South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves rose by a record monthly amount in August, reaching $442.28 billion at month-end. The Bank of Korea reported an increase of $14.33 billion from $427.95 billion at the end of July. The gain was the largest since official reserve records began in 1971. It also lifted the country’s holdings to their highest level since May 2022, marking a sharp acceleration from the smaller increases recorded during the previous two months.

Health teams in Congo continue Ebola testing, contact tracing and treatment. In the region of Bundibugyo, the Ebola outbreak has become the largest and most lethal in Congo’s history, ranking as the second-largest Ebola epidemic globally after the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak. Ituri province continues to be the primary epicenter, accounting for approximately 85% of confirmed cases and 88% of reported deaths, thus representing the most severely affected area during this health crisis. According to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, health teams have yet to trace every transmission pathway. Many recent fatalities involved individuals who did not appear on known contact lists. The persistence of community deaths and unsafe burials further hampers containment efforts. The Africa CDC reported that over 60% of deaths in the past week occurred in community settings rather than health facilities. Response efforts are being scaled up by health authorities Across affected zones, the World Health Organization has increased laboratory testing, treatment capacity, and operational deployment. Over 330 tonnes of emergency supplies have been delivered by WHO, along with more than 300 experts dispatched to support response initiatives. Currently, there are 24 laboratories closer to impacted communities—compared to only one national reference lab at the start of the response. Daily testing capacity has now reached roughly 3,000 tests, while treatment and isolation beds across 49 facilities total more than 1,300. The Bundibugyo virus currently has no approved vaccine

The Houbara Breeders Support Initiative is designed to assist existing breeding projects and those planning to develop new facilities. It provides expert training, technical support, and access to established breeding expertise. The program also establishes guidelines relating to animal welfare, biosecurity, and responsible management of breeding sites. Emirati houbara breeders gain structured training and technical guidance through IFHC. Applicants are required to undergo an assessment before receiving final approval. Breeders meeting the criteria may also be granted access to breeding birds through a right-to-use agreement after completing the necessary assessments and training.

Japan is expanding its response to investment fraud by using artificial intelligence to detect warning signs in consumer complaints. The Consumer Affairs Agency announced the initiative on September 1 as part of a wider anti-fraud package. The system will analyze complaint language, solicitation patterns and similarities with past cases. Officials aim to identify signs of harmful schemes and troubled businesses earlier through data already collected from consumers across the country.

Petroleum prices increased by 14.2% from August 2025, adding further pressure on household transportation expenses. Diesel costs surged by 19.6%, while gasoline prices saw an 11.5% rise. These petroleum products contributed 0.54 percentage points to the overall inflation rate. Transportation prices as a whole increased by 7.2% year-over-year. The government indicated that nationwide fuel price caps reduced August’s inflation rate by approximately 0.3 percentage points, partly counteracting the effect of rising energy costs.