* The Philippine Senate on Tuesday ratified the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade agreement, meaning the ASEAN member has officially approved the pact.
* The Republic of Korea will lift a post-arrival test requirement for travelers from China next month as the COVID-19 situation stabilized, the RoK's central prevention and countermeasures headquarters said on Wednesday.
* China and India agreed on Wednesday to accelerate the resolution of issues related to the western section of the two nations' border, China's foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet China's top diplomat Wang Yi later on Wednesday in Moscow, the Kremlin said.
* Indonesian President Joko Widodo met with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Jakarta on Wednesday, as both sides promised to jointly maintain regional peace and stability.
* Sanctions against Russia over nuclear energy would harm Hungary's interests and should not be brought forward by the European Union, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Wednesday.
* US President Joe Biden met leaders of NATO's eastern flank on Wednesday to show support for their security after Moscow suspended a landmark nuclear arms control treaty over strong Western support for Ukraine.
* Visiting US President Joe Biden on Tuesday called his country's relations with Poland "critical" and praised the Polish people for welcoming Ukrainians into their country.
* The Russian economy has withstood Western sanctions and performed "much stronger than the West believed," President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
* The Swiss government is seeking parliamentary approval to send 140 million francs (151 million USD) in further humanitarian aid to Ukraine and Moldova, the government said on Wednesday.
* Ukraine, the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will jointly launch a mechanism to coordinate arms supplies to Ukraine, officials said in Brussels after the first meeting of the three sides' high-level representatives.
* Finland and Sweden are proceeding "hand-in-hand" towards NATO membership, Finnish president Sauli Niinisto said on Wednesday, but added that Turkey controlled the decision to ratify the applications for the two Nordic countries.
* Spain plans to send six German-made 2A4 Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine after they undergo repairs, Defence Minister Margarita Robles told lawmakers on Wednesday, adding that the number could increase over time.
* Germany has declared two employees of the Iranian embassy personae non gratae and ordered them to leave the country in response to Iran sentencing a German national to death, a statement from the foreign office said on Wednesday.
* British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday evening and will talk to businesses on Wednesday to discuss solutions to post-Brexit trade issues in Northern Ireland, his spokesman said.
* Without the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the global economy would have generated an additional 1.6 trillion USD in 2022, according to a study published by the German Economic Institute (IW) on Tuesday.
* The Palestinian presidency on Wednesday said real peace in the Middle East can only be made through recognizing the Palestinian people's legitimate rights, slamming the Israeli leadership's reported remarks on coupling Israel-Arab rapprochement with anti-Iran agenda.
* The US embassy in London said it was resuming normal operations after a security alert caused by a suspicious package outside the building on Wednesday.
* The Iranian Foreign Ministry imposed Tuesday new sanctions on several individuals and entities of the European Union and Britain for "supporting terrorism and inciting violence."
* Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar on Tuesday voiced his country's readiness to support Libya in reaching a political settlement to end its crisis.
* Israeli troops killed 10 Palestinians, including at least three gunmen and three civilians, and wounded over 100 others during a raid on a flashpoint city in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, witnesses and medical officials said.
* Pakistan's defence minister and the head of its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency held talks with Taliban authorities in Afghanistan on Wednesday over security issues, following a period of strained relations between Islamabad and Kabul.
* A trade union representing teachers in Britain said on Wednesday it was prepared to recommend pausing a planned strike next week if substantive progress can be made in talks with the government in a dispute over pay.
* Russia's Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, approved the suspension of the New START nuclear arms treaty on Wednesday, Russian state news agencies reported.
* The United Nations will need to mobilise a record 2.25 billion USD this year to address the mass displacement of people in east Democratic Republic of Congo following a major offensive by M23 rebels last year, the U.N. coordinator for the country, Bruno Lemarquis, said on Wednesday.
* The Indonesian government announced on Wednesday that the country has recorded an unexpected budget surplus of 90.8 trillion rupiahs (about 5.97 billion USD) in January.
* Pakistan hopes to secure financing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) "soon" with a couple of measures pending for the deal to be approved, the country's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday.
* Turkey launched a temporary wage support scheme on Wednesday and banned layoffs in 10 cities to protect workers and businesses from the financial impact of the massive earthquake that hit the south of the country.
* The death toll from heavy rains that devastated coastal areas of Brazil's southeastern Sao Paulo state reached 48 people, official figures showed on Wednesday, but dozens were still missing as search and rescue efforts continued.
* An immunization drive to vaccinate over 6 million children under the age of five against the incurable polio virus has concluded in different parts of Pakistan, the country's health ministry said on Wednesday.
* Mexico's economic outlook for 2023 remains unfavorable and is subject to a high degree of uncertainty, including developments in the United States, the Mexican Institute of Finance Executives (IMEF) said Tuesday.
* The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will launch Israel's first space telescope in 2026, the Israel Space Agency (ISA) and the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) said on Tuesday.
* Israel's natural gas and oil revenues reached a record high of 1.68 billion new shekels (460 million USD) in 2022, according to an annual report issued by the country's Energy Ministry on Tuesday.
* South Africa has continued to experience long hours without electricity after eight generation units broke down, the country's power utility Eskom said Tuesday.
