesday.
* The prime ministers of Australia and Singapore on Wednesday reaffirmed their commitment to multilateralism after meeting in Canberra to launch an enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership.
* U.S. President Donald Trump has called off efforts to reach a diplomatic agreement with Venezuela, reported The New York Times on Monday, citing U.S. officials.
* Energy and railway infrastructure in two Ukrainian regions came under Russian attacks, Oleksii Kuleba, Ukrainian deputy prime minister, announced on Tuesday.
* A Ukrainian combat drone attempted to attack the Novovoronezh nuclear power plant overnight but was destroyed before causing any damage, Russian authorities said Tuesday.
* Thailand's cabinet on Tuesday approved an economic stimulus scheme worth 44 billion baht (1.35 billion USD) to boost domestic consumption and alleviate the cost of living for up to 20 million people.
* Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday reaffirmed his government's resolve to strengthen national preparedness against natural disasters and the impacts of climate change, as the country marked National Resilience Day.
* Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Tuesday urged Latin American countries to stand united following U.S. missile strikes on vessels in the Caribbean.
* Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed a U.S.-backed proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza and the conflict in Ukraine during a phone call on Tuesday, the Turkish presidency said.
* Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide on Tuesday said Israel's military response to the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks "has gone far beyond the limits" of international and humanitarian law, leaving Gaza "in ruins" and civilians facing "unimaginable suffering."
* Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a media statement on Tuesday that Australia must do everything in its power to make Israel and Palestine co-exist in peace and security.
* Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob on Tuesday called for peace and reiterated his support for a two-state solution as the only way to lasting stability and security in the Middle East, marking two years since the renewed Israel-Palestine conflict.
* A senior Hamas source said Tuesday the group has demanded that any release of Israeli hostages be "directly tied to" a clear timetable for Israel's complete withdrawal from Gaza, as the group's indirect negotiations with Israel continue in Egypt.
* Top diplomatic and intelligence officials from Qatar and Türkiye are set to join the Gaza ceasefire negotiations in Egypt on Wednesday, as mediators push to end the devastating conflict.
* Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday that Tehran's nuclear issue can only be resolved through negotiation.
* Indonesia's Finance Ministry has withdrawn around 70 trillion Indonesian rupiahs (about 4.2 billion USD) from the country's central bank, with plans to inject the funds into several regional development banks across the archipelago, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said on Tuesday.
* The World Bank has forecast Malaysia's economy to grow 4.1 percent year-on-year in 2026. Its lead economist for Malaysia Apurva Sanghi told a press conference on Tuesday that the growth of the Malaysian economy is expected to continue moderating in 2026, as external headwinds are likely to persist.
* The World Bank on Tuesday lowered Romania's 2025 economic growth forecast to 0.4 percent, down from 1.3 percent projected in June. In its Europe and Central Asia Economic Update titled "Jobs and Prosperity," the Bank also cut forecasts for 2026 and 2027 to 1.3 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively, both 0.6 percentage points lower than earlier estimates.
* The Philippines' unemployment rate in August decreased to 3.9 percent, down from 5.3 percent in July, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Wednesday. PSA Chief Dennis Mapa said in a press conference that an estimated 2.03 million Filipinos were out of work in August this year.
* New Zealand's central bank cut its official cash rate (OCR) by 50 basis points to 2.5 percent on Wednesday to revive weak economic growth.
* Kazakhstan will increase its oil exports to Germany to 130,000 tonnes per month in 2026, the press service of Kazakhstan's national oil and gas company KazMunayGas (KMG) reported Tuesday.
* The World Bank on Tuesday forecast Bangladesh's economy to grow by 4.8 percent in the current 2025-26 fiscal year (July 2025-June 2026), a rise from last fiscal year's four percent.
* The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will provide 52 million USD in sovereign-backed financing to help Sri Lanka unlock its renewable energy potential and advance sustainable development, the country's Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Wednesday.
* Floods in Thailand have claimed 22 lives, authorities said on Tuesday, as an estimated 370,000 people across 19 provinces were still battling river overflows and heavy rains.
* Mongolia reported its warmest September in 2025 since temperature records began, the National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring said on Tuesday.
* An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 jolted 21 km W of Lae, Papua New Guinea at 1105 GMT on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The epicenter, with a depth of 107.0 km, was initially determined to be at 6.70 degrees south latitude and 146.80 degrees east longitude.
