* Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, on Tuesday condemned the U.S. military capture of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, stressing that "there is no foreign agent" governing the South American country.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Venezuelan authorities "will be turning over" 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States, proceeds from which will be "used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States."
* U.S. President Donald Trump and his team are weighing "a range of options" to acquire Denmark's Greenland, including "utilizing the U.S. military," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday.
* U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is "almost starting a war with an allied country" in its pursuit of Greenland, Danish lawmaker Rasmus Jarlov said Tuesday on CNN.
* Finnish President Alexander Stubb said on Tuesday that there is "no room for interpretation" regarding Greenland's status, stressing that decisions about the autonomous territory rest solely with Denmark and Greenland.
* Leaders of seven European countries on Tuesday reaffirmed that Greenland "belongs to its people," stressing that issues concerning Denmark and Greenland must be decided solely by Denmark and Greenland, according to a joint statement.
* Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof confirmed Tuesday that the Netherlands fully supports a joint statement on Greenland issued by leaders of seven European countries.
* Russia is closely following the developments regarding the Russian oil tanker "Marinera" tracked by the U.S. military in international waters, where it is sailing lawfully, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
* Ukraine, France and the United Kingdom on Tuesday signed a Declaration of Intent on the deployment of multinational forces to support Ukraine's defense, reconstruction, and strategic resilience after a peace agreement is achieved, the Ukrinform news agency reported.
* A coalition of about 30 Western and European countries agreed Tuesday at a meeting in Paris that any future peace settlement must include robust and binding security guarantees for Ukraine.
* French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that "several thousand" French soldiers could be deployed to maintain peace in Ukraine following a ceasefire.
* German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday expressed the country's readiness to provide military support for monitoring a potential ceasefire in Ukraine, according to the website of German magazine Der Spiegel.
* Croatia will not send soldiers to the Ukrainian territory, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said in a statement on Tuesday.
* Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday rejected any form of foreign intervention in Mexico following U.S. President Donald Trump's recent suggestions of sending U.S. troops to help fight drug trafficking.
* The Donald Trump administration plans to freeze 10 billion USD in federal funding to five Democratic states -- Minnesota, California, New York, Illinois and Colorado -- amid alleged welfare fraud.
* Israel has issued a tender for construction in a controversial settlement project near Jerusalem that critics say would split the West Bank in two, government documents showed on Tuesday.
* Aguila Saleh, speaker of the Libyan eastern-based House of Representatives, has described the idea of forming a new unified government to oversee elections "unrealistic," and proposed instead the formation of a seven-member committee to undertake this task, local media reported late Monday.
* Saudi warplanes raided the hometown of Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, leader of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), in Yemen's southern province of Al-Dhalea early Wednesday.
* Escalating violence in Sudan, particularly across the Kordofan region, continues to put civilians at extreme risk and drive new waves of displacement, a UN spokesperson said Tuesday.
* China's market regulator and cyberspace authorities unveiled two separate documents on Wednesday to further regulate the country's livestreaming e-commerce sector and online trading platforms.
* Indonesia has marked the first anniversary of its nationwide free meal program (MBG), a flagship social policy initiative aimed at improving child nutrition and reducing stunting, as the government prepares for a major expansion in coverage beginning in 2026.
* Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Republic of Korea hit a record high last year, thanks to robust demand in the second half, government data showed Wednesday. The reported FDI expanded 4.3 percent from a year earlier to reach a new high of 36.05 billion USD in 2025, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.
* Australia's annual rate of inflation fell to 3.4 percent in the year to November 2025, according to official data released on Wednesday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The ABS said that the consumer price index (CPI) rose by 3.4 percent in the 12 months to November, down from 3.8 percent in the year to October.
* Thailand's headline inflation continued its decline for a ninth straight month in December 2025, primarily due to reduced energy prices in line with global market conditions, official data showed on Wednesday.
* Malaysia's bioeconomy sector will expand in value in the coming years and play an even bigger role in contributing to the country's gross domestic product growth, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang said on Wednesday.
* Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority (CMA) announced Tuesday it will open its capital market to all categories of foreign investors starting Feb. 1.
* A snowstorm on Dec. 31 in northern Syria hit 90 sites for the displaced, affecting more than 150,000 people, destroying or damaging 5,000 shelters, UN humanitarians said Tuesday.
* Amber cold weather alerts remain in force for England through Friday, with snow, ice, strong winds and heavy rain expected to bring further hazards later in the week.
* An intense heatwave swept southern Australia on Wednesday, with temperatures in multiple locations soaring above 40 degrees Celsius. In downtown Melbourne, the mercury rose to 42 degrees Celsius on Wednesday afternoon, making it the hottest day since January 2020.
* The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology downgraded the magnitude of an offshore earthquake that struck Davao Oriental province in the southern Philippines on Wednesday morning, down to 6.4 from 6.7. Tremors were felt across the island and as far as the central Philippine provinces.
