* The Republic of Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio will hold a summit and joint press conference in Seoul on Sunday, Yoon's office said on Thursday.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will meet Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his Belgian counterpart Alexander De Croo in The Hague on Thursday, De Croo said on Twitter.
* Russia plans to relaunch the multi-sport Friendship Games next year, 40 years after its first edition, Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin has told President Vladimir Putin. Matytsin said the event would be held after the Paris Olympics, which will run from July 26-Aug. 11 next year.
* The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is preparing to discuss Pakistan's budget plans for the coming financial year, as part of a long-awaited financing injection from the lender for the cash-strapped nation, the IMF's country mission chief said on Thursday.
* The European Commission on Wednesday adopted a proposal to ramp up ammunition production to support Ukraine, and address a shortage among European Union (EU) member states.
* Ukraine and the European Union (EU) have agreed to extend for one year their preferential trade regime, which is due to expire on June 5, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Wednesday.
* Fierce fighting could be heard in central Khartoum on Thursday as the army tried to push back the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from areas around the presidential palace and army headquarters, with a lasting ceasefire appearing elusive.
* Hungarian lawmakers on Wednesday passed a judicial reform package required to unblock billions of euros in European Union (EU) funding. The Hungarian parliament adopted the legal document with 151 votes in favor and 23 abstentions.
* Norwegian government decided to increase military spending to at least 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2026 in accordance with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) guidelines, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said Wednesday at a press conference.
* Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday called for the U.S. withdrawal from Syria to ensure the Arab state's security.
* Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and visiting Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi signed on Wednesday memorandums of understanding (MOUs) for "long-term and comprehensive cooperation" in various fields, Syria's state news agency SANA reported.
* The White House will host CEOs of top artificial intelligence companies, including Alphabet Inc's Google GOOGL.O and Microsoft MSFT.O, on Thursday to discuss risks and safeguards as the technology catches the attention of governments and lawmakers globally.
* Britain's competition regulator said on Thursday it would start examining the impact of artificial intelligence on consumers, businesses and the economy and whether new controls were needed on technologies such as OpenAI's ChatGPT.
* Lebanon's General Security Directorate on Wednesday resumed its registration service for Syrian refugees willing to return to their homeland, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.
* Tunisian President Kais Saied on Wednesday met with visiting Libyan Foreign Minister Najla al-Mangoush on bilateral ties and cooperation, according to a statement issued by the Tunisian Presidency.
* Israeli forces on Thursday killed two Palestinian gunmen who shot dead a British-Israeli mother and her two daughters in April in the occupied West Bank, Israel's domestic security service said.
* Iran's second-largest automaker SAIPA has signed a contract for exporting three models of its sedans to Russia and Belarus, official news agency IRNA reported on Wednesday.
* The number of people who require urgent food, nutrition and livelihood assistance increased for the fourth consecutive year in 2022 due to conflict, climate change and COVID-19 impacts, according to a report published on Wednesday by the United Nations and its partners.
* The UN relief chief said on Wednesday his colleagues are ready to distribute aid supplies in Sudan but need firm commitments of protection from hostilities.
* The New Zealand government has further strengthened and clarified counter-terrorism laws, particularly around high-risk individuals, to make the communities safer, Justice Minister Kiri Allan said on Thursday.
* The U.N. World Food Programme has paused food distribution in Ethiopia's war-ravaged Tigray region in response to reports that significant amounts of aid were being diverted, the agency said.
* The United Nations on Thursday aims to raise the final 29 million USD needed to start salvaging 1.1 million barrels of oil from a decaying vessel moored off war-torn Yemen's coast and avert an environmental disaster.
* The Russian rouble climbed to a more-than-one-month high on Thursday, gaining for a fifthstraight session, as oil prices staged a partial recovery, countering the impact of reduced foreign currency supply.
* German exports fell significantly more than expected in March, as deliveries to the United States and China sharply declined, data showed on Thursday.
* Norway's central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points (bps) on Thursday to 3.25%, as expected, to curb inflation, and added it was likely to hike again in June, with more tightening to follow if the currency stayed weak.
* Nigeria's senate has approved a request by President Muhammadu Buhari to restructure 23.7 trillion naira (52 billion USD) in short-term loans due to the central bank to long term-debt, minutes from a Wednesday meeting showed.
* Two Russian cosmonauts finished their second spacewalk this year from the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, according to a live broadcast by Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos.
* An Indian army helicopter made a "hard landing" in a remote part of Indian Kashmir on Thursday injuring the two pilots and a technician on board, the army said.
* Firefighters and veterinarians in the Czech Republic on Wednesday began culling almost 15,000 turkeys at a farm in the country's northeastern region, due to a fresh outbreak of bird flu.
