* China is currently carrying out a new round of direct elections of county- and township-level lawmakers in an orderly manner, according to a senior legislator on Wednesday. More than one billion voters will directly elect over 2.6 million deputies to the people's congresses at the county and township levels, representing a vivid practice of whole-process people's democracy, said Song Rui, deputy secretary general of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, at a press conference.
* Campaigning for Morocco's 2026 parliamentary elections officially began on Thursday, official news agency MAP reported. The campaign will run until midnight on Sept. 22, the eve of the vote to elect 395 members of the House of Representatives, parliament's lower house.
* China and the United States are holding consultations on a reciprocal tariff reduction framework arrangement that would cover 30 billion USD worth of products from each side, China's Ministry of Commerce said Thursday.
* More than 4.14 million people have been affected by floods in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, officials said Thursday. The floods have hit the state's 14 districts, with several rivers flowing above the danger mark at multiple places.
* Faster and stronger cooperation between governments and enforcement agencies is needed to address transnational criminal networks effectively, according to Malaysian Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
* Ukrainian forces have struck a naval base in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday.
* About 2,000 people protested peacefully in front of a heavily guarded Israeli embassy in Ljubljana, which was officially opened on Wednesday.
* Slovakia is set to procure four additional fighter jets from the United States by the end of this year, under a draft deal approved by the government on Wednesday.
* Algeria's state television said Thursday the country was cutting diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following years of tensions.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is deeply concerned about the latest escalation over the Strait of Hormuz, said his spokesman on Wednesday.
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli troops inside Syria on Wednesday and said Israel had "absolute control" over a swathe of territory stretching from Mount Hermon to the Yarmouk River, while pledging to bring down Iran's government.
* Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said Wednesday that if any vessel enters the "restricted zone" to be announced by Iran in regional waters without coordination, it will be subject to the country's sanction measures.
* Yemen's Houthi group seized the strategic Red Sea port city of Mocha in southwestern Taiz province on Thursday amid a rapid advance toward the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a critical route for international shipping, a military official told Xinhua.
* The Houthi group launched ballistic missile and drone attacks targeting the Saudi cities of Khamis Mushait, Abha and Jazan on Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognized government in Yemen said.
* A Panamanian-flagged fuel oil tanker was struck by an unknown projectile early Wednesday in Iraqi territorial waters, causing material damage to its hull but no crew casualties or fuel spills, Iraq's Transportation Ministry said in a statement.
* The Bank of Japan (BOJ) will continue to raise its key interest rate to ensure it does not fall behind the curve in fighting inflation, one of its board members said Thursday ahead of the bank's policy meeting next week.
* Russia's federal budget deficit reached 5.79 trillion rubles (about 68.32 billion USD), equivalent to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product, in the first eight months of this year, the Russian Ministry of Finance said Wednesday.
* Cambodia's foreign trade volume reached 50.68 billion USD in the first eight months of 2026, marking a 20 percent year-on-year increase, according to an official report released Thursday.
* Mongolia's foreign trade turnover rose 36.8 percent year-on-year to 22.8 billion USD in the first eight months of 2026, data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed Wednesday. During the January-August period, Mongolia recorded a trade surplus of 6 billion dollars, the NSO said.
* Malaysia's next phase of digital development must move beyond connectivity deployment towards creating tangible value through better public services, stronger businesses and greater opportunities for Malaysians, the country's Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said at a recent event.
* Myanmar's Yangon Port received 457 container vessels in the first eight months of 2026, the Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Thursday, citing the Myanmar Port Authority. The port handled 55 container vessels in August, with the highest monthly figure of 63 in January, the report said.
* At least five were killed, and 87 remain missing after a vessel caught fire on Wednesday off the waters of the tourist hotspot Palawan Province of the Philippines, said the local coast guard on Thursday.
* China's National Climate Center has been providing Nepal with rolling climate monitoring and forecast products to support rescue and relief efforts following a severe mudslide at the Gyirong-Rasuwa border crossing, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said on Thursday.
* El Niño is likely to pose a bigger inflation risk than a growth shock for ASEAN economies, with higher prices for rice, wheat, maize and vegetable oils expected to be the main channels of impact, OCBC Group Research said on Wednesday.
* A total of 16 people have been confirmed dead after rain-triggered mudslides and landslides struck Suichuan County in east China's Jiangxi Province, local authorities said Thursday.
* The contiguous United States experienced its warmest meteorological summer on record in 2026, with the average temperature from June through August reaching about 23.6 degrees Celsius, according to a new report released Wednesday by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
* August 2026 was the hottest month ever recorded globally, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service said Thursday. The global average surface air temperature reached 16.96 degrees Celsius, slightly above the previous record of about 16.95 degrees set in July 2023.
