* Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae reshuffled her cabinet on Thursday, retaining most key ministers while bringing in a newcomer from the Japan Innovation Party (JIP), the junior coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
*The Chinese and U.S. economic and trade teams are maintaining close communication on issues including tariff reductions, China's Ministry of Commerce said Thursday. Ministry spokesperson He Yadong made the remarks at a regular press conference when asked about the latest progress in consultations on a reciprocal tariff reduction framework arrangement that would cover 30 billion USD worth of products from each side.
* Thailand and Cambodia on Wednesday concluded their first three-day international conciliation meeting in Singapore over their overlapping maritime claims. The proceedings were conducted under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
* Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet announced Wednesday that the Southeast Asian country will halt all online gambling operations at land-based casinos starting this October in a bid to crush technology-based fraud.
* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday that Russia would consider the deployment of Western troops on Ukrainian territory a declaration of direct war.
* New Delhi on Wednesday summoned Islamabad's top envoy and lodged a strong protest over a collision between Pakistani and Indian naval vessels in the north Arabian Sea.
* Pakistan on Wednesday lodged a strong protest with India over what it described as a "highly provocative and unacceptable" action by an Indian Navy vessel in Pakistan's Exclusive Economic Zone.
* U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to meet Gulf leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday to discuss the next steps in the Iran war, U.S. online news outlet Axios reported Wednesday. The meeting is expected to focus on U.S. ideas for a postwar strategy, the report said.
* U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to cut trade ties with the EU after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed making Canada its first associate member.
* European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday proposed opening the door for Canada to become the first "associate member" of the European Union (EU), as she unveiled plans for closer security cooperation, tighter migration controls and stricter bans on children's social media use.
* Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Wednesday that Canada has formally applied to join the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) during his visit to the United Kingdom (UK).
* Slovak President Peter Pellegrini on Wednesday stressed the fundamental importance of the country's membership of the European Union (EU) and NATO, while calling for stronger diplomatic and economic relations.
* Malaysia will raise the transboundary haze issue with Indonesian authorities, with a focus on diplomatic cooperation and preventive measures, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said on Wednesday.
* South Africa on Wednesday rejected the United States' new visa restrictions, saying that the move mischaracterizes its domestic policies and undermines efforts to resolve bilateral differences through diplomatic engagement.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for de-escalation in the Middle East and Ukraine. He made the appeal at a press conference ahead of this year's high-level week of the UN General Assembly.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for a coordinated global effort to set up guardrails for artificial intelligence (AI). He warned that the world cannot afford a race to the bottom on AI safety amid geopolitical divides.
* Afghan Defense Minister Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid held separate meetings with visiting Director of Türkiye's National Intelligence Organization Ibrahim Kalin and Deputy Secretary of Qatar's National Security Council Hamad bin Khamis Al-Kubaisi, the Ministry of Defense said in statements released on Wednesday evening.
* Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy on Wednesday expressed rejection of any attempts to alter the geographic and demographic reality in the Palestinian territories, stressing that confronting such moves is an Arab and international responsibility.
* Fighting intensified between Yemen's government forces and the Houthi group in rugged terrain overlooking the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait on Wednesday, as both sides rushed reinforcements to the front, a Yemeni military official told Xinhua.
* Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci met with his visiting Iranian counterpart Eskandar Momeni here on Wednesday, highlighting the importance of improving cooperation in counter-terrorism and security-related issues.
* Israel and Morocco agreed to upgrade their diplomatic missions to full embassies and appoint ambassadors as part of measures to deepen ties, Israel's foreign ministry said on Wednesday following a trilateral meeting in New York with U.S. officials.
* Yemen's Houthi group said Wednesday evening that it had shot down a Saudi armed reconnaissance drone in Yemen's northeastern Marib province and intercepted Saudi warplanes over Yemen's western coast.
* Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir said on Wednesday that progress toward an agreement with Lebanon on disarming Hezbollah cannot be made unless the Lebanese army significantly improves its effectiveness on the ground, weeks before a new round of U.S.-mediated talks.
* China remained the largest individual trading partner of the East African Community (EAC) in the second quarter (Q2) of 2026, as the region's total trade rose 37 percent year on year to 52.3 billion USD.
* Republic of Korea's August automotive exports dropped in double figures, dragged down by summer holidays and partial strikes, industry ministry data showed Thursday. The outbound car shipment plunged 29.8 percent from a year earlier to 3.85 billion USD in August, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.
* Singapore's non-oil domestic exports (NODX) surged 46.2 percent year-on-year in August, extending a 24.1 percent increase in July, Enterprise Singapore said in a release on Thursday.
* New Zealand's gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.2 percent in the June 2026 quarter, slowing from a 0.9-percent increase in the previous quarter, official figures showed Thursday.
* The Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) announced on Thursday the signing of two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with the Danish Refugee Council's mine action program to expand demining and explosive-risk reduction efforts across the country. Valued at 4,131,741 USD, the agreements will enable the clearance of more than 1.53 million square meters of heavily contaminated land, according to an ANDMA statement.
* A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, sending the Progress MS-35 cargo spacecraft into orbit, the Russian state space corporation Roscosmos said.
* The death toll from the devastating mudslide in Nepal has reached 1,403, while 6,150 people remain missing, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said on Wednesday.
* The death toll from the vessel fire on Sept. 9 off the waters of the tourist hotspot Palawan Province of the Philippines rose to 77, with eight still missing and 43 survivors, said the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Wednesday.
