* German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Wednesday that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) cannot win an absolute majority in the country with its current policies, despite its strong showing in the recent Saxony-Anhalt state election.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, encouraged by recent diplomatic efforts, hopes to see a resumption of Ukraine-Russia talks, said his spokesperson on Tuesday. The secretary-general is encouraged by recent diplomatic efforts, including the visits of senior U.S. envoys to Moscow and Kiev, said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson.
* Outgoing UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Annalena Baerbock declared the 80th UNGA session closed on Tuesday, concluding a year marked by efforts to reform the United Nations, uphold the UN Charter and advance the process for selecting the next secretary-general. In her speech at the closing session, Baerbock said one of the priorities of the 80th session was UN reform.
* The UN Security Council on Tuesday welcomed an agreement between rival parties in Libya aimed at holding parliamentary and presidential elections within two years.
* Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday called for developing sustainable urban renewal models and optimizing the structure of urban areas nationwide. Li made the remarks while presiding over a State Council study session on advancing high-quality urban renewal.
* ASEAN needs to review and strengthen its mechanism for tackling transboundary haze, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Tuesday as poor air quality persists in the region.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday held a telephone conversation that was "constructive and very frank," Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said.
* Russian forces carried out a series of strikes against Ukrainian military and logistics facilities, the Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday. According to an official statement, the strikes targeted military-industrial sites, seaports, vessels and logistics hubs in Kiev, Mykolaiv and Odesa.
* Russia will respond to the expulsion of the 10 diplomats, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement Tuesday on Hungary's expulsion of diplomats. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that "the response to the Russophobic lobby in Budapest will be tough and painful."
* Icelandic Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir and Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir on Tuesday condemned a social media post by U.S. President Donald Trump showing Iceland and several neighboring countries covered by the U.S. flag, saying the post should be taken seriously.
* European Union (EU) leaders should have played a more active role in seeking a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Ukraine, Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar said in an interview with TASR TV.
* U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered Canadian products removed from U.S. government contract lists in response to Canada's counter-tariffs.
* Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called for national unity Tuesday to navigate the trade conflict with the United States, as Canada's retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports took effect early in the morning.
* The German government has postponed a scheduled telephone conversation between Chancellor Friedrich Merz and U.S. President Donald Trump, government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said on Wednesday. The phone call had been planned for Wednesday. Kornelius did not provide specific reasons for the postponement and a new date has not yet been set.
* Serbia and Uzbekistan established a strategic partnership on Tuesday as their presidents signed a joint statement and a series of agreements to expand cooperation in transport, energy, agriculture, and digitalization in Belgrade.
* British, French, and Canadian leaders issued a joint statement on Tuesday affirming their "commitment to protect the two-state solution" in the face of the "systematic expansion" of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
* U.S. forces on Tuesday destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers in retaliation for attacks by the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) on a U.S. Navy warship over the past two days, the U.S. Central Command said.
* Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday that it attacked two U.S. vessels and eight oil tankers in the Persian Gulf in retaliation for a U.S. attack on five Iranian tankers, according to Iranian state media reports.
* Several merchant vessels came under attack in the northern Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said Wednesday. The vessels came under disabling fire amid ongoing military activity in the two areas, the agency said.
* The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Tuesday put 27 Iranian airlines on its Specially Designated Nationals List thus targeting all remaining Iranian airlines in a bid to step up pressure on Iran.
* Yemen's Houthi group said Wednesday that Saudi-led coalition warplanes had carried out 32 airstrikes across four provinces over the past few hours amid escalating fighting in Yemen.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is deeply concerned by escalating Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon that have killed civilians, displaced thousands and destroyed a hospital, said his spokesperson on Tuesday.
* Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar on Tuesday announced a series of countermeasures against Britain, including closing the British Consulate General in East Jerusalem and removing British personnel from a U.S.-led Gaza coordination center, in response to London's decision to ban imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
* Republic of Korea's employment growth hit a five-month high last month, indicating a steady recovery trend despite prolonged downturns in manufacturing, construction and the youth labor market, statistical ministry data showed Wednesday.
* Malaysia's retail industry recorded weaker-than-expected growth of 2.5 percent year on year in the second quarter of 2026 amid cautious consumer spending, the latest Malaysia Retail Industry report showed on Wednesday.
* Cambodia's public debt stock rose 1.95 percent to 13.56 billion USD in the second quarter (Q2) of 2026, up from the 13.3 billion dollars recorded at the end of Q1, the Cambodia Public Debt Statistical Bulletin released on Wednesday.
* Sri Lanka's total revenue rose 27.2 percent year on year in the first six months of 2026, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya told parliament Wednesday. Total revenue increased to 2.95 trillion Sri Lankan rupees (about 9 billion USD) from 2.32 trillion rupees in the corresponding period of 2025, said the prime minister.
* Leading retailers in Britain are working with the government to offer work opportunities to young people, aiming to create up to 100,000 jobs by the end of Parliament in 2029, a government statement said Tuesday.
* Thailand's consumer confidence rose for a third straight month in August, supported by easing concerns over the Middle East conflict, stabilizing fuel prices, and continued government stimulus measures, a survey showed on Tuesday.
* Pakistan received 3.656 billion USD of remittances in August, up 16.5 percent year on year, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said Wednesday. The remittances increased 0.7 percent from July, according to the SBP.
* Uzbekistan received 9.1 million foreign tourists in the first eight months of 2026, up 21.1 percent from the same period last year, according to data released by the Tourism Committee of Uzbekistan on Tuesday. A total of 1.4 million foreign visitors arrived in August alone, following 7.7 million arrivals recorded during the January-July period, the committee said.
* Up to 1,300 flights were canceled to and from airports in Britain on Tuesday, and 177 flights have been canceled so far on Wednesday, nearly all at London's Heathrow Airport, according to air traffic tracker Flightradar24.
* Lebanese naval forces and Civil Defense maritime rescue units rescued 20 people after a boat carrying 22 passengers sank early Tuesday about 3 km off the coast of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reported.
* Twelve people had been confirmed dead and one person remained missing after a mudslide struck Mingkeng Village in east China's Jiangxi Province, as of 6 p.m. Tuesday, rescuers said. The mudslide hit the village in Suichuan County in the early hours on Saturday.
* An explosion occurred at the old Ritom hydroelectric power plant in Piotta, in the Swiss canton of Ticino, on Wednesday morning, leaving two people seriously injured, according to cantonal police.
* Six people were killed and 18 others injured when a tractor trolley collided with an electric pole in Pakistan's southern Sindh province, rescue officials said on Wednesday.
* A passenger train derailed after colliding with a truck at a railway crossing in Mazowieckie province in central Poland on Wednesday, leaving 20 people injured, including four seriously.
