* Catalin Predoiu was appointed interim president of the National Liberal Party (PNL) on Tuesday after Ilie Bolojan temporarily stepped down to assume the role of interim President of Romania.
* Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced Tuesday that he would propose government changes if two coalition parties fail to resolve internal disagreements with members of parliament who have left their caucuses.
* Republic of Korea's constitutional court on Tuesday held the seventh hearing of impeachment trial on President Yoon Suk-yeol, with the arrested president being present for the fifth time.
* Russian forces have seized control of the Yasenove settlement in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he plans to propose Russia direct territory exchange if U.S. President Donald Trump manages to get Kiev and Moscow at the negotiating table, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported Tuesday.
* Moscow and Washington have increased contact via various diplomatic channels, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.
* U.S. citizen Marc Fogel, who was convicted in Russia for drug smuggling and possession, has been released to the United States, local media reported on Wednesday.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will send Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent over to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
* The European Union (EU) launched InvestAI, an initiative to mobilize 200 billion euros (206.5 billion USD) to boost the bloc's artificial intelligence investment, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced Tuesday at the AI Action Summit here.
* European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday that U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the European Union (EU) "will trigger firm and proportionate countermeasures."
* Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Tuesday that he was not surprised by U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum imports, adding that Poland is preparing for the potential impact while emphasizing the need for a coordinated European response.
* Malaysian Iron and Steel Industry Federation (MISIF), which represents iron and steel products manufacturers in Malaysia, has called for the government's swift action as the U.S. tariffs will lead to a surge of steel products in Malaysia.
* Mexico on Tuesday rejected the 25-percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports announced a day earlier by the U.S. administration.
* Google Maps changed the Gulf of Mexico's name to the Gulf of America for people using the app in the United States while maintaining the name for users in Mexico. Google also said in a statement that users elsewhere in the world will see both labels.
* Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that the country is committed to prioritizing the empowerment of women and girls in the field of science, ensuring that women become key drivers of progress and innovation in years to come.
* South Africa will start receiving group visa applications from selected tour operators on behalf of Chinese and Indian tourists in mid-February, an official from the Department of Home Affairs said on Tuesday.
* Algeria, Nigeria, and Niger signed agreements on Tuesday to advance the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP), a project aimed at linking Africa's gas reserves to European markets.
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that the ceasefire with Hamas would end "if Hamas does not return our hostages by noon on Saturday."
* Hamas accused Israel on Tuesday of failing to uphold its commitments under the Gaza ceasefire agreement. In a statement, Hamas said, "Israel has not fulfilled its commitments and bears full responsibility for any complications or delays."
* Visiting Jordanian King Abdullah II on Tuesday rejected U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to relocate Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
* Egypt plans to present a comprehensive Gaza reconstruction plan designed to ensure Palestinians remain on their land, officials said Tuesday.
* With the ceasefire allowing relief workers to expand services in Gaza, Israeli forces continue their deadly operations in the West Bank, impeding aid delivery, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
* Israeli authorities have begun building a new settlement on Bethlehem's land in the southern West Bank, according to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission of the Palestine Liberation Organization on Tuesday.
* The Israeli army has killed 92 Palestinians and wounded 822 others in direct strikes on the Gaza Strip since its truce with Hamas began on Jan. 19, Gaza-based health authorities reported on Tuesday.
* Yemen's Houthi leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, warned on Tuesday that his group is prepared to resume military operations against Israel if it breaches the Gaza ceasefire.
* Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov reaffirmed his country's commitment to strengthening ties with Lebanon during a visit to Beirut on Tuesday, extending an official invitation to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to visit Belarus.
* The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that communication with the United States regarding the ongoing bird flu outbreak has become increasingly difficult as a result of the country's withdrewal from the UN health agency.
* A total of 41 healthcare centers have been forced to shut down due to cuts in U.S. assistance in the provinces of eastern Ghazni and central Bamiyan in Afghanistan, a local media outlet reported on Wednesday.
* Uzbekistan has announced an increase in the share of green energy to over 50 percent by 2030, the country's presidential press service said Tuesday in a statement.
* About 340,000 Sri Lankans will leave for foreign employment in 2025, Koshala Wickremasinghe, chairman of Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), said on Tuesday addressing licensed foreign employment agents in Colombo.
* The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that 135 refugees of different nationalities were evacuated from Libya to Italy on Tuesday through a humanitarian flight.
* The Moroccan navy intercepted 41 sub-Saharan migrants off the Atlantic coast, the official Maghreb Arabe Presse (MAP) reported on Tuesday, citing a military statement.
* The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and 45 humanitarian and development partners on Tuesday appealed for 81 million USD to provide lifesaving humanitarian assistance to over 1.4 million migrants in the Horn of Africa region and Yemen in 2025.
* A total of 84 Afghan nationals who were released from prisons in Pakistan have returned to their homeland Afghanistan, the Radio and Television of Afghanistan (RTA) reported Tuesday.
* The United States (US) overtook Algeria as the largest exporter of natural gas to Spain in January 2025, according to data published in the Enagas bulletin on Tuesday.
* The U.S. Federal Reserve is in no rush to cut federal funds rate given the strong economy, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday.
* The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Tuesday projected that OPEC+ production cuts will keep global oil prices stable through early 2025, with a decline anticipated later in the year as supply rises.
* Republic of Korea's export by big firms logged a double-digit growth in 2024 due to strong global demand for locally-made semiconductors, statistical office data showed Wednesday.
* Hungarian consumer prices were 5.5 percent higher on average in January 2025 than a year earlier, according to data published by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) on Tuesday.
* Myanmar earned over 1 billion U.S. dollars from rice and broken rice exports in the first ten months of the current fiscal year 2024-2025, starting April 2024, state-run daily The Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Tuesday.
* The Greek government introduced an initial set of measures on Tuesday to support businesses on Santorini, which has been experiencing hundreds of earthquakes for a third consecutive week.
* Malta's imports nearly doubled the amount it exported throughout 2024, according to data released on Tuesday by the National Statistics Office (NSO).
* More than 470 cases of investment scams have been reported in Singapore since the start of 2025, with losses amounting to at least 32.6 million Singapore dollars (about 24.1 million USD), police said on Tuesday.
* The United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released its 2024 Economic Development in Africa Report on Monday in Abidjan, economic capital of Cote d'Ivoire, outlining strategies to transform the continent's challenges into opportunities through policy reforms, infrastructure investment, and enhanced regional trade integration.
* The Philippines has issued a temporary ban on the importation of animal products from Germany amid a recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the European country, local media reported Wednesday.
* Slovenia officially confirmed its first case of bluetongue disease in a farm animal on Tuesday, the National Administration of Food Safety, Veterinary Sector and Plant Protection said in a report.
* Angola has recorded 3,402 cholera cases and 114 deaths since the outbreak began in early January, according to the Health Ministry's daily press release on Tuesday.
* At least 91 flights to and from New Chitose Airport in Japan's Hokkaido were canceled Tuesday due to temporarily strong winds and snow, local media reported.
* A tropical cyclone has formed off the north coast of Western Australia (WA), with authorities warning it will make landfall as a category three storm on Friday. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) declared Tropical Cyclone Zelia on Wednesday as a category one system in the Indian Ocean.
* Firefighters and emergency crews evacuated at least 100 people Tuesday after a fire broke out in a luxury high-rise, the third-tallest building in Argentina.
