* The Republic of Korea's parliament rejected bills to appoint special counsels and investigate President Yoon Suk-yeol's insurrection charge and his wife's corruption allegations, TV footage showed Wednesday.
* Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg will serve as the country's interim chancellor following Karl Nehammer's recent resignation from the post, Austrian news agency APA reported on Wednesday.
* Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said on Wednesday that he won't be a candidate in the upcoming race to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as head of the Liberals.
* The Independent Democratic Action Party (ADI), the ruling party in Sao Tome and Principe, on Wednesday proposed Helio Almeida as the new prime minister and head of government, replacing Patrice Trovoada, who was dismissed on Monday by the country's President Carlos Vila Nova.
* The search-and-rescue effort has entered its final stage after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Dingri County in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region on Tuesday morning, the regional government said on Wednesday.
* Malaysia and Singapore will continue to deepen cooperation in economic and security matters, with an eye on greater integration, the neighbors said on Wednesday following the 11th Malaysia-Singapore Leaders' Retreat in Kuala Lumpur.
* A trilateral meeting was held between Kyrgyz Prime Minister Adylbek Kasymaliyev, Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov, and Tajik Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda, the press service of the Kyrgyz Cabinet of Ministers announced on Wednesday.
* At least 13 people were killed and 63 others injured on Wednesday in a Russian strike on Ukraine's southern city of Zaporizhzhia, according to a statement by Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office.
* Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced Wednesday that he will travel to Brussels on Thursday to meet with the European Commissioner for Energy about the gas transit issue and "wake him up from his sweet sleep."
* Lithuania's Defense Ministry has compiled the 2025 conscription list, including 25,149 young people subject to military service, the Baltic News Service (BNS) reported on Wednesday.
* Cambodia recorded 49 landmines and explosive remnant of war (ERW) casualties in 2024, up 53 percent from 32 in the year before, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.
* Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reiterated social media's social responsibility on Wednesday following Meta's announcement to abandon its fact-checking program.
* Malta's government launched a public consultation on Wednesday for a new labor migration policy to address growing challenges in this field. The Malta Labor Migration Policy aims to ensure that economic migration aligns with future labor market needs and enhances workforce retention.
* The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2025 will be held from March 25 to 28 in Boao, south China's Hainan Province, BFA Secretary General Zhang Jun said on Wednesday.
* Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides emphasized on Wednesday that the stability and security of the Middle East are essential pillars for fostering cooperation.
* Israel on Wednesday denied agreeing to a weeks-long ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for a list from Hamas of living hostages that the group would release.
* The United Nations is ready to work with the Syrian interim government on advancing towards a credible and inclusive political transition, a UN special envoy said on Wednesday.
* Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani pledged on Wednesday to restore the country's full territorial unity and ensure the return of refugees, a month after the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad's government.
* Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty voiced on Wednesday Egypt's "full support" for Lebanon to elect a new president and end its two-year presidential vacuum.
* Chad's Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah said Wednesday evening that the security situation in the country is under control after gunshots were heard near the presidency.
* More than 100,000 people have fled five days of fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) between government forces and M23 rebels, UN humanitarians said on Wednesday.
* A report released Wednesday showed that the U.S. private sector added 122,000 jobs in December, as the job market continued to cool. The latest National Employment Report was produced by Automatic Data Processing (ADP), in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.
* Cambodia earned tax revenue of 63.1 million USD from casinos and game of chance operators in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 85 percent, according to data from the Commercial Gambling Management Commission of Cambodia (CGMC) released on Wednesday.
* Ownership transfers of condominiums in Thailand to foreign clients rose 11.6 percent year on year to 3,756 units in the third quarter of 2024, indicating growth in demand from overseas buyers, data showed on Wednesday.
* Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves reached 155.7 billion USD at the end of December 2024, up from 150.2 billion dollars in the previous month, the central bank announced on Wednesday.
* Sri Lanka's economy was estimated to grow 5.2 percent in the first three quarters of 2024, with key economic sectors recording expansions, Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said on Wednesday.
* Kazakhstan cut its 2025 oil production forecast to 96.2 million tonnes, down from the previous estimate of 97.2 million tonnes, the Ministry of Energy said on Wednesday.
* The Indonesian government has supplied 4 million vaccines, valued at 100 billion rupiahs (around 6 million USD), to address the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), according to the Ministry of Agriculture. These FMD vaccines are being distributed across all regions in Indonesia through local governments.
* Greece has confirmed its first case of Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) in a 71-year-old man, the national news agency AMNA reported on Wednesday.
* Riga International Airport in Latvia handled 7.12 million passengers in 2024, marking a 7-percent increase compared to the previous year, the airport's spokeswoman Laura Kulakova said on Wednesday.
* The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has announced the postponement of the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) for the second time.
* Cold waves will lead to temperature drops across most parts of Laos from Jan. 8 to 15, with some areas expected to experience temperatures as low as 1 degree Celsius.
