Briefly

JAPAN

Parliament agrees on next leader vote

Japan's lower house scheduling committee board has agreed to hold a parliamentary vote to select the next prime minister on Oct 21, a senior committee member told Reuters on Friday. While the Liberal Democratic Party, led by its new leader Sanae Takaichi, proposed the date, opposition parties objected to the schedule, citing ongoing coalition talks. The LDP has approached the right-leaning opposition Japan Innovation Party in a bid to secure a majority vote and expand its coalition, which would enable Takaichi to become Japan's first female prime minister. A number of diplomatic events await the new prime minister toward the end of the month, from summits in Malaysia and South Korea to US President Donald Trump's expected visit to Japan.

YEMEN

Houthis say military chief killed in attack

An Israeli attack has killed the military chief of Houthi militants, the group said on Thursday, threatening revenge. Major General Mohammed al-Ghamari died in "honorable battle against the Israeli enemy", a statement said, without giving further details. Ghamari died alongside "companions" and his 13-year-old son, the Houthi statement said, without giving the date of the attack. The general staff headquarters was among the targets of the last major Israeli airstrike on Yemen in late September, Israel said at the time. But Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz posted on X on Thursday that Ghamari "died of his wounds" after a strike in August.

MADAGASCAR

Randrianirina sworn in as president

Colonel Michael Randrianirina, a military officer, was sworn in on Friday as the president of Madagascar in the capital, Antananarivo. Randrianirina said earlier that the military had taken power and dissolved all institutions except the lower house of parliament. He also said that a committee led by the military would rule for up to two years alongside a transitional government.

PAKISTAN

Suicide attack kills 7 soldiers near border

Seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in a suicide attack near the Afghan border on Friday, Pakistani security officials said, amid a fragile ceasefire between Islamabad and Kabul that paused days of intense fighting between the former allies this month. The neighbors engaged in fierce ground fighting, and Pakistan also launched airstrikes across their contested frontier, killing dozens and wounding hundreds, before they reached a 48-hour truce that ended at 13:00 local time on Friday.

Agencies - Xinhua