* Japan will hold an election for the upper house on July 21, the government said on Wednesday, effectively kicking off campaigning for half the seats in the less powerful of parliament's two chambers.
* Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, on Tuesday (June 25) asked for a political solution in Syria in order to fundamentally ease the humanitarian situation.
* The recent US extension of sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) was an act of hostility and an outright challenge to an historic summit between the two countries in Singapore last year, a spokesman for Pyongyang's foreign ministry said on Wednesday. The White House last week extended six executive orders containing sanctions imposed over DPRK's nuclear and missile programmes by one year.
* The national security consultants of Israel, the United States and Russia met on Tuesday in a first trilateral security summit in Jerusalem, to discuss regional issues, with an emphasis on Iran and Syria.
* Iran will suspend more of its commitments under 2015 nuclear deal early July, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said on Tuesday. Iran will "decisively" start the "second phase" of freezing its obligations from July 7, Shamkhani was quoted as saying by Press TV.
* The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, announced exceptional funds for the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), bringing its total contribution to US$121 million for 2019.
* The US House of Representatives on Tuesday approved an emergency US$4.5-billion funding bill to tackle the continuous migrant surge along the US-Mexico border.
* Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday revoked a decree loosening gun control, a week after the measure was pushed back by the Senate.
* A fierce fighting erupted in late night of Tuesday between the Yemeni government forces and Houthi rebels in the southern edge of Hodeidah port city, sources from both rival forces said.
* US Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper left Washington for Europe on Tuesday, expecting to persuade NATO allies onboard with US stance against Iran amid escalating tensions.
* King Abdullah II of Jordan on Tuesday urged efforts to reach just and lasting peace in the Middle East based on the two-state solution.
* UN Special Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame on Tuesday met with UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez Serraj, discussing solving the current crisis in the country.
* A total of 739 people have been killed and 4,407 others injured in the fighting in and around Libya's capital Tripoli, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday.
* The World Bank on Monday approved a US$151-million loan to help Tunisia diversify its energy resources and produce cleaner and cheaper electricity, reported Agence Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP).
* Israeli researchers have found that the weather in the country has been heating up in recent decades at a pace of about 0.25 degrees Celsius in each decade, the Hebrew language newspaper Haaretz reported on Tuesday.
* Two US service members were killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday, the NATO-led Resolute Support mission said in a statement. It gave no further details and withheld the names of the service members until next of kin were informed.
