🇯🇵🇰🇷🇺🇸 | Japan, South Korea, and the US have begun a five-day joint naval exercise in international waters east and south of Jeju Island — Yonhap

🇶🇦 | Qatar posted its widest quarterly budget deficit since 2016 as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz choked off most of its LNG exports — Semafor

🇷🇺🇺🇦 | Ramzan Kadyrov says 76,434 fighters have been sent from the Chechen Republic to combat zones in Ukraine since the start of the war — TASS

🇨🇳🇲🇲 | Myanmar's military is intensifying fighting in Rakhine State as China seeks to revive stalled projects along a 1,700-km infrastructure corridor — Nikkei Asia

🇪🇹 | Ethiopia has been manufacturing UAVs at two factories since last year and is now believed to have a fleet numbering in the thousands, analysts say — AFP

🇦🇲🇷🇺 | Armenia has filed a complaint within the framework of the EAEU over Russia's restrictions on Armenian products and expects their removal — Armenpress

🇸🇾 | Some Turkmen are protesting after Syria's new curriculum replaced Turkish with French as an optional subject in schools in the north of the country — Al Jazeera

🇲🇱🇲🇷 | Mauritania has arrested 17 suspects, including a former spokesman for a jihadist group, in connection to an arms-trafficking case near Mali — RFI

🇱🇾 | Commanders from eastern and western Libya have agreed on a four-part cooperation plan covering weapons, logistics, education, and joint drills — Libya Review

🇾🇪 | The Houthis have taken control of the city of Mokha on Yemen's western coast as well as Zuqar Island in the Red Sea, a military source says — AFP

🇬🇷🇮🇹 | Greece has signed a €460 million agreement to acquire two FREMM frigates from Italy, with the transfers scheduled for 2028 and 2029 — Kathimerini

🇮🇶 | The state-run Iraqi Oil Tankers Co. has put a tender for the 180-day rental of two very large crude carriers to ship oil through the Strait of Hormuz — Bloomberg

🇸🇦 | Saudi Arabia reported to OPEC that its crude oil production last month fell to 6.238 million barrels per day, the lowest level since 1990 — Bloomberg

🇸🇾🇺🇳 | The IAEA's 35-member board unanimously adopted a resolution ending its investigation into Syria's past undeclared nuclear activities, diplomats say — AP

🇦🇲🇦🇿 | Azerbaijan's foreign minister says Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to carry out border delimitation work "from north to south" — APA

🇪🇹🇮🇱 | Israel has reaffirmed its strong support for Ethiopia's efforts to secure maritime access to the Red Sea, describing the issue as one of global interest — ENA

🇰🇷🇦🇪 | South Korea's government team tasked with assessing the security situation near the Strait of Hormuz has returned from the UAE, sources say — Yonhap

🇮🇱🇱🇧 | Israel's military says it has completed the dismantling of Hezbollah's underground infrastructure at the Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon — statement