* Members of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) have voted in favor of forming a coalition with the Union party, the SPD said in a statement on Wednesday. The result paves the way for a new federal government led by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday reiterated his strong condemnation of the April 22 terrorist attack that took place in Jammu and Kashmir, his spokesman said.
* Pakistani and Indian fighter jets were involved in a brief standoff around the airspace over the Line of Control late Tuesday night, Pakistani security sources said on Wednesday.
* Pakistani Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar warned on Wednesday that India may be planning a military strike within the next 24 to 36 hours.
* The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s 5000-ton new-generation destroyer "Choe Hyon" conducted its first weapon systems test this week, with its top leader supervising the event, state media said Wednesday.
* Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular press briefing on Wednesday that China and the United States were not engaged in any consultation or negotiation on tariffs so far.
* Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday agreed to meet in person in the near future.
* Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev expressed hope that the ongoing negotiations on Ukraine will ultimately lead to peace, local media reported on Tuesday.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko have vowed to preserve the historical memory of World War II (WWII) during an international forum of the Union State in Volgograd.
* Serbian Prime Minister Djuro Macut reaffirmed on Monday that advancing Serbia's European Union accession remains the government's top priority, pledging to accelerate reforms and the negotiation process during his mandate.
* Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto presented a bill on Tuesday to the National Assembly proposing Hungary's formal withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
* Kyrgyzstan has begun erecting a fence along its 970-kilometer border with Tajikistan after the two sides reached an agreement on demarcation in March.
* Spanish authorities are investigating the deaths of seven individuals believed to be linked to a widespread power outage that affected Spain and Portugal on Monday.
* Malta on Tuesday signed a contract for the manufacture and installation of a second subsea electricity cable between Malta and Sicily, further strengthening its connection to the European energy grid.
* Danish people are being urged to improve their home preparedness after widespread blackouts hit Spain and Portugal, Denmark's Minister for Resilience and Preparedness Torsten Schack Pedersen said Tuesday.
* The Maltese government said on Tuesday that it will respect a European Union (EU) court's decision concerning its golden passport scheme. Earlier on Tuesday, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that Malta's golden passport scheme is in violation of EU law.
* Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and his visiting Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban voiced in Bratislava on Monday their opposition to any changes to the fundamental treaties that would lead to the scrapping of the veto right of European Union (EU) member states.
* South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile on Tuesday called for stronger collaboration between the Group of 20 (G20) and the African Union (AU), highlighting South Africa's efforts to align AU priorities with the G20's key focus areas.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Tuesday that the two-State solution to the Palestinian question "is near a point of no return."
* Turkish police detained 76 suspects in Istanbul as part of an operation targeting terrorist groups allegedly planning to provoke unrest during May Day demonstrations, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office announced on Tuesday.
* Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that the fourth round of the Omani-mediated indirect nuclear talks between Iran and the United States will be held in Rome on Saturday, according to the official news agency IRNA.
* Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani held a phone conversation on Tuesday, during which they categorically rejected any attempts to displace Palestinians from their lands.
* Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani and Jordanian King Abdullah II emphasized on Tuesday the need to halt the aggression against Gaza.
* Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam affirmed on Tuesday Lebanon's commitment to ending the Israeli occupation of all Lebanese territory and called for intensified diplomatic efforts to halt ongoing violations.
* Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reaffirmed his country's commitment to comprehensive reforms on Tuesday during a meeting with a visiting delegation led by retired U.S. General Joseph Votel.
* Israel conducted an airstrike near Damascus on Wednesday, targeting what it described as a "radical group" preparing to attack a Druze community, according to Israeli officials.
* Tunisia repatriated 80 undocumented nationals of Mali, Sierra Leone, and Cote d'Ivoire on Tuesday as part of a "voluntary return" program coordinated with the International Organization for Migration, private radio station Mosaique FM reported.
* National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) Deputy Governor Yim Leat on Wednesday called for the broader use of local currency Riel (KHR) in the domestic economy.
* U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) shrank at an annual rate of 0.3 percent in the first quarter of this year, amid new tariff policies that have increased uncertainty and dampened confidence. The latest figure follows a 2.4 percent GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
* The Eurozone's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.4 percent in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter, according to a flash estimate published on Wednesday by Eurostat.
* Australia's underlying rate of inflation has fallen within the target band set by the nation's central bank for the first time in three years.
* The number of people facing food insecurity in Guinea-Bissau has increased by 24 percent over the past 12 months, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) revealed on Tuesday, attributing the situation to flooding caused by heavy rainfall.
* As of Tuesday, the death toll from the Myanmar earthquake has risen to 3,798, state-owned daily The Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Wednesday. In addition, the March 28 devastating quake has left 5,106 people injured, with 106 others still missing.
* Chinese authorities on Wednesday issued an orange alert, the second highest-level warning, for forest fires in parts of China from May 1 to 5.
