* South Korea's prosecution has decided to transfer the case on President Yoon Suk-yeol's martial law imposition to the corruption investigative unit, multiple media outlets said Wednesday.
* Indonesia has issued 471 golden visas from July to December 2024, according to the Directorate General of Immigration under the Ministry of Law and Human Rights on Tuesday.
* Japan's parliament on Tuesday enacted a 13.9 trillion yen (about 90 billion USD) supplementary budget for the current fiscal year through next March to fund a new economic package aimed at easing the financial burden on households amid rising prices.
* Russia has detained the suspects of murdering Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of the army's chemical weapons division, the Federal Security Service said on Wednesday.
* The Council of the European Union adopted the 15th package of sanctions against Russia on Monday, according to a press release of the European Commission.
* Canada has pledged 1.3 billion Canadian dollars (910 million USD) to bolster border security, even as its deficit swelled nearly 50 percent beyond target.
* Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal emphasized on Tuesday the UK's role as Estonia's largest military partner and called for expanding defense industry collaboration.
* Czech President Petr Pavel announced on Tuesday that he had signed the 2025 state budget with a deficit of 241 billion crowns (10.1 billion USD).
* Sweden's Parliament approved a new defense plan on Tuesday, increasing the military budget from 125 billion SEK (11.42 billion USD) in 2024 to SEK 186 billion by 2030.
* Canada plans to impose tariffs on a slew of Chinese products from as early as next year, the government's fiscal update showed, as part of its wider investigation into imports from the country.
* China hopes Syria will achieve peace and restore stability as soon as possible, and is ready to play a constructive role to that end, a Chinese envoy said on Tuesday.
* Switzerland's parliament on Tuesday voted to outlaw Hezbollah, in a rare move by the neutral country that has traditionally followed a policy of promoting international dialogue and mediation.
* Israel will remain on the strategic Mount Hermon site on the Syrian border until another arrangement is found, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
* An agreement to halt the 14-month-old war in Gaza and free hostages held in the Palestinian enclave could be signed in the coming days with talks in Cairo making progress, sources briefed on the meeting said on Tuesday.
* Israeli authorities on Tuesday denied three more UN-led aid missions to the besieged areas of North Gaza, adding to the 38 missions they blocked earlier this month, UN humanitarians said.
* The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Director for the Middle East and North Africa Rema Jamous Imseis said on Tuesday that around 1 million Syrian refugees may return to their homeland between January and June 2025.
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday that he would not permit the establishment of a Palestinian state, rejecting reports that Israel had agreed to a "path toward Palestinian statehood" as part of efforts to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia.
* The Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, said on Tuesday its fighters detonated a house booby-trapped with explosives, targeting Israeli soldiers, and engaged in clashes with another Israeli unit in two separate incidents in northern Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp.
* The International Organization for Migration (IOM), in collaboration with the South Sudanese government, began a three-day meeting on Tuesday, with the UN migration agency pledging to support the government in improving its migration framework to foster economic growth.
* The World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday said that the escalating fighting in Sudan was preventing humanitarian aid from reaching famine risk areas.
* Fitch Ratings has affirmed Malaysia's long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) at "BBB+" with a stable outlook.
* The Bank of Finland has reduced its predicted economic growth in Finland next year to 0.8 percent. In its previous estimate in September, it had predicted a 1.1 percent growth in 2025.
* Belarusian gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 3.9 percent in January-November 2024, the National Statistical Committee of Belarus said on Tuesday.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Tuesday that it has invested a total of 403 million USD in Cambodia for 2024.
* Brazil's Central Bank indicated in minutes from its latest Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) meeting, released on Tuesday, that it anticipates two additional increases to the Selic benchmark interest rate at the start of 2025.
* Indonesia's Minister of Trade Budi Santoso announced on Tuesday the export of 10 containers of palm oil products, split fatty acid and crude glycerine, valued at 420,000 USD, to India.
* Industry insiders from Egypt's gold export sector said there is still considerable potential to further develop the country's gold industry and predicted continued growth in gold exports.
* Japan set a new annual record for visitor arrivals with one month to spare, official data showed on Wednesday, as the weak yen helped propel the nation's tourism boom.
* People remained trapped in a collapsed building in Vanuatu's capital Port Vila on Wednesday a day after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck the Pacific nation, killing 14 people including two Chinese nationals.
