* Thailand's caretaker Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Tuesday that he will initiate the formation of a new government once the Election Commission certifies the results from Sunday's general election.
* Ukraine is preparing plans to hold a presidential election alongside a national referendum on a potential peace agreement with Russia, Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing Ukrainian and Western officials familiar with the matter.
* Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has relieved Kamchybek Tashiev of his duties as deputy chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and chairman of the State Committee for National Security, the presidential press service reported Tuesday.
* Russia will not be the first to take steps toward an escalation after the expiration of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.
* Russia is ready to seek a negotiated solution to the Ukraine crisis based on understandings reached by the leaders of Russia and the United States, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.
* French President Emmanuel Macron has said that dialogue channels with Russia had been restored at a technical level, European media outlets reported on Tuesday.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he is considering sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East for possible military action against Iran if negotiations fail.
* The European Commission warned on Tuesday that Spain's large-scale migrant regularization must not produce "negative consequences" for other EU member states, as the initiative is expected to legalize the status of half a million migrants.
* Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday called for a boost in the country's defense capabilities amid heightened military activity near its borders.
* Moscow deems that the situation around Iran should be resolved peacefully as the use of force will only lead to the accumulation of problems, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday.
* One of the two external power transmission lines supplying the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was cut following a Ukrainian attack, the plant's operator said Tuesday.
* Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday expressed shock and mourning over a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, and pledged full federal support for the community, according to a social media statement.
* The latest Munich Security Report has sounded the alarm over the systematic dismantling of the international order and the rise of what it calls "wrecking-ball politics."
* Türkiye has announced a major reshuffle in senior judicial and administrative posts, with Akin Gurlek appointed as minister of justice and Mustafa Ciftci minister of interior, according to a presidential decision published on Wednesday.
* Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said Tuesday that it has detained a third suspect over an attempted assassination of a senior Russian military officer.
* Iran's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday rejected reports that indirect talks between Tehran and Washington would be held outside Oman, saying Muscat was always the agreed venue, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
* Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh on Tuesday urged the international community to pressure Israel to respect the sovereignty of the State of Palestine.
* Iran has warned on Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the United States is an attempt to undermine the newly-started nuclear talks between Iran and the United States.
* Senior Saudi and U.S. officials co-chaired a meeting in Riyadh on Monday aimed at "consolidating gains against the (ISIS/Daesh) terrorist organization and addressing urgent security challenges in Syria and Iraq."
* Protesters across Israel staged demonstrations on Tuesday against what they described as the government's failure to curb a surge in homicides and organized crime in the country's Arab communities.
* Israel's Shin Bet security agency said on Tuesday it had foiled a militant cell operating in the occupied West Bank that was directed by handlers in Lebanon.
* The death toll has risen to 52 in the sinking of a ferry off Basilan province in the southern Philippines on Jan. 26, with 27 people remaining missing, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Wednesday.
* Myanmar exported over 2.32 million tons of rice and broken rice in the first 10 months, from April last year to January this year, of the current fiscal year 2025-26, according to the Myanmar Rice Federation on Tuesday.
* Foreign direct investments (FDIs) into the Philippines recorded net inflows of 897 million USD in November 2025, the Philippine central bank said Tuesday.
* U.S. automaker Ford on Tuesday reported a net loss of 11.1 billion USD in the fourth quarter of 2025, the worst quarterly performance since 2008, resulting in a full-year net loss of 8.2 billion dollars in 2025.
* Nepal's economy is likely to grow by just 3.5 percent in the current fiscal year 2025-26, far below the initial target of 6 percent, due to a slowdown across multiple sectors, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday.
* Dutch-based AI cloud company Nebius said on Tuesday it had agreed to acquire Israeli AI startup Tavily, according to a joint statement of the two companies. Financial terms were not disclosed, though Israeli media reported the deal was valued at about 275 million USD, rising to as much as 400 million dollars if performance targets are met.
