* As Solomon Islands prepares for Wednesday's joint election, the capital city of Honiara stands on the eve of the vote in a state of quiet anticipation. The country's citizens prepare to cast their votes in a joint election, encompassing both national and provincial elections.
* Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu Tuesday ratified the Anti-Defection Bill, which grants legal enforcement for lawmakers to lose their parliament seats upon floor crossing. The President's Office, in an announcement, said the bill was approved on April 1, 2024.
* The United Nations human rights office on Tuesday called on Israel to halt its support of attacks by settlers in the occupied West Bank, which has seen an uptick of raids by Israel since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack.
* A new survey found that 52 percent of Israelis do not support military retaliation against Iran over the recent attack so that de-escalation could be given a chance, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) said in a statement on Tuesday.
* Israel's war cabinet was set to meet for the third time in three days on Tuesday, an official said, to decide on a response to Iran's first-ever direct attack, amid international pressure to avoid further escalating Middle East conflicts.
* Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres exchanged views on Iran's massive retaliatory military operation against Israel on Monday.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the latest escalation in the Middle East and called on all parties to show restraint during a telephone call with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi Tuesday.
* U.S. President Joe Biden reiterated his country's commitment to Israel's security on Monday, underscoring as well the need to contain the conflict from further spreading.
* Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday urged the United Nations to take more measures to defuse tensions in the Middle East, and reiterated his call for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
* U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday warned that the U.S. intends to hit Iran with new sanctions in coming days over its unprecedented attack on Israel, and these actions could seek to reduce Iran's capacity to export oil.
* U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled a plan Monday evening to advance U.S. foreign aid in his chamber by proposing four separate bills, among which two would address the aid for Israel and Ukraine, respectively.
* Turkish police arrested 36 suspects on Tuesday for their alleged involvement in a failed coup attempt in 2016, local media reported.
* Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are collaborating on developing universal docking modules, local media reported Monday, citing Roscosmos head Yury Borisov.
* Ukraine's state-run nuclear energy operator Energoatom said on Monday it has launched a project to build two new modern power units at the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant (KhNPP) in western Ukraine.
* The European Union will spend 3.5 billion euros ($3.71 billion) to protect the ocean and promote sustainability through a series of initiatives this year, the EU's top environment official said on Tuesday.
* The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday upgraded its forecast of global growth in 2024 to 3.2 percent, 0.1 percentage points higher than its projection in January, according to its newly released World Economic Outlook.
* Japan is prepared to take all necessary steps to counter excessive currency moves, Finance Minister Suzuki Shunichi said Tuesday, as the yen tumbled past 154 against the USD to a 34-year low.
* The Swedish economy is expected to remain sluggish with rising unemployment, the government said when presenting its spring amendment budget on Monday.
* The World Bank expects Uzbekistan's economy to grow by 5.3 percent in 2024, according to the Uzbek media.
* Peru's copper production grew 12.7% in February to reach 216,752 metric tons, the country's energy and mining ministry said on Tuesday. Peru is one of the world's top producers of copper, and mining is a key driver of the Andean country's economy.
* Over 13,000 people have been evacuated in Russia's Kurgan region as of Tuesday, as the western Siberian regions continue to battle rising water levels, local authorities said.
* Twenty-nine forest and steppe fires have been reported across Mongolia since the beginning of this year, destroying 70,172 hectares of forest and grassland, the country's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said Tuesday.
* Dubai International Airport (DXB) was temporarily diverting arriving flights on Tuesday evening until weather conditions improve, it said on Tuesday, adding that departures will continue to operate.
