* India is on its way to becoming the world’s most populous nation, overtaking China with almost 3 million more people in the middle of this year, data released on Wednesday by the United Nations showed.
* The China-Laos Railway has handled a total of 14.43 million passenger trips since it started operations on Dec. 3, 2021, data from the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. showed Wednesday.
* China and Gabon have agreed to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership, state media CCTV reported on Wednesday after Chinese president Xi Jinping's meeting with Gabon president Ali Bongo Ondimba in Beijing.
* The Qatari Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are expected to reopen their embassies in the coming weeks.
* Tunisia and Syria on Tuesday issued a joint statement underlining bilateral solidarity and cooperation in face of the growing regional and international challenges.
* Fighting between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan has killed about 270 people and wounded more than 2,600 as of Tuesday, with gunfire and explosions still heard in Khartoum across the city.
* A mission by the German military to evacuate around 150 citizens from Sudan had to be halted on Wednesday due to fighting in the capital Khartoum, the Spiegel news magazine reported citing unnamed sources.
* Uganda's Minister of Foreign Affairs is working to evacuate 275 nationals trapped in the deadly military clashes in Sudan, a top official said in Kampala Wednesday.
* The Indonesian military has intensified military operation in some areas in the eastern Highland Papua province to fight armed separatist groups, Commander Admiral Yudo Margono said on Tuesday.
* Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has inspected newly installed silo-based "Yars" strategic missile systems in the Kaluga region south of Moscow, his ministry said on Wednesday, according to state-owned news agency TASS.
* Japan plans to issue 6.063 trillion yen (54.6 billion USD) worth of market-based public offering local government bonds for the fiscal year 2023, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Tuesday.
* Grain transports from Ukraine via Poland will resume on Friday, Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus said on Tuesday, after two-day talks Warsaw with the Ukrainian side.
* Ukraine and the World Bank Group have agreed on a special program to respond to the challenges and restore Ukraine, which will enable Kiev to attract up to 6 billion USD, the government press service reported Tuesday.
* The European Parliament approved a landmark deforestation law on Wednesday to ban imports into the EU of coffee, beef, soy and other commodities if they are linked to the destruction of the world's forests.
* Bulgaria introduced a temporary ban on Ukraine grains imports except for those in transit, Radio Bulgaria reported on its website on Wednesday quoting caretaker Prime Minister Galab Donev.
* A power cable connecting Finland's west coast to Sweden's east coast stopped working on Wednesday afternoon due to excavation work on the Finnish side, Finland's power grid operator Fingrid said in a statement.
* A union representing some 155,000 public sector workers in Canada called for a strike starting on Wednesday after failing to reach a new wage deal with the federal government, setting up a walkout that could affect tax filings and passport services.
* Romanian border police on Tuesday apprehended 52 migrants at a border crossing in western Romania as they attempted to enter the Schengen area hidden in a trailer truck loaded with metal profiles.
* Citigroup raised its 2023 global economic growth forecast to 2.4%, from 2.2% expected earlier, and now expects the US economy to tip into recession in the fourth quarter of the year.
* Russia's Gazprom GAZP.MM said on Wednesday it will send 41.7 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas to Europe via Ukraine, the same level as on Tuesday.
* The Philippines' overall balance of payments (BOP) posted a 1.3 billion USD surplus in March, higher than the 754 million USD surplus recorded in March 2022, the Philippine central bank said on Wednesday.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Bangladeshi government on Monday signed agreements on provision of 230 million USD in loans to help reconstruct northeastern Bangladesh affected by devastating floods last year.
* South African inflation rose for the second month in a row in March to 7.1% year on year, driven by a steep increase in food prices, data showed on Wednesday.
* Two Russian cosmonauts conducted their first spacewalk this year on Wednesday after a hiatus caused by the depressurization of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft.
* Iran unveiled a homegrown radar system capable of detecting low-altitude micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) on Tuesday, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
* The Israeli Ministry of Transport on Tuesday announced a five-year national plan to improve the country's transportation, focusing on public transport and road infrastructure.
* An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 jolted 23 km off Kandrian, Papua New Guinea, on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said. The epicenter, with a depth of 55.674 km, was initially determined to be at 5.9994 degrees south latitude and 149.6062 degrees east longitude.
