* Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature, becoming the second Hungarian author ever to receive the honor, the Swedish Academy announced on Thursday.
* The top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has called on his country to accelerate efforts toward a comprehensive transformation in the next 10 years, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Thursday. Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, made the remarks at a speech during his visit to the Party Founding Museum on Wednesday ahead of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the WPK.
* Israel and Hamas are preparing to implement a Gaza ceasefire agreement, with an official signing ceremony expected later Thursday in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh following three days of intensive negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye and the United States, according to Palestinian and Israeli sources.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday on Truth Social that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first phase of a Gaza peace plan.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he may travel to the Middle East this weekend as a Gaza deal is "very close." Negotiations between Israel and Hamas entered their third day on Wednesday in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday praised the new agreement reached with Hamas for the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release and decided to convene his cabinet later in the day to approve the deal.
* Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan announced on Thursday that the Gaza ceasefire agreement will go into effect immediately after the Israeli government approves it.
* The mediators in the Israel-Hamas talks said that an agreement covering all provisions and implementation mechanisms related to the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal has been reached and a final draft of the agreement is underway, Egypt's Al-Qahera News TV reported Thursday.
* Outgoing French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Wednesday night that President Emmanuel Macron is expected to appoint a new prime minister within the next 48 hours.
* European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen survived two motions of no-confidence in the European Parliament on Thursday, following accusations ranging from an alleged unfair trade deal with the United States to inaction over Israel.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Tajikistan is a reliable ally and Russia values its relations with the country, the Khovar news agency reported.
* India and Britain signed agreements furthering their Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in Mumbai on Thursday.
* The U.S. federal government's shutdown entered its second week on Wednesday, with no end on the horizon as the Senate was unable to reach an agreement to reopen it. On the day, two bills to fund the government -- one from Democrats and the other from Republicans -- failed to pass for the sixth time.
* Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that U.S. President Donald Trump had asked Türkiye to help persuade Hamas to accept his plan to end the Gaza war and that Turkish officials have since engaged in talks to support the peace process.
* New Zealand welcomes the first phase of the peace deal between Israel and Hamas, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said on Thursday.
* Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong on Thursday welcomed the first phase of the peace plan for Gaza, urging all parties to respect the terms.
* In the two years since the outbreak of the latest Gaza conflict on Oct. 7, 2023, the U.S. government has spent 21.7 billion USD on military aid to Israel, according to a study findings released Tuesday.
* Lithuania's shut-down Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP), which is carrying out multi-billion-euro decommissioning projects, plans to start dismantling the cores of its two reactors in 2031 and finish the work by 2042, the Baltic News Service (BNS) reported on Thursday.
* Syria's defense authorities and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) traded accusations Thursday over renewed clashes east of Aleppo, just two days after both sides agreed to a ceasefire.
* China's commerce ministry and the General Administration of Customs on Thursday announced export control measures on items related to superhard materials, rare earth equipment and materials, and batteries.
* Cambodia is projected to achieve a 5 percent economic growth in 2025, down from 6 percent in 2024, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Vongsey Vissoth said on Thursday. On Aug. 1, the United States imposed the 19-percent tariff on all goods imported from Cambodia.
* Indonesia has pushed to accelerate the completion of various free trade agreements (FTAs) to navigate global economic uncertainty and maintain market openness amid intensifying geopolitical and economic tensions, Minister of Investment and Downstream Industry Rosan Roeslani said Wednesday.
* Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is legally binding in all three countries, and any attempt to modify it will require a "very thorough review."
* Germany's exports to the United States took another hit in August, falling for the fifth consecutive month as U.S. tariffs on cars and other goods piled pressure on Europe's largest exporter, official data showed Thursday.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Thursday that it has approved two grants to enhance food security, deliver health services, and improve resilience to weather-related shocks and natural hazards in Afghanistan.
* The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Sri Lankan authorities have reached staff-level agreement on economic policies to conclude the fifth review of Sri Lanka's reform program supported by the IMF's Extended Fund Facility, the IMF said on Thursday.
* Thailand's central bank held its key interest rate steady on Wednesday as policymakers seek to preserve monetary policy flexibility amid mounting concerns over U.S. trade policies and a slowing economy.
* The Philippine central bank on Thursday decided to reduce its target reverse repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 4.75 percent and the interest rates on the overnight deposit and lending facilities to 4.25 percent and 5.25 percent, respectively.
* The Philippines has lifted the temporary ban on the importation of domestic and wild birds from several countries and regions previously affected by avian influenza outbreaks, the country's Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Thursday.
* The world has just experienced its third warmest September on record, with land and sea surface temperatures remaining persistently high, the EU's climate monitoring network reported on Thursday.
