* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday unveiled a new initiative aimed at integrating fairness, sustainability, and human rights into the procurement and use of essential minerals for the clean energy transition.
* Russia will explore ways to overcome any potential "illegal obstacles" and "unfair competition" imposed on the country's energy sector, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Saturday.
* Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced on Sunday she will be a candidate at June's European elections in a bid to boost support for her Brothers of Italy party, though she will not take up a seat if elected. The June 6-9 European Parliament vote is a key test of strength for her 18-month-old rightist coalition.
* The Pentagon has confirmed that the United States will withdraw most of its troops stationed in the African countries of Chad and Niger.
* The Maldives was Friday in talks with Turkey over exporting 214 goods items to the latter at zero percent tariff under a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), Maldives government news portal Public Service Media (PSM) said on Friday.
transition.
* France's nuclear weapons should be part of the European defence debate, French President Emmanuel Macron told a group of regional newspapers on Sunday, in comments that drew fire from his political opponents ahead of EU elections in June.
* The U.N. Security Council on Saturday expressed its "deep concern" over an imminent attack on al-Fashir in Sudan's North Darfur region by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
* France's foreign minister said on Sunday there had been progress in discussions with senior officials in Lebanon aimed at easing tensions between Hezbollah and Israel and preventing a war breaking out.
* Italy sees a role for nuclear energy, alongside renewable energy sources, to meet the country's net zero emission target by 2050, Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said on Sunday.
* Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif discussed a new loan programme with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Sunday, his office said in a statement. Sharif and Georgieva met on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Riyadh.
* Twenty soldiers were killed on Saturday as fire swept through an ammunition warehouse in western Cambodia, setting off a series of explosions, the country's Prime Minister Hun Manet said.
* U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Saudi Arabia on Monday and Tuesday to meet with regional partners and discuss efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages, the State Department said on Saturday.
* Israel has agreed to listen to U.S. concerns and thoughts before it launches an invasion of the border city of Rafah in Gaza, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Sunday.
* Israel's foreign minister said on Saturday that a planned incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah could be suspended should a deal emerge to secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
* Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday warned of a possible Israeli attack on the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, expressing his fear of the displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank to Jordan after the end of the conflict.
* Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinian gunmen who opened fire at them from a vehicle in the occupied West Bank, the military said on Saturday.
* World Central Kitchen (WCK) said it would resume operations in the Gaza Strip on Monday, a month after seven workers of the U.S.-based charity were killed in an Israeli air strike.
* Hezbollah announced that it launched on Sunday at dawn an attack with Katyusha rockets on several Israeli settlements.
* Around 95 children aged between four and 12 were rescued in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh when they were being illegally trafficked from the neighboring state of Bihar, confirmed a local official on Saturday.
* At least 23 members of Nigeria's civilian joint task force were killed on Saturday in separate attacks by militants and an armed kidnapping gang in the north, two officials from the force said on Sunday.
* Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday that his government is diligently pursuing economic reforms to overcome the ongoing challenges in the financial sector.
* Slovenia's jobless rate fell to a historic low of 3.1 percent in March, down by 0.6 percentage point from the same period last year, latest figures show.
* Sri Lankan State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe said on Saturday the country's economy stabilized with the local currency appreciating from 360 in 2022 to 300 against one USD at the moment.
