* Norway's ruling coalition led by the Labor Party suffered a setback in the local elections held on Monday.
* Chinese President Xi Jinping and Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro have signed bilateral cooperation agreements in areas such as economy, trade and tourism, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) reported.
* Moscow and Pyongyang will strive to strengthen good-neighborly relations and promote regional peace, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday during his meeting with Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
* China and Singapore have successfully concluded in Singapore the fifth edition of a bilateral training exercise at the Jurong Camp.
* Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is travelling to Russia for talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday, Belarusian state news agency Belta reported on Thursday.
* The United States and Bahrain on Wednesday signed a strategic security and economic agreement which U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said would expand defense and intelligence collaboration between the two countries.
* Azerbaijan has sent new proposals to Armenia in their longstanding attempts to reach a peace deal, but big gaps remain between the two sides, Armenia's state news agency quoted the country's foreign minister as saying on Wednesday.
* Britain, Germany, France and the United States told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Thursday further action would be needed on Iran if the country did not fulfil legal obligations and clarify issues over nuclear material.
* Iran's atomic chief said on Wednesday his country will not completely implement a 2015 nuclear deal if the Western sanctions on Tehran are not fully lifted and the other parties do not honor their obligations under the agreement.
* Iran on Wednesday vowed "a fitting response" to the anti-Iran statement issued at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors earlier in the day.
* The Customs Tariff Commission of China's State Council on Wednesday unveiled the 12th set of lists of U.S. goods to be excluded from tariff countermeasures against the U.S. Section 301 measure.
* High overseas migration has driven Australia's rate of population growth to its highest level in over a decade. According to data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday, Australia's population grew by 2.17 percent in the 12 months to the end of March to 26.47 million people.
* About 13,000 unionised rail workers in South Korea launched a four-day strike on Thursday, their first such action in four years, which could cut passenger and cargo train operations by up to 60% amid soaring seasonal demand.
* Russia's Gazprom GAZP.MM said it would send 42.4 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Thursday, a volume in line with recent days.
* Myanmar welcomed 751,216 international tourists in the first eight months of 2023, according to the country's Ministry of Hotels and Tourism on Wednesday.
* The Philippines will resume exporting fresh Hass avocados to South Korea later this month, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said Thursday.
* Australia's employment surged in August while its participation rate hit a record high and the jobless rate held steady, in a sign that decade-high interest rates have yet to soften demand in the drum-tight labour market.
* The Austrian government announced Wednesday that it would raise pensions by 9.7 percent next year due to high inflation in the country.
* Finland's economy is expected to register a 0.5 percent contraction this year, according to a national economic forecast published on Wednesday by Pellervo Economic Research (PTT).
* Heavy rain with occasional wind gusts will continue throughout Laos from Monday to Sunday as the rainy season remains in full force, bringing further risk of flooding and landslides, the weather bureau of Laos has warned.
* The UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Libya, Georgette Gagnon, has designated an emergency team to support local authorities and partners following storm Daniel, UN humanitarians said on Wednesday.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Wednesday that it has approved a 303 million USD loan to reduce flood and climate risks in three major river basins in the Philippines, one of the most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change and disasters caused by natural hazards.
