* Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Secretary-General Moriyama Hiroshi has announced his intention to step down to take responsibility for the party's crushing defeat in the Upper House election, local media reported. Moriyama is expected to submit his resignation to Prime Minister and LDP President Shigeru Ishiba, according to Mainichi newspaper.
* Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Monday evening that he is canceling his Tuesday election campaign program after being attacked during a rally.
* Cameroonian President Paul Biya on Monday signed a presidential decree slating the election of regional councillors for Nov. 30. The election will take place in divisional headquarters across the Central African nation.
* China has decided to trial visa-free policy for Russian citizens holding ordinary passports starting from Sept. 15, 2025 to Sept. 14, 2026.
* Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Monday that his country is facing "the biggest threat our continent has seen in the last 100 years" as the United States steps up its naval presence near the country's territorial waters.
* China's commerce ministry said Tuesday that leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states issued their first-ever statement supporting the multilateral trading system, underscoring the SCO's unwavering resolve to safeguard the stability of the global trade order.
* Global trade must be placed on a firmer foundation, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said Monday at the Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia.
* The European Union (EU) will continue to enforce its digital rules despite U.S. criticism, a senior EU official said on Monday, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened higher tariffs on countries imposing such regulations.
* New, stricter entry requirements for third-country nationals took effect in Latvia on Monday, the Foreign Ministry said. The regulation does not apply to travelers from the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and Brazil, nor to persons with diplomatic immunity and certain other categories.
* European Council President Antonio Costa, Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar and Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon on Monday urged peace in Gaza during the Bled Strategic Forum, Slovenia's most prominent foreign policy gathering.
* The Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Monday condemned the ongoing Israeli military offensives in Gaza as a persistent violation of international humanitarian law.
* Member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) reaffirmed their unity during the council's 165th session attended by foreign ministers of the GCC states in Kuwait on Monday, stressing their commitment to addressing the humanitarian and security challenges in Gaza.
* Lebanon and Syria agreed Monday to form joint committees to address the issues of border security and missing persons, during a meeting between the two sides in Beirut.
* Iran's atomic chief said on Sunday that two inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog oversaw a fuel replacement process at the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
* UN Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg on Sunday urged de-escalation in Yemen as tensions rose between the Houthi group and Israel after Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi of the Houthi-backed government was killed in Israeli airstrikes on Thursday.
* Yemen's Houthi group said Monday it has targeted and hit an "Israeli-linked" oil tanker in the northern Red Sea.
* The average retail price of rice sold at supermarkets in Japan came in at 3,776 yen (about 25.6 USD) per 5 kg during the week ending Aug. 24, government data showed.
* Thailand's business sentiment rose in August, primarily driven by the non-manufacturing sector, despite its downward trend since the beginning of the year, central bank data showed on Monday.
* Construction of a commercial township in northern Afghanistan's Takhar province has officially begun, marking a pivotal step toward enhancing local trade and economic growth, according to a statement from the office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs released late Monday.
* Bangladeshis living and working abroad remitted back 4,900 million USD in the July-August period, central bank data showed. According to the data, remittance, one of key sources of foreign exchange for the impoverished nation, increased 8.90 percent year-on-year to 2.42 billion dollars in August.
* China has wrapped up its 62-day summer travel season, with record highs in both passenger and freight transport, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. From July 1 to Aug. 31, a total of 943 million passenger trips were made by railway -- up 4.7 percent from the same period of 2024 and marking a record high.
* Cambodia's famed Angkor Archaeological Park welcomed a total of 669,619 international visitors in the first eight months of 2025, a slight increase of 2.7 percent compared to the same period last year, said a news release on Monday.
* Pakistan has confirmed a new case of wild poliovirus type 1, bringing the total number of infections in the country so far this year to 24, health authorities said Monday.
* Japan experienced its hottest summer on record in 2025, with the nationwide average temperature 2.36 degrees Celsius higher than the long-term norm, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). This marked the highest figure since records began in 1898 and far surpassed the previous record highs set in 2022 and 2023, which were 1.76 degrees Celsius above average.
* Rain-related incidents across Pakistan claimed 31 lives and injured 26 others from Sunday to Monday, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Monday. Further rainfall is expected in the coming days, which could increase the risk of flooding and landslides.
* The summer of 2025 is officially confirmed as the warmest summer on record for Britain, according to provisional statistics from Britain's Met Office released on Monday.
