* South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol is willing to present his views himself during legal proceedings related to his short-lived declaration of martial law, a lawyer advising Yoon said on Thursday.
* The U.S. Congress has two days to avert a partial government shutdown after Republican President-elect Donald Trump rejected a bipartisan deal late on Wednesday and demanded lawmakers also raise the nation's debt ceiling before he takes office next month.
* South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who serves as acting president, had a phone call with Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru, Han's office said Thursday.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and other European leaders on Wednesday, aiming to get immediate help to bolster Kyiv's war effort and discuss longer-term security guarantees.
* The Russian government has approved a draft agreement with Azerbaijan to cooperate on developing freight transportation along the North-South International Transport Corridor, local media reported on Wednesday.
* China deplores and firmly opposes the European Union (EU) adding Chinese individuals and entities on the "fully-fledged listings" in its 15th sanctions package against Russia, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.
* Ukraine received 4.1 billion euros (about 4.3 billion USD) from the European Union (EU) to finance its urgent social and humanitarian needs, the Finance Ministry announced on Wednesday. The funds, provided through the Ukraine Facility financial instrument, have been allocated to Ukraine's state budget.
* Britain is intensifying its military support to Ukraine with a new aid package that includes naval drones, air defense systems and artillery, British Defense Secretary John Healey said Wednesday.
* South Africa's Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola met with Mozambique's Minister of Interior Pascoal Ronda on Wednesday to mitigate the impact of the electoral protests in Mozambique.
* Brazil's Senate on Wednesday passed a bill banning cellphones in schools across the nation and sent the proposed legislation to be signed into law by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
* Iran's nuclear chief on Wednesday called on Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi to maintain the agency's impartiality, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
* Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein held Wednesday a phone conversation with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on developments in the Middle East, particularly in Syria, the ministry said in a statement.
* Turkey and Lebanon have agreed to work together on Syrian issues following the downfall of Bashar al-Assad, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.
* Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday held talks with his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto in Cairo, where they agreed on the necessity of reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and restoring stability to Lebanon and Syria.
* Israel's "long hand" will reach the leaders of Yemen's Houthi movement, Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed on Thursday, after unleashing airstrikes on several areas of the Arab country overnight.
* Tunisia's coast guard has recovered the bodies of 20 migrants from Africa after the boat they were in sank off the coast, the national guard said on Wednesday, the second migrant drowning tragedy within one week off Tunisian coast.
* Russian gas producer Gazprom GAZP.MM said it would send 42.4 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Thursday, the same volume as on Wednesday.
* The Bank of Japan (BOJ) on Thursday decided to leave interest rates unchanged, maintaining its accommodative monetary policy. The central bank kept its key short-term rate on hold at around 0.25 percent at the end of a two-day policy meeting, in a move widely expected by the market.
* New Zealand's gross domestic product (GDP) decreased 1.0 percent in the September quarter, according to Stats NZ on Thursday.
* The Bank of Slovenia on Wednesday cut this year's growth forecast for the country's economy from 2.5 percent predicted in June to 1.4 percent, citing a low level of investment in construction and lower exports than expected.
* Economies in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are projected to increase by 2.2 percent in 2024 and 2.4 percent in 2025, according to a report released by the Chile-based Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) on Wednesday.
* The Philippines' overall balance of payments (BOP) posted a deficit of 2.3 billion USD in November 2024, higher than the 216-million-dollar BOP deficit recorded in November 2023, the central bank said Thursday.
* Austria's inflation rate stood at 1.9 percent in November, remaining below the 2-percent medium-term inflation target set by the European Central Bank (ECB) for the third consecutive month, Statistics Austria said on Wednesday.
* The Egyptian cabinet granted Wednesday a United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based renewable energy company the "Golden License" to build an 850-million-USD photovoltaic (PV) power generation project in Upper Egypt's province of Aswan.
* The situation in Vanuatu remains concerning after a massive earthquake struck the country, and the government has requested international assistance to help respond, a UN spokesperson said on Wednesday.
* Emergency flood warnings were issued for communities in the northeastern Australian state of Queensland on Thursday.
