* China hopes the United States will adopt an objective, rational view of the implementation of the China-U.S. phase-one economic and trade agreement, the Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday. China urges the U.S. to refrain from shifting blame, and to avoid using China as a pretext to create trouble or provoke issues, the ministry said.
* Thai Army spokesman Winthai Suvaree announced that a Thai border patrol was fired upon by Cambodian forces Tuesday morning while conducting a routine patrol in the border area of Sisaket Province. Meanwhile, Cambodian Ministry of National Defense Spokesperson Maly Socheata denied the allegation in a press release.
* Heavy two-way firing erupted on Tuesday evening between Pakistani and Afghan forces at multiple locations along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Pakistani security sources told Xinhua.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he prefers to solve the Iran confrontation through diplomacy.
* Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday left Tehran for Geneva at the head of a political delegation to take part in the new round of indirect talks with the United States.
* Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday his administration sees "good prospects" for the upcoming talks with the United States.
* Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday Iran is determined to reach a "fair and equitable" deal with the United States as soon as possible, noting that the two countries "have a historic opportunity to strike an unprecedented agreement."
* Russian forces have taken control of the village of Rizdvyanka in the Zaporizhzhia region, the Russian Ministry of Defense said Tuesday.
* Seven people were killed and 10 others injured in an attack by Ukrainian armed forces on a fertilizer plant in Russia's Smolensk region on Wednesday, according to local authorities.
* Russia remains committed to resolving the ongoing Ukraine crisis through political and diplomatic efforts, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.
* Cambodia cracked down on a total of 272 human trafficking and sexual exploitation cases in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 37 percent, officials said on Wednesday. Interior Ministry's Secretary of State Chou Bun Eng, who is also permanent vice-chairwoman of the National Committee for Counter Trafficking, said the authorities arrested a total of 410 suspects, including 43 foreigners, last year.
* Russia must step up counter-terrorism efforts amid threats to its Black Sea natural gas pipelines, President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday. Speaking at a meeting of the board of the Federal Security Service, Putin said Russia's enemies had failed to inflict a strategic defeat on the battlefield, and were banking on terrorist attacks targeting cities, infrastructure and government officials.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States has received more than 80 million barrels of oil from Venezuela since the U.S. forcible seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday instructed Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) to enhance the security of officials from the country's Ministry of Defense and the military-industrial complex.
* Bulgaria's armed forces need modernizing and bringing in line with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the country's Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov said here on Tuesday.
* Russia accused the United Kingdom and France of threatening the entire nuclear non-proliferation regime after intelligence uncovered that the two countries are preparing to provide Kiev with related weapons.
* French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Tuesday voiced unsatisfaction after U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner failed to attend a summons by the French Foreign Ministry, saying diplomatic representatives must respect established protocol.
* Bilateral trade between Uzbekistan and Belarus increased by 25 percent last year, the press service of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said in a statement on Tuesday. The statement was issued after Mirziyoyev met with Belarusian Prime Minister Alexander Turchin on Tuesday, who is on an official visit to Uzbekistan.
* The Arab region's economy is expected to gather pace over the next two years, with its average GDP projected to grow by 3.7 percent and 3.3 percent in 2026 and 2027 respectively, according to a report released Wednesday by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).
* Thailand's central bank slashed its key interest rate on Wednesday as policymakers seek to support the economic recovery, ease debt burdens for small businesses and households, and anchor medium-term inflation expectations.
* Australia's greenhouse gas emissions fell by 1.9 percent in the year to September 2025 as a result of record-high renewable electricity generation, according to government data.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday said it has approved a loan of 60.9 million USD to improve water supply and sanitation in urban communities in Port Moresby and Vanimo, Papua New Guinea (PNG).
* A total of 143.91 million people, or 50.60 percent of Indonesia's population, are projected to travel during the 2026 Lebaran transportation period, the Ministry of Transportation said in a press release on Wednesday.
* Myanmar exported over 370,000 tons of fishery products from April to January of the 2025-26 fiscal year, generating over 559 million USD in export earnings, according to the Department of Fisheries on Tuesday.
* Greece's tourism industry reached a new historic high in revenue in 2025, according to a report released Tuesday by the Bank of Greece. The country generated approximately 23.6 billion euros (about 27.8 billion USD) in travel receipts last year, marking a 9.4 percent increase compared to the previous record set in 2024.
* Total investments in Azerbaijan's industrial zones have reached 7 billion manats (about 4.1 billion USD), the Economic Zones Development Agency said on Tuesday.
* Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty held a phone call on Tuesday with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to discuss regional developments, particularly the situation in Iran.
* Iran's security forces have killed three members of a "terrorist" network affiliated with extremist groups and foreign intelligence services and arrested eight others in an operation near the country's southeastern border, the semi-official Fars news agency reported Wednesday.
* Israel has completed the first large-scale demonstration phase of its National Drone Initiative, a key step toward integrating unmanned aerial systems into its national transportation network, the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety said Tuesday.
* Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) held a combined drill along the country's southern coast, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Tuesday.
* Tensions have emerged along the border between Guinea and Sierra Leone following the detention of 16 Sierra Leonean security personnel by Guinean forces, according to official statements released on Tuesday by both nations.
* The death toll from heavy rains in Brazil's southeastern state of Minas Gerais rose to 30, with 39 people missing, local authorities said Tuesday.
* An Air Force F-16 fighter jet with the Republic of Korean military crashed during night training on Wednesday in Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, with the pilot safely ejecting, Yonhap News Agency reported.
* A Turkish F-16 fighter jet crashed in western Balikesir province early Wednesday, killing its pilot, according to the country's Ministry of National Defense. The investigation into the cause of the accident is underway, it added.
