* Turkey, Syria and Russia aim to schedule a meeting of their foreign ministers this month and possibly before the middle of next week, though no date or location has yet been chosen, a senior Turkish official said on Wednesday.
* The Republic of Korea and the United States will hold tabletop exercises next month involving the American extended deterrence effort as the allies move to better counter the nuclear threats in Korean Peninsula, the RoK's defence minister said on Wednesday.
* US President Joe Biden will be in Canada in March in his first visit to one of the United State's top trading partners since taking office almost two years ago.
* The United States is looking to Canada to help cope with the growing number of migrants at the United States' border with Mexico, a State Department spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
* China firmly opposes some countries taking discriminatory entry restriction measures targeting China and will take reciprocal measures, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday.
* British ministers will meet political and business leaders in Northern Ireland on Wednesday to discuss post-Brexit trade problems, part of renewed attempts to find a solution after a mellowing in a years-long standoff.
* It is time to abandon "hegemonic interventionism" and opt for greater cooperation, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday at the end of North American Leaders' Summit.
* The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will send monitoring missions to nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Ukraine, the Ukrainian government-run Ukrinform news agency reported Tuesday, citing a senior official.
* Sweden is preparing legislation to allow the construction of more nuclear power stations to boost electricity production in the Nordic country and bolster energy security, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Wednesday.
* Tunisian Foreign Affairs Minister Othman Jerandi held a phone conversation Tuesday with Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani to discuss bilateral ties and the issue of irregular immigration.
* Global economic growth is projected to slow to 1.7 percent in 2023, 1.3 percentage points below the forecast made in June last year, marking its third-weakest pace in nearly three decades, the World Bank Group said in its latest Global Economic Prospects released Tuesday.
* The Republic of Korea's export fell in the first 10 days of January, posting a trade deficit amid higher import, customs office data showed Wednesday.
* Global oil inventories will increase over the next two years with more global oil production than consumption, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecast on Tuesday.
* Oil prices advanced on Tuesday, supported by improved demand prospects in China.
* The inflation in Ukraine reached the highest level in seven years in 2022, standing at 26.6 percent, according to official statistics.
* Malaysia's wholesale and retail trade sales grew 13.9 percent year-on-year to register 133.9 billion ringgit (30.62 billion USD) in November 2022, official data showed Wednesday.
* Foreign direct investment (FDI) that flowed into the Philippines grew to 923 million USD in October, 6.3 percent higher than the amount posted in October 2021, the Philippine central bank said late Tuesday.
* The security situation has deteriorated in large parts of West Africa and the Sahel despite efforts by national security forces and international partners, said a UN envoy on Tuesday.
* Brazil registered inflation of 5.79 percent in 2022, lower than the 10.06 percent seen in 2021, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) said Tuesday.
* The Greek economy was on the right track despite challenges, and structural reforms were key to continued progress, Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Mathias Cormann said here on Tuesday.
* The World Bank on Tuesday forecasted the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) economy to slow to 3.6 percent in 2023 and rise to 3.9 percent in 2024.
* Mongolia exported 16,100 tons of meat and meat products in 2022, the country's Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry said Wednesday.
* Jordan's Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh announced on Tuesday a plan to build a new city in the north of the kingdom, as part of its economic and administrative modernization efforts.
* Zimbabwe's gold output reached a new record high of 35.38 tonnes in 2022, spurred by new mining projects, timely payments and incentives to miners.
* South African Health Minister Joe Phaahla said Tuesday that there is no need to impose restrictions for other countries with high COVID-19 infections following the detection of the Omicron XBB.1.5 variant in his country.
* The year 2022 became New Zealand's warmest on record, knocking 2021 off the top spot, scientists said Wednesday.
* Over 100 houses and other buildings were destroyed after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia's eastern province of Maluku earlier Tuesday, an official and weather agency said.
* A man with a knife attacked six people at the Gare du Nord train station in Paris on Wednesday morning, leaving one with major injuries, a police spokesperson said.
