* Top defense and diplomatic officials of the United States and Philippines agreed on Tuesday to complete a road map in coming months for the delivery of US defense assistance to the Southeast Asian nation over the next five to 10 years.
* Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, the press service of the Kyrgyz president reported.
* The Kremlin on Wednesday said the outlook for the landmark U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal was not great as promises to remove obstacles to Russian exports of agricultural and fertiliser exports had not been fulfilled.
* Finland's Defense Minister said the discussion about the possible transfer of Finnish fighters abroad is "currently irrelevant", reported Uutissuomalainen, a joint news service in Finland, on Tuesday.
* French President Emmanuel Macron emphasized the importance of "European sovereignty" on Tuesday during a state visit to the Netherlands.
* An Iranian technical delegation arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to prepare for the reopening of the Iranian embassy, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a statement.
* US President Joe Biden will mark the 25th anniversary of Northern Ireland's 1998 peace deal in Belfast on Wednesday and highlight his "strong desire" to increase US investment there in meetings with political leaders, a senior US official said.
* US President Joe Biden is not expected to discuss a free trade agreement with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak when they meet in Northern Ireland on Wednesday, a White House official said.
* Afghanistan's Taliban administration has said forbidding Afghan women from working for the United Nations was an "internal issue," after the global organisation expressed alarm at the decision and said it would review its operations there.
* US national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday and discussed Iran and steps aimed at ending the war in Yemen, the White House said.
* US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will call on Wednesday for the World Bank to undertake additional reforms this year to expand its ability to help developing countries meet global challenges such as climate change.
* Inspections resumed on Wednesday aboard ships operating under the Ukraine Black Sea grain deal, after a one-day halt the day before, Ismini Palla, United Nations spokesperson for the initiative, told Reuters.
* Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched his reelection campaign on Tuesday, with pledges to slash soaring inflation to single digits and boost economic growth.
* Yemeni government's chief negotiator said Tuesday his team was ready to start exchanging prisoners with the Houthi militia according to a swap deal between the warring sides in Yemen.
* Swiss lawmakers resumed their debate over the rescue of Credit Suisse CSGN.S on Wednesday, after parliament's two chambers failed to reach an agreement a day earlier.
* United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrapped up his two-day visit to Somalia by calling on donors to ramp up humanitarian support to prevent the crisis in Somalia where the risk of famine is still looming.
* The Iranian Army Ground Force on Tuesday unveiled 1,084 homegrown military armaments and equipment which are indigenously produced, optimized and overhauled.
* At least 134 people were killed within five days in separate attacks by armed bandits in Nigeria's central state of Benue, according to Samuel Ortom, the state governor.
* The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected on Tuesday that China's economy will grow 5.2 percent in 2023 and 4.5 percent in 2024.
* US natural gas production is forecast to hit a record high in 2023, according to a report issued by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Tuesday. The country's dry gas production will increase to 100.87 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2023 and 101.58 bcfd in 2024 from a record 98.11 bcfd in 2022.
* Fiji's economy will grow by 6.3 percent this year, according to a new economic report released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
* The Republic of Korea's employment grew faster on a year-over-year basis in 10 months in March due to the return to normalcy from the COVID-19 pandemic, statistical office data showed Wednesday. The number of those employed totaled 28,223,000 in March, up 469,000 from the same month of last year.
* Australia's treasurer has said the country will avoid a recession but warned the economy will slow significantly. Australia's gross domestic product grew by about 2.7 percent in 2022, and the IMF expects growth to fall to 1.6 percent in 2023 and 1.7 percent in 2024.
* The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that Ukraine's economy will fall by 3 percent this year compared with a 30.3 percent contraction in 2022, the Ukrainian government-run Ukrinform news agency reported Tuesday, citing the fund's newly released report.
* S&P Global Ratings said Tuesday that Malaysian banks can ride out tougher conditions this year amid a slowdown in the country's growth rate and weaker borrowing appetite.
* Thailand's consumer confidence index (CCI) reached a 37-month high in March as government stimulus measures and a rebound in tourism vitalized economic activities, a survey showed on Tuesday.
* The foreign direct investment (FDI) that flowed into the Philippines declined to 448 million USD in January 2023, 45.7 percent lower than the amount posted in January 2022, the Philippine central bank said Tuesday.
* The economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) will slow to 3.6 percent in 2023 and then accelerate to 4.2 percent in 2024, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its World Economic Outlook report released Tuesday.
* Myanmar exported more than 1,900 tons of honey in the 2022-23 fiscal year, earning over 2.8 million USD, the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department said on Tuesday.
* Ghana's consumer inflation slowed to 45.0% in annual terms in March from 52.8% in February, the statistics service said on Wednesday.
* An active volcano on Russia's remote Kamchatka Peninsula kept erupting on Wednesday, a scientific institute reported, sending a 10-km-high (6-mile) plume of ash into the sky, and a hazard warning remains in place for airlines.
* The latest data from the Spanish State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) on Tuesday showed that last month was the second hottest March of the 21st century recorded in the country, with the least rainfall in about 30 years.
