* Azerbaijan's presidential election kicked off on Wednesday, with over 6.4 million people eligible to vote. At 8:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT), polling stations across the country opened for voters, initiating a day-long electoral process that will end at 7:00 p.m. local time (1500 GMT).
* The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday postponed polling in four constituencies owing to the deaths of candidates participating in the country's general elections to be held on Thursday.
* Pakistan has announced that its borders with Iran and Afghanistan will be closed during the general elections on Thursday for security purposes.
* United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that he is "especially alarmed" by reports that the Israeli military intends to focus next on Rafah in Gaza.
* Sweden's findings on the Nord Stream pipeline explosions are noteworthy and Moscow will continue to monitor future developments in the matter, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday.
* At least 27,708 Palestinians have been killed and 67,147 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct.7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
* Arab League (AL) secretary-general slammed Tuesday some countries' suspension of funding to the UN relief agency for Palestinians, calling it "immoral" and dangerous.
* Argentinian President Javier Milei, on his first official visit to Israel, pledged on Wednesday to relocate his country's embassy to Jerusalem.
* Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said there is a need to return to the negotiation table over the future of the U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
* Iraqi leaders on Tuesday discussed with visiting Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler the security situation in the border areas where Turkey launched operations against Iraq-based Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants.
* Iran's nuclear chief said on Wednesday coordination between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was "progressing."
* Egypt has received Hamas' response to a Gaza ceasefire proposal nailed during a recent meeting in France, Chairman of Egypt's State Information Service (SIS) Diaa Rashwan said on Tuesday.
* Irregular immigration to the EU from Western Africa rose more than ten times on the year in January, according to the bloc's Frontex border agency, which expects overall arrivals to grow in 2024 and says halting the movement of people completely is impossible.
* Mali said on Wednesday that it would not wait a year to leave the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), as is required by the bloc's treaty.
* Mongolia's poverty rate declined to 27.1 percent in 2022 from 27.8 percent in 2020, a survey conducted jointly by the country's National Statistics Office (NSO) and the World Bank showed Wednesday.
* The European Commission on Wednesday said it was suing Spain for failing to apply the waste management requirements due to existence of unclosed illegal landfills.
* The U.S. trade deficit widened slightly in December, but contracted sharply in 2023 as imports declined and exports rose.
* Thailand's central bank held its key interest rate steady on Wednesday, extending the pause for the second straight meeting despite government calls to lower borrowing costs to boost the economy.
* Spain will allocate nearly 900 million euros (968 million USD) to fund 10 projects for the production, transport and development of renewable hydrogen, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Tuesday.
* The death toll from the forest fires affecting the region of Valparaiso in central Chile has risen to 131, the country's Legal Medical Service (SML) reported on Tuesday.
* Spain has logged the warmest January since records began in 1961, with average temperatures last month reaching 8.4 degrees Celsius (47.1° Fahrenheit), 0.4 degrees above the previous record in 2016, the Environment Ministry said on Wednesday.
* Summer heat has been building up across Australia, with the country's western part to face severe to extreme heatwave in the remainder of the week, according to local weather services on Wednesday.
* Climate change and frequent years of drought have deprived 21 million Afghans, almost half of Afghanistan's population, of access to potable water, Deputy Head of National Environment Program Agency (NEPA) Abdul Salam Haqqani said.
