* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called on the international community to "silence the guns, end the suffering, build bridges, and create stability and prosperity," in a message on the International Day of Peace, observed annually on Sept. 21.
* China's State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on Monday activated a Level-IV emergency response in the provinces of Guangdong, Hainan and Fujian as Typhoon Ragasa approaches, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.
* Syria's supreme committee for parliamentary elections announced Sunday that voting for the 250-seat People's Assembly will take place on October 5, the first legislative election since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government last year.
* Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit on Sunday welcomed the recognition of an independent State of Palestine by Britain, Canada and Australia.
* Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday that his government's move to recognize Palestinian statehood represents a step forward for a peaceful resolution in the Middle East.
* Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday issued a statement on Canada's recognition of the State of Palestine. According to the statement, Canada does so as part of a coordinated international effort to preserve the possibility of a two-state solution.
* Portugal officially recognized the State of Palestine on Sunday, according to the Lusa News Agency.
* Iran and the three European countries of France, Britain and Germany, collectively known as the E3, will hold talks on Tehran's nuclear issue in New York early next week, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday.
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday denounced the decision by Britain, Canada and Australia to recognize a Palestinian state.
* Israeli cabinet ministers on Sunday urged the annexation of the occupied West Bank in response to Britain, Canada and Australia's recognition of a Palestinian state.
* Leaders of the African Union (AU), the European Union and the United Nations met at the UN Headquarters in New York on Sunday, reiterating support for multilateralism as the most effective way to address today's challenges.
* A global high-level meeting to uphold humanity in war, to be co-hosted by Brazil, China, France, Jordan, Kazakhstan and South Africa, together with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), will be held in 2026, according to a joint statement issued on Sunday.
* Egypt on Saturday evening stressed that the presence of its forces in the Sinai Peninsula, bordering the Gaza Strip and Israel, is primarily to secure the country's borders and is coordinated under the 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
* Dutch police arrested 37 people after a protest against asylum policy turned violent in The Hague, with rioters clashing with officers and setting police vehicles on fire, authorities said on Sunday.
* Heavy clashes erupted Sunday in Janzour, about 12 km west of Libya's capital of Tripoli, between rival armed groups aligned with Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah's Government of National Unity (GNU), local media reported.
* New Zealand investor confidence has fallen to its lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, weighed down by global uncertainty, sharemarket volatility and a flat housing market, a survey shows.
* Myanmar plans to cultivate up to 100,000 acres of coffee crops across the country within one to two years, an official from the Department of Agriculture told Xinhua on Monday.
* An unusually heavy snowfall has struck Zavkhan province in western Mongolia, the National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring reported Monday. The snow hit several soums (administrative subdivisions), including Uliastai, Yaruu, Ider, Aldarkhaan, Tsagaankhairkhan, Shiluustei, and Otgon, on Sunday and Monday.
* A total of 12 people died of dengue fever in Bangladesh, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said here Sunday. This is by far the highest death toll in a single day in the country. According to DGHS figures, the death toll this year reached 179.
