* Mongolia is expected to form a coalition government following recent political developments. The opposition Hun Party announced on its official social media platform Wednesday evening that it had agreed to form a coalition government with the ruling Mongolian People's Party (MPP).
* While saying the United States is "nearing completion" of its core objectives in Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday night threatened to hit Iran "extremely hard over the next two to three weeks," a timeline he has recently set for ending the monthlong war.
* Iran's main military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said on Thursday the war will continue until the "enemies" surrender, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
* The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday it struck a ground forces base of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Tehran. The strike was part of a broader wave of attacks targeting Iran's infrastructure across the capital on Wednesday, the military said, describing the base as a central unit within Iran's armed forces.
* Russia is loading a second vessel to deliver oil to Cuba as the island nation faces fuel shortages, TASS news agency reported Thursday, citing Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilyov.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should withdraw his forces from the Donbas region, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Armenia cannot be in both the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union at the same time, as both are customs unions. Putin made the remarks during a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, noting that Russia is calm about Armenia's efforts to develop relations with the EU.
* U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to halt weapon supplies for Ukraine to pressure European allies into joining a "coalition of the willing" to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing officials familiar with the matter.
* The United States has removed sanctions on Venezuela's Acting President Delcy Rodriguez, according to an update posted on the website of the U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday.
* Joint teams of Bulgarian and Romanian border police have detained a total of 42 illegal migrants in two cases in the area of the Danube Bridge between Vidin and Calafat, Bulgaria's Interior Ministry said in a press release.
* Portugal has decided to open an embassy in Baku to elevate its diplomatic representation in Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday.
* New Zealand and the Cook Islands have signed a new defense and security declaration in the Cook Islands' Rarotonga, a New Zealand government statement said Thursday.
* A total of 155 Afghan prisoners were freed from jails across Pakistan over the past week and have safely returned home, Afghanistan's Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation announced Thursday.
* Portugal's parliament on Wednesday approved a revised Nationality Law that tightens the conditions for obtaining and retaining Portuguese citizenship, after the Constitutional Court struck down an earlier version.
* Russia is ready to help restore peace in the Middle East, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday. Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a series of phone talks with leaders of Middle Eastern countries, stressed that all differences should be resolved exclusively through political and diplomatic means, particularly in relation to the situation surrounding Iran.
* French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that France is not taking part in the military action launched by the United States and Israel against Iran, in response to accusations by U.S. President Donald Trump, local media reported.
* The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military alliance concerned with the security of territories in the Euro-Atlantic area and is not intended to carry out operations in the Strait of Hormuz, French Minister Delegate for the Armed Forces Alice Rufo said on Wednesday.
* French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that using military force to "free" the Strait of Hormuz is unrealistic, according to local media reports. He stressed that military action cannot provide a "lasting solution" to the Iranian nuclear issue.
* The Indian government on Thursday announced full customs duty exemption on a range of critical petrochemical products to ensure supply stability and shield the domestic industry and consumers from the impact of disruptions caused by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
* Myanmar's Ministry of Finance and Revenue has announced a temporary tax exemption on imports of high-speed diesel in a bid to stabilize and lower commodity prices, the state-owned daily The Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Thursday.
* Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday announced the government will provide interest-free loans to fuel and supply chain businesses as the state and territories agreed to further cut the sales tax on fuel.
* The New Zealand government will fund an additional 90 million liters of diesel storage in the country's Northland to strengthen fuel resilience amid global supply uncertainty caused by the Middle East conflict, a senior official said Thursday.
* The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Thursday that it killed over 40 Hezbollah militants in air, sea, and ground strikes in southern Lebanon over the past day.
* The General Secretariat of the Arab Interior Ministers Council (AIMC) announced on Wednesday that it would strengthen the joint security strategy of its member countries.
* The foreign ministers of Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom, as well as the High Representative of the European Union, strongly condemned the recent attacks on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) contingents in a joint statement on Tuesday.
* Remittances, one of the key sources of foreign exchange for Bangladesh, soared 14 percent year on year to 3.76 billion USD in March, largely buoyed by the Eid al-Fitr festival.
* Myanmar's manufacturing sector attracted over 220 million USD in foreign direct investment in the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2025-2026 ending on March 31, the state-owned daily The Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Thursday.
* NASA's Artemis II moon mission lifted off from the U.S. state of Florida on Wednesday, carrying four astronauts on the first crewed flight around the Moon in more than 50 years. The Space Launch System rocket, topped by the Orion spacecraft, launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 6:35 p.m. Eastern Time (2235 GMT), sending the crew on a historic 10-day journey around the Moon.
* Malaysia will strengthen its cooperation with the World Health Organization to improve its preparedness in facing infectious diseases, Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said on Tuesday.
* Japan on Thursday began the first round of discharge of nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean in fiscal 2026.
* Flash floods triggered by heavy rains have killed at least 51 people and injured 89 others across Afghanistan over the past week, a spokesperson for the National Disaster Management Authority said on Thursday.
* At least 25 people have been killed and dozens injured in rain-related incidents in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province since March 25, authorities said Thursday.
* Mount Dukono in North Halmahera, Indonesia's North Maluku province, erupted again on Thursday at 11:22 local time, sending a thick white-to-gray ash column up to 1,500 meters above the peak, or about 2,587 meters above sea level, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation reported.
* A 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck the Maluku region of eastern Indonesia at 05:48 local time on Thursday, prompting a tsunami early warning for several coastal areas.
* A Russian An-26 military transport plane crashed in Crimea, killing 30 people, and the Investigative Committee of Russia has opened a criminal case over the incident on Wednesday.
