* China will invest an estimated 170.07 billion ringgit ($38.64 billion) in Malaysia, including in the petrochemical and automotive industries, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Tuesday.
* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is ready to meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken later this month when he travels to New York, if there is willingness from Washington, said Russian envoy in the United Nations on Monday.
* The Kremlin said on Tuesday it would be forced to take "counter-measures" to ensure Russia's security in response to Finland's accession to the NATO military alliance.
* Kazan, the capital city of Russia's Republic of Tatarstan, has been selected as the host city for the 2024 BRICS summit, according to a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
* The United States and European Union will confront any attempts to destabilise global energy markets, the two sides said on Tuesday after a meeting of officials in Brussels where they discussed the fallout in energy markets since the Russia-Ukraine crisis emerged.
* Iran and Saudi Arabia will open a joint chamber of commerce soon, an Iranian business leader revealed on Monday.
* Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has accepted an invitation from King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia for a visit to Saudi capital of Riyadh, Iran's first vice president Mohammad Mokhber confirmed Monday.
* The Senate of Pakistan on Monday passed a resolution to empower women with modern digital skills, a statement from the senate said.
* The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Monday that 344 migrants were rescued and returned to Libya in the past week.
* Cambodia needs 138 million USD for the next two years to achieve its mine-free target by 2025, Ly Thuch, first vice president of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authorities (CMAA), said on Tuesday.
* Japan is planning to raise its supply of hydrogen, from its current 12 million to 72 million tons by 2040, in a bid to promote the use of renewable energy, according to the government's revised resource policies on Tuesday.
* The Republic of Korea's ratio of sovereign debt to gross domestic product (GDP) rose last year due to an increased fiscal expenditure to counter the COVID-19 pandemic, government data showed Tuesday.
* Russia's Gazprom GAZP.MM said it would ship 41 million cubic metres of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Tuesday.
* Iraq's federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have reached a final deal to restart northern oil exports to be announced Tuesday, official sources told Reuters.
* The Brazilian financial market raised its inflation forecast for this year from 5.93 percent to 5.96 percent, but maintained its 2024 forecast at 4.13 percent, the Central Bank of Brazil said Monday.
* Ukraine received the first tranche of 2.7 billion USD from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) new aid program, Andriy Pyshnyy, the chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), announced on Monday.
* Agrifood systems directly employ 1.23 billion workers globally, and nearly half of the world's population live in households linked to food production, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a study published on Monday.
* Japanese weather officials said most regions in Japan logged record-high average temperatures for March this year. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), average temperatures in checkpoints from northern to western Japan were higher than the norm by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius, making this March the warmest since record-keeping began in 1946.
* An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale struck off Indonesia's western province of North Sumatra on Monday evening, leaving no damage or casualties, according to a local official.
* Flash floods caused by heavy rains killed at least 21 people, displaced over 100,000 more and destroyed property in the past two weeks in southern Somalia, the United Nations humanitarian agency said on Monday.
* Six tourists were killed and 11 injured in a major avalanche on the Nathula pass in India's northeastern state of Sikkim on Tuesday, the Times of India reported citing the PTI news agency.
* Several more dolphins were found washed ashore and stranded on a beach near Tokyo on Tuesday morning, one day after dozens were found stranded in the same place a day earlier.
