* China will always uphold multilateralism, support the United Nations in playing a central role in international affairs, and work together with the international community to promote a more just and equitable global governance system, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Thursday.
* The U.S. attack against Venezuela has left 100 dead, Venezuela's interior ministry said Wednesday. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, both suffered injuries during the raid, said Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.
* The United States expects to run Venezuela and extract oil from its vast reserves for years, U.S. President Donald Trump told The New York Times on Wednesday evening.
* Venezuela's state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. said Wednesday it is holding bilateral trade negotiations with the United States for the sale of crude oil.
* The Russian Armed Forces had struck multiple Ukrainian military targets, including drone-related sites, military depots, and temporary deployment points, Russia's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
* More than 1 million households in Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region were left without heating and water after a Russian attack, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba said on Thursday.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that a document on U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine is being prepared for finalization at the highest level.
* U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a memorandum directing his country's withdrawal from 66 international organizations, which "no longer serve American interests," the White House announced on X. Starting with Trump's "America First" slogan, the statement said they comprised of 31 UN entities and 35-non UN organizations.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the 2027 U.S. military budget should be 1.5 trillion USD, a significant hike from the 901 billion dollars in 2026.
* The U.S. State Department said Wednesday that it has halted all U.S. assistance to Somalia's government over allegations that Somali officials have destroyed a U.S.-funded World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse and seized food aid for vulnerable Somalis.
* U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that he plans to meet with Danish officials next week over the U.S. demand to own Greenland.
* Thirty-seven members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have recently sent a joint letter to EU leaders, urging the European Union (EU) to condemn the United States' military action against Venezuela.
* Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday afternoon spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump on the phone, said the local media, citing sources from the Colombian Foreign Ministry.
* Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday attended the inaugural meeting of the Türkiye-Malaysia High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, pledging to deepen collaboration in defense, trade and other key sectors.
* Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty met with his Omani counterpart, Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al-Busaidi, in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss regional issues and called for political settlements in Yemen and Sudan, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said.
* Forces loyal to Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) seized control of key state institutions in the southern port city of Aden on Wednesday after security units aligned with the Southern Transitional Council (STC) withdrew, a local government official said.
* Bangladesh's national flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines is all set to resume direct flights from Pakistan's Karachi to Bangladesh's capital Dhaka later this month, said a spokesperson for the airlines on Wednesday.
* Annual inflation in the euro area is expected to ease to 2 percent in December 2025, down from 2.1 percent in November, according to a flash estimate released on Wednesday by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
* India's real gross domestic product (GDP) during the financial year 2025-26 (April 1, 2025 - March 31, 2026) is estimated to grow 7.4 percent, said the federal government on Wednesday. The figure is up from the growth rate of 6.5 percent in the preceding financial year, according to the data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO).
* China has seen 40.6 million inbound arrivals in the year since rolling out its 240-hour visa-free transit program, up 27.2 percent year-on-year, a police spokesperson announced on Thursday.
* Germany's annual average number of unemployed rose by 161,000 to 2.95 million in 2025, official data showed on Wednesday, underscoring the toll of prolonged economic weakness on the country's labor market.
* Türkiye's oil production rose 26 percent and natural gas output increased 39 percent in 2025, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said Wednesday. In a written statement, Bayraktar reported that oil production reached 47.9 million barrels, while natural gas output climbed to 3.2 billion cubic meters. Daily natural gas production peaked at 10.2 million cubic meters on April 21, 2025.
* Philippine authorities have evacuated almost 1,000 families from villages around the erupting Mayon volcano in Albay province on Luzon island, as the country's fabled volcano continued to ooze lava, the country's disaster management agency said Thursday.
* Hungary faced severe winter conditions on Wednesday as heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures disrupted transport nationwide, prompting authorities to activate a "red code" cold-weather alert and step up emergency response measures.
