* France's Constitutional Council on Wednesday certified the results of the country's recent presidential election, confirming Emmanuel Macron as president.
* US President Joe Biden will visit the Republic of Korea (RoK) and Japan from May 20 to May 24 and hold talks with his Korean and Japanese counterparts, the White House said on Wednesday.
* United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday he has arrived in Ukraine. He said the UN will continue the work to expand humanitarian support and secure the evacuation of civilians from conflict zones, and he urged the end of hostilities.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday he had discussed further support for Kiev, including macro-financial assistance, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
* Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said on Wednesday that no agreement has been reached on a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.
* Bilateral trade between China and the European Union (EU) rose robustly in the first quarter, Gao Feng, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, said Thursday. Bilateral trade jumped 12.2 percent year on year to reach 205.87 billion USD, Gao said at a regular press conference.
* The Bank of Japan (BOJ) on Thursday left its ultra-easy monetary policy unchanged despite the yen's recent weakness and other central bank's moves to hike interest rates to tackle inflation, although the bank upped its inflation outlook.
* Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Saudi Arabia late Thursday, as part of efforts to mend ties, his office announced.
* Up to 40 percent of Earth's land is degraded, which threatens roughly half of the global gross domestic product, or 44 trillion USD, according to a UN report released on Wednesday.
* Measles cases spiked around the world in the first two months of 2022, triggering worries about even larger outbreaks, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Wednesday.
* All primary and secondary schools, kindergartens and secondary vocational schools in Beijing will start the May Day holiday one day ahead of schedule due to the COVID-19 epidemic, local authorities said Thursday.
* The head of the Republic of Korean president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's transition team said his government would compensate 5.5 million owners of small businesses for losses suffered from COVID-19 curbs.
* Malaysia will ease more COVID-19 curbs from the start of next month, including lifting restrictions on those who are not vaccinated against the coronavirus and scrapping the need to wear masks outdoors.
* Nepal is putting a 21st-century spin on a tourism sector dominated by activities unchanged for generations as it looks to boost a vital part of an economy decimated by the pandemic and soaring import bills.
* European Union governments should ramp up COVID-19 immunisations of children, the European Commission said while presenting its strategy to move away from the emergency phase of the pandemic, which includes plans to develop antivirals.
