* The coalition of GERB party and the Union of Democratic Forces (GERB-UDF) won the Bulgaria's early parliamentary elections, according to final results announced by the country's Central Electoral Commission (CEC) on Thursday.
* Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Beijing on Thursday, calling on both sides to enhance cooperation, promote relations between China and the European Union, and work jointly for a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.
* The Cambodian government on Friday approved the construction of five power plants with a total capacity of 520 megawatts, said government chief spokesman Phay Siphan.
* The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday he expected the organisation to lift the emergency status of COVID-19 sometime this year, without giving a more specific time frame.
* Argentina will officially rejoin the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) to "promote its institutional revitalization and build an increasingly integrated region," Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero said on Thursday.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko vowed on Thursday to push ahead the integration process between the two countries.
* Russia and Turkey agreed during talks in Ankara on Friday that obstacles must be lifted to ensure freer Russian fertiliser and grain exports, and enable a UN-brokered deal ensuring Black Sea shipments of Ukrainian grain to be extended beyond next month.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Nagorno-Karabakh in a call with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Russia's state-owned news agency TASS reported citing the Armenian government.
* Turkey's defence minister told his U.S. counterpart that Finland's new NATO membership showed its support for enlargement and that it hoped Sweden would fulfill commitments under its own bid as soon as possible, Ankara said on Thursday.
* Cyprus will offer Ukraine technical training on landmine clearing as part of its humanitarian assistance, its defence minister said on Friday. Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, who is visiting Cyprus on Friday, is set to tour areas where the training will take place.
* Israel on Friday intensified airstrikes on military posts in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, in response to rockets fired from the areas at several parts in Israel, escalating tensions with Palestine over the past three days after Israeli police forcibly expelled Palestinian worshippers from the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem.
* Turkey is concerned about the potential intensification of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in the spring, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday.
* A Saudi Arabian-led military coalition lifted eight-year-old restrictions on imports headed for Yemen's southern ports, the internationally recognised authorities said, in a sign that peace talks are progressing with the Houthi group in the north.
* France needs to "go through a healing period" after weeks of sometimes violent street protests against plans to raise the retirement age, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said.
* Pakistan's finance minister has cancelled a visit to Washington for spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, government officials said on Friday, citing domestic political turmoil as the reason.
* Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday said the world economy is expected to grow less than 3 percent this year, with India and China projected to account for half of global growth in 2023.
* The U.S. economy likely continued to churn out jobs at a brisk clip in March even though the labor market is losing its luster as Federal Reserve interest rate hikes dampen demand.
* The United Nations food agency's world price index fell in March for a 12th consecutive month, and is now down 20.5% from a record high hit one year ago following Russia-Ukraine crisis.
* The World Bank on Thursday lifted its 2023 economic growth forecast for eastern Europe and central Asia to 1.4% from an earlier 0.1% prediction, citing improved outlooks for both Russia and Ukraine despite their ongoing conflict.
* India has received 6.19 million foreign tourists last year, as compared to 1.52 million in 2021, the Tourism Ministry said on Friday.
* Myanmar exported products worth over 16.57 billion USD in the 2022-23 fiscal year, up 6.9 percent from over 15.49 billion dollars a year earlier, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed on Friday.
* The World Bank has lowered its estimate for Ukraine's gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year to 0.5 percent from 3.3 percent estimated in January, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported Thursday.
* Türkiye has announced that the natural gas discovered in the Black Sea will start to flow into its national grid at the end of April, putting into practice one of the country's largest energy projects ever built.
* Mongolia's foreign trade turnover increased by 57 percent year on year to 5.7 billion USD in the first quarter of 2023, Mongolian Customs General Administration said on Friday.
