* The pre-election period ahead of Greece's May 21 general elections will officially start this Saturday with the dissolution of Parliament, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a press release on Wednesday.
* Laos' central bank will continue to implement stringent controls to stabilize the value of the kip (Lao currency) and ease the burden caused by the spiraling cost of living.
* The Philippines on Thursday approved the executive order operationalizing the Philippines' tariff commitments under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement.
* Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen inaugurated a permanent embassy in the Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan on Thursday, establishing his country's closest diplomatic presence to Iran, as Israel seeks to strengthen ties to its arch-foe's neighbours.
* Hungary has banned imports of honey and certain meat products in addition to grains from Ukraine until June 30, the prime minister's chief of staff said on Thursday, increasing pressure on Brussels to broaden proposed European Union-wide measures.
* Ukraine's future lies in NATO, the Western military alliance's chief Jens Stoltenberg underscored on Thursday during his first visit to the country since Russia launched the “special military operation” in Ukraine 14 months ago.
* Pakistan's foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) foreign ministers meeting on May 4-5 in India, ANI news reported on Thursday, citing Pakistan's foreign ministry.
* The Iranian nuclear chief said on Wednesday the negotiations between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are "progressing," according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
* Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, told al-Jazeera TV that he was ready to implement a truce over the Islamic Eid holiday, after days of clashes between the paramilitary RSF and the Sudanese army.
* Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit on Wednesday called on conflicting Sudanese parties to cease fire during the upcoming Eid al-Fitr (festival of breaking the fast) holiday that follows the holy month of Ramadan.
* Turkish foreign minister said on Wednesday it is holding talks with conflicting sides of Sudan for an ultimate ceasefire.
* Most of the Egyptian troops who were sent to Sudan to conduct a joint training with their Sudanese counterparts have returned safely to the Egyptian capital of Cairo, an army spokesperson said on Thursday.
* Malaysians are on the move to their hometowns for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr festival, with increased traffic flow expected on the country's roads starting Wednesday.
* A top Iranian military commander said on Thursday the country's navy has warned a nuclear-powered US submarine to surface while it was passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
* China's macro leverage ratio in the first quarter was at 289.6%, up 8 percentage points from the end of 2022, and the central bank expects the ratio to stay basically stable this year, said Ruan Jianhong, spokesperson of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) on Thursday.
* Japan's central bank on Thursday maintained upbeat economic assessments of seven of the nine regions in the country, saying they were "picking up" or "picking up moderately" since its view three months ago,
* Cambodia exported 65,921 tons of dry rubber in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 6.8 percent from 61,739 tons in the same period last year, said a General Directorate of Rubber report on Thursday.
* Hungary has extended price caps on staple food products until June 30 as part of its efforts to combat inflation and alleviate the impact of rising food prices on its citizens, announced Gergely Gulyas, head of the Prime Minister's Office, at a press conference on Thursday.
* The growth in consumer prices in Austria slowed down between January and March amid falling energy prices, but overall, inflation was still high, according to data released by Statistics Austria on Wednesday.
* Zimbabwe expects to harvest 2.3 million tonnes of the staple maize grain this year, a 58% jump from the previous season driven by favourable rains, according to a cabinet statement seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
* The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday officially launched its mRNA vaccine technology hub in Cape Town, a facility established during the COVID-19 pandemic to help poorer countries struggling to access life-saving medication.
* A total of 214 people were killed and 746 others kidnapped within three months in a spate of attacks by gunmen who have been on the rampage in Nigeria's northwestern state of Kaduna, official data released by the government has shown.
* The death toll from a March 26 landslide in central Ecuador's Chimborazo province rose to 43, the Attorney General's Office said Wednesday.
* At least 80 people, mostly children, were taken ill after eating food during a fair in India's eastern state of Jharkhand, Officials said Thursday.
