* Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Monday expressed optimism about the resumption of negotiations between Iran and the United States, saying a new round of dialogue is expected soon after recent talks held in Islamabad.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said his administration received a call from Iran on Monday morning, claiming that Tehran "would like to make a deal very badly" but also signaling Washington's eagerness to reach a deal to end the conflict.
* The U.S. military will impose a blockade covering parts of the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea east of the Strait of Hormuz starting from 1400 GMT, Reuters reported, citing a notice to mariners issued by U.S. Central Command.
* Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has exchanged views with his Saudi, Qatari, French, and Omani counterparts on the recent peace negotiations between Tehran and Washington in Islamabad.
* Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has vowed to use new military capabilities if the war with the United States and Israel continues, the semi-official Fars news agency reported Monday.
* Peter Magyar, whose Tisza party won Hungary's parliamentary election on Sunday, has pledged constructive cooperation with the European Union (EU) while pursuing a pragmatic approach to foreign and economic policy.
* Preliminary results from Canada's federal byelections released by Elections Canada on Tuesday showed the governing Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney, won all three contested seats.
* Romuald Wadagni has won Benin's presidential election with 94.05 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results released Monday by the Autonomous National Electoral Commission.
* Peru's electoral authority ordered an additional day of voting on Monday at several polling stations in Lima after delays prevented some voters from casting ballots in Sunday's general election.
* African Union (AU) and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) election observation missions have praised Djibouti's presidential election for adhering to national and international standards, contributing to a credible and transparent electoral process.
* Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), on Sunday observed the test-firing of ship-based missiles from Destroyer Choe Hyon, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday held talks with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in Moscow on bilateral trade and the current geopolitical situation, the Kremlin said in a statement.
* Russian presidential aide Nikolai Patrushev said Monday a frigate of the country's Black Sea Fleet had escorted a Russian oil tanker through the English Channel last week.
* Military actions in the Caspian Sea are "absolutely unacceptable," as such actions run counter to years of efforts by littoral states to strengthen security, said Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, national leader of the Turkmen People and chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan, on Monday.
* Spain opposes a "new Cold War," decoupling and severing of supply chains, and supports Europe and China in enhancing communication, mutual understanding and cooperation, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said when meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday in Beijing.
* Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that any threat against the security of the Strait of Hormuz will have large-scale consequences for global trade.
* Iran's Deputy Interior Minister for Political Affairs Ali Zeinivand said on Monday the country has no serious concern regarding security along its land and sea borders.
* International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said on Monday that additional restrictive measures will not help resolve the ongoing crisis surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, stressing that de-escalation is key to restoring normal shipping operations.
* France and Britain will work to bring countries together for a meeting in the coming days on pooling efforts to restore free navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday.
* Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Monday that international passage through the Strait of Hormuz should not be obstructed.
* U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will host a meeting between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors in Washington on Tuesday, U.S. online media outlet Axios reported.
* Israel and Lebanon laid out different expectations on Monday ahead of their upcoming talks in Washington, with Israel insisting on Hezbollah's disarmament and a peace agreement, and Lebanon voicing hope for a ceasefire and the launch of direct negotiations.
* Fierce fighting continued Monday between Hezbollah and the Israeli army in the border city of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency.
* Israeli authorities on Monday allowed about 120 Palestinian women from the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank to enter the camp for several hours under tight military supervision to check their homes and retrieve belongings.
* External power supply to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has been restored after a brief disruption, the plant's operator said Tuesday.
* China's foreign trade grew 15 percent year on year in the first quarter (Q1) of 2026, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Tuesday. The total value of goods imports and exports reached 11.84 trillion yuan (about 1.73 trillion USD) during the period, the data showed.
* The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has on Tuesday slightly tightened monetary policy, raising the rate of appreciation of the Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate policy band, as rising global energy prices and supply disruptions threaten to push inflation higher in the coming quarters.
* Indonesia can withstand the economic impact of Mideast conflict-driven oil price surges for up to 10 months without cutting fuel subsidies, the country's Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said Monday.
* Finland's economy is expected to grow by 1.0 percent, down from 1.5 percent from the previous forecast, as the tensions in the Middle East and its fallout are slowing the pace of recovery, OP Pohjola, Finland's largest financial group, said in a press release on Monday.
* Cambodia attracted fixed-asset investment projects worth 2.5 billion USD in the first quarter of 2026, said a press release from the Council for the Development of Cambodia on Monday.
* Sri Lanka's official remittances rose 17.5 percent year-on-year to 814.8 million USD in March 2026, continuing the upward trend seen since 2024, according to the latest data from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).
* The World Bank will provide a 500-million-U.S. dollar loan to Morocco under its First Morocco Jobs and Green Growth Development Policy Loan, the state news agency MAP reported Monday.
* At least 16 people, including students, were injured in a school shooting in southeast Türkiye as an unidentified person entered with a shotgun and opened fire randomly, local media reported Tuesday.
* U.S. aerospace technology company Northrop Grumman's resupply spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday, delivering a fresh batch of scientific experiments and essential cargo to the orbiting laboratory.
* Nearly 200 people have been killed due to rainstorms and flooding across Afghanistan over the past 18 days, a spokesman of the country's National Disaster Management Authority said.
