* The China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era has never targeted any third party, nor does it tolerate any third party interference or coercion, a senior Chinese diplomat said in Moscow on Wednesday.
* Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Thursday that some 10.03 million people, or 62.6 percent of the kingdom's population, have benefited from the clean-up of landmine and explosive remnant of war (ERW) contaminated land in the last 30 years.
* President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia would pay increased attention to boosting its nuclear forces by deploying a much delayed new intercontinental ballistic missile, rolling out hypersonic missiles and adding new nuclear submarines.
* Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the government was fully committed to sustainable development in the field of green energy.
* NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday he saw progress in stalled talks with Turkey on Sweden's membership bid and aimed to have both Sweden and Finland join the alliance by the time of its July summit.
* The Japanese foreign ministry on Wednesday denied a Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers' joint statement condemning Russia issued by the U.S. State Department, local media reported. According to the ministry, the U.S. State Department mistakenly sent a G7 foreign ministers' statement, presumably from October 2022, to the press.
* Myanmar's State Administration Council on Wednesday declared martial law in three towns in Sagaing region in the country. According to the council's orders, the three towns are Shwebo, Wetlet and Ayadaw, which are the areas of the Northwestern Command.
* Talks between Sweden, Finland and Türkiye would resume in mid-March, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told local media Wednesday night.
* The leaders of Sweden, Finland and Norway vowed to strengthen defense cooperation on Wednesday in the face of common security challenges.
* Israel was on heightened alert and preparing for a possible escalation after its troops killed 10 Palestinians in a raid in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.
* Iranian foreign minister on Wednesday said Tehran welcomes the normalization of relations with Riyadh and Cairo within the framework of its policy of strengthening ties with Muslim countries.
* The Iranian nuclear chief said on Wednesday the officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are in Tehran and have been inspecting the country's nuclear facilities since Tuesday to resolve the ambiguities.
* Leaders of Cyprus's estranged Greek and Turkish communities met on Thursday as a deadlock persisted in peace talks on the ethnically divided island.
* Oman's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Thursday said the Gulf Arab state's airspace will be open for all civilian carriers, a move that would enable Israeli airlines to utilise a Saudi-Oman corridor to cut flight times to Asia.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called on regional and international players to help restore a political track to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
* Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez Wednesday reaffirmed his country's commitment to peace, scientific cooperation and environmental protection in Antarctica during a visit to the region.
* Tunisian President Kais Saied decided on Wednesday to end the duties of Minister of Employment and Training Nasreddine Nsibi, according to a statement issued by the Presidency. This is already the third minister the Tunisian president has dismissed in two months.
* The Philippines will start shipping fresh durians to China in March this year, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said on Thursday.
* Malaysia said Thursday that it has recorded 600 million ringgit (135 million USD) in losses due to floods in 2022.
* German inflation picked up again slightly to 8.7 percent in January after declining for two months, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said on Wednesday. Energy and food continued to be the main price drivers.
* Turkey has stepped up plans to house victims of the devastating earthquake which struck its border region with Syria, the interior minister said, as the combined death toll in the two countries crept towards 50,000.
* Germany no longer requires that people arriving in the country from China take a COVID-19 test, the government said on Wednesday.
* Asian travellers are expected to support the recovery of the Swiss tourism industry this year after American visitors pulled the sector out of its pandemic doldrums in 2022, the Swiss national tourism association said on Thursday.
* Over 3,000 Afghan refugees returned from the neighboring Iran over the past couple of days, said the Afghan Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation Affairs on Thursday.
* The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Wednesday clashes between security forces and clan leaders in Las Anod in northern Somalia have left 150 people dead and over 600 others wounded since Feb. 6.
* The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned over multiple disease outbreaks that are ongoing in the Horn of Africa region as countries in the region face serious food insecurity.
* The Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission on Wednesday announced that more than 157,000 metric tons of food have been distributed to people affected by conflict in northern Ethiopia.
* An SU-25 fighter jet crashed while returning to its base airfield in the Belgorod region on Thursday "after completing a combat mission," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
* More than 65 million people across 29 U.S. states are under winter weather alerts that include warnings of severe icing and extreme coldness.
* A 7.2-magnitude earthquake jolted Tajikistan at 8:37 a.m. Thursday Beijing Time, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC). The epicenter was monitored at 37.98 degrees north latitude and 73.29 degrees east longitude, at a depth of 10 km, the CENC said.
* New Zealand will hold an inquiry to investigate forestry slash and land use causing woody debris and sediment-related damage in Gisborne and Wairoa, after Cyclone Gabrielle lashed the North Island and killed 11 people over the past week.
