* Capital spending by Japanese companies increased in the January-March quarter from a year earlier, booking the fourth quarter of gains, as business spending on digital and green technology rose notably, the government said in a report on Wednesday.
* Denmark's Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod will on Thursday ask for the support from parliament for the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
* Turkey's foreign minister said on Tuesday that his ministry has summoned France's Ambassador Herve Magro and Germany's Ambassador Jurgen Schulz over the demonstrations of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) staged in the two European countries.
* Germany must refrain from funding long-term subsidies with further credit in order to return to its constitutionally enshrined debt brake next year, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday.
* Egypt has set a customs exchange rate of 18.64 Egyptian pounds to the USD in June, a change from 17 in May, the customs authority said in a statement on Wednesday.
* Italy's economy grew slightly in the first quarter (Q1) of this year based on final figures released Tuesday, a contrast to preliminary data released a month ago which showed an economic contraction.
* Australia's economy grew by 0.8 percent in the first quarter of 2022, beating economists' expectations.
* At least 106 people have died and 10 are still missing in Brazil, the government said on Tuesday, as heavy rains tore through urban towns in the northeastern part of the country for a sixth consecutive day.
* China's Ministry of Water Resources has urged local agencies across the country to elevate preparedness as this year's main flooding season begins.
* Afghanistan has received a fresh batch of 32 million USD in humanitarian cash aid, the country's central bank said on Wednesday.
* Mainland China reported 131 new coronavirus cases for May 31, of which 35 were symptomatic and 96 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Wednesday.
* Cuba on Tuesday lifted a mask mandate in place for two years following a successful vaccination drive that health officials say has contributed to a sharp drop in cases and nearly three weeks without a single death from COVID-19.
* The Slovenian government on Tuesday abolished all COVID-19 restrictions and also dismissed a group of experts which has over the past two years been advising the government on measures to curb the epidemic.
* Swiss drugs regulator Swissmedic said it is reviewing an application from pharmaceutical company Pfizer for a new dosage recommendation for a COVID-19 booster shot for children.
* The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that it aimed to contain the monkeypox outbreak by stopping human transmission to the maximum extent possible, warning that the potential for further transmission in Europe and elsewhere this summer is high.
* Portuguese health authority DGS reported 19 new cases of monkeypox on Wednesday, bringing to 119 the total of confirmed infections in one of the main hot spots of the recent outbreak.
* The Spanish Ministry of Health on Tuesday confirmed 12 new monkeypox cases, raising the total caseload to 132. Spain, followed by Britian, becomes the country with the most detected cases of the disease in the current outbreak.
* Hungarian health authorities on Tuesday confirmed the country's first case of monkeypox in a 38-year-old man.
