* U.S. President Joe Biden notified Congress on Tuesday that his administration would remove the designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, the White House said, as part of a deal to free political prisoners in the Caribbean island country and those determined by Washington as being unjustly detained by the government in Havana.
* The Republic of Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was arrested in presidential residence Wednesday, becoming the country's first sitting president to be kept in custody over his short-lived martial law imposition.
* More than 315,000 registered voters are expected to cast their votes in the snap election of Vanuatu on Thursday, to elect the country's next 52 Members of Parliament (MPs).
* Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Wednesday that Parliament Speaker Constantine Tassoulas will be his ruling party's nominee for the country's next president.
* GERB-UDF, the largest political force in the Bulgarian Parliament, on Wednesday proposed the formation of a three-party coalition government, two and a half months after the parliamentary elections.
* The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) announced on Tuesday that its president, judge Nawaf Salam, has resigned following his appointment as Lebanon's prime minister.
* The relationship between Russia and China is essential to maintaining global stability at a time of rising tensions around the world, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday in his annual press conference. He noted that the Russia-China partnership is one of the main stabilizing factors in modern international relations.
* China looks forward to working with the European Union (EU) to achieve greater progress in bilateral ties, and make greater contributions to world peace, stability and prosperity, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular press conference on Wednesday.
* Moscow is prepared to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine, however it is important to agree on broader security issues to end the ongoing conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday during his annual press briefing.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed Tuesday that the country's current martial law and general mobilization, which expire on Feb. 8, be extended for another 90 days. The parliament's press service reported that the presidential bills seeking to prolong both measures have been submitted to the parliament.
* Russia and Ukraine have exchanged 25 soldiers each in their latest prisoner swap mediated by the United Arab Emirates, the Russian defense ministry said Wednesday.
* The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is set to boost its presence in the Baltic Sea through an enhanced vigilance initiative, it was announced at a major summit in Helsinki on Tuesday.
* Poland's presidency of the Council of the European Union will aim to break the deadlock on Ukraine's European Union (EU) accession, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Wednesday.
* Romania has bolstered its military presence on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Eastern Flank as of January 2025, deploying units to Slovakia and Bulgaria in addition to its ongoing participation in Poland, the Ministry of National Defense announced Tuesday.
* Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico doesn't plan to visit Kiev to discuss the halt in Russian gas transit through Ukraine, Deputy Speaker of the Slovak National Council Tibor Gaspar said on Tuesday.
* China will roll out more measures to expand opening-up and attract more foreign investment in 2025, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Wednesday.
* Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday announced that he will hold a Cabinet retreat from Jan. 20 to 21 to focus on defending Canadian interests.
* French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said Tuesday his government will focus on stability, dialogue and profound reforms, especially on pensions. In his general policy speech, Bayrou emphasized the urgency of reducing France's historic public debt and achieving financial stability.
* Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has veiled plans to impose a tax rate of up to 100 percent on properties purchased by individuals who are neither European Union citizens nor residents of Spain, EL Pais reported Tuesday.
* Thailand has announced updates to a long-term resident visa program to broaden its appeal to foreign experts, investors and executives in an effort to strengthen the Southeast Asian country's talent pool and global competitiveness.
* Indonesia is targeting to build 66 state hospitals in some rural regions which have no type C hospitals with 32 of which to be completed by the end of 2025, said the country's Health Ministry.
* Singapore has announced plans to upgrade 10 streets across the island by 2026 to enhance walking and cycling commutes, particularly for seniors and young children.
* Gang violence in Haiti drove a record of more than 1 million people from their homes last year, the United Nations said on Tuesday. The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the figure marked a threefold increase in displacement within a year, rising from 315,000 in December 2023.
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office denied on Wednesday media reports claiming that Hamas had given final approval to a ceasefire-for-hostage deal.
* Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and U.S. President Joe Biden held a phone conversation on Tuesday to discuss the intensive mediation efforts undertaken by Egypt, the United States, and Qatar to reach a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and exchange prisoners and detainees.
* Israeli forces intensified their assault on Gaza, striking approximately 50 sites since early Wednesday, Israeli authorities said.
* Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said on Tuesday that it's time for Israel and Hamas to demonstrate the political will to swiftly reach a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, "which could have been reached several months ago, sparing civilians and innocents from the fate they have faced."
* Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Tuesday emphasized the alignment of positions between Jordan and Denmark in supporting efforts to reach an agreement that would lead to a halt in the "aggression on Gaza."
* Senior diplomats from Iran and the European Union (EU) on Tuesday exchanged views on the country's nuclear program and the lifting of sanctions on Tehran.
* Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian left Tehran on Wednesday for visits to Tajikistan and Russia, aiming to strengthen ties with both nations.
* Yemen's Houthi group announced on Wednesday that it had launched a new attack on the USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, using cruise missiles and bomb-laden drones.
* The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Wednesday forecast the global oil demand to grow by a "robust" 1.43 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2026 to 106.63 million bpd.
* Britain has banned pigs, sheep and cattle imports from Germany after a case of foot-and-mouth disease was confirmed in the country, the government confirmed Tuesday.
* Austria's annual inflation stood at 2.9 percent in 2024, significantly lower than 7.8 percent in 2023 and 8.6 percent in 2022, Statistics Austria said on Wednesday.
* Indonesia is planning to import 200,000 dairy cattle to enhance the milk supply for the country's free meal program (MBG), according to the Agriculture Ministry.
* Myanmar earned 521 million USD from exporting 420,308 tons of fishery products in the first nine months of the current 2024-25 fiscal year starting April last year, state-run Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) reported on Wednesday.
* Britain's Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 2.5 percent in the 12 months to December 2024, down from 2.6 percent in November, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released on Wednesday.
* Argentina recorded an annual inflation rate of 117.8 percent in 2024, following a monthly price increase of 2.7 percent in December, the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) reported on Tuesday.
* Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos reached 3.12 billion USD in November 2024, 3.5 percent higher than the 3.02 billion dollars recorded in November 2023, the Philippine central bank said Wednesday.
* Remittances to Fiji have continued to be steady, according to Fiji's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Biman Prasad on Wednesday.
* A total of 106 illegal miners and 51 bodies were brought to the surface on the second day of rescue operations at an abandoned gold mine in South Africa, according to police.
* SpaceX launched two robotic lunar landers developed by two countries to the Moon on one rocket early Wednesday Eastern Time. The two landers are the Blue Ghost lander from American private aerospace company Firefly Aerospace and the RESILIENCE lander from Japanese firm ispace.
* Earth's average surface temperature in 2024 was the warmest on record, according to an analysis led by NASA scientists. Global temperatures in 2024 were 1.28 degrees Celsius above the agency's 20th-century baseline (1951-1980). The new record comes after 15 consecutive months (June 2023 through August 2024) of monthly temperature records -- an unprecedented heat streak, according to NASA.
