* Russian troops have taken full control of the town of Avdiivka near Donetsk, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Saturday.
* The Hungarian parliament can ratify Sweden's NATO membership when it convenes for its new spring session later this month, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told his supporters on Saturday.
* China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China and Germany should "eliminate interference" and continue with open and free trade during talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Munich Security Conference, according to a statement released by the foreign ministry on Sunday.
* Russia has invited Palestinian factions to meet in Moscow on Feb. 26, the Palestinian Authority prime minister said on Sunday, adding that the PA was ready to engage with Hamas.
* Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday dismissed the idea of holding early elections, while thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv for an anti-government protest.
* Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said President Katalin Novak's resignation was "correct" in his state of the nation speech in Budapest on Saturday.
* The United Nations Security Council is likely to vote on Tuesday on an Algerian push for the 15-member body to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, said diplomats, a move the United States signaled it would veto.
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that he had sent negotiators for truce talks in Cairo as requested by U.S. President Joe Biden but they did not go back for further talks because Hamas' demands were "delusional".
* Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Saturday the only pathway towards security and stability in the Middle East, including Israel, was through a Palestinian state.
* Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Saturday the pattern of negotiations for a framework ceasefire deal for the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza was "not very promising" in recent days.
* The Israeli military said on Sunday that it killed dozens of Palestinian militants and seized a large amount of weapons in fighting throughout the Gaza Strip over the past day.
* The Gaza Strip's second-largest hospital has been put "completely out of service", a spokesperson for the Gaza health ministry said on Sunday.
* Hundreds of Turks on Saturday joined the global day of action for Palestine with a rally in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, to show solidarity with the Palestinian people.
* Azerbaijan has decided to open its embassy in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, as part of efforts to bolster relations with the war-torn central Asian country, a statement of the Afghan caretaker government's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
* Abdoulaye Bathily, special representative of the Secretary-General for Libya and head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), on Saturday called on Libyan leaders to come together to build a strong, united, and resilient Libya.
* Jordan's Minister of Interior Mazin Farrayeh announced on Saturday the formation of a joint communication group with Iraq, Syria and Lebanon to step up cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking.
* Tourism revenues in China during the eight-day Lunar New Year holidays that ended on Saturday surged by 47.3% year-on-year thanks to a domestic travel boom, surpassing pre-COVID 2019 levels, official data showed on Sunday.
* Sri Lanka has made record earnings from tourism in the first 45 days of this year, amounting to 7 billion rupees (about 22.4 million USD) from 306,708 tourists, state media reported on Sunday.
* Traffic restrictions were enforced in Mongolia's capital until noon on Sunday in response to heavy snow and blizzards, announced the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Saturday night.
