* The Republic of Korea's National Assembly on Tuesday approved the appointment of Prime Minister nominee Han Seong-sook. The appointment motion was approved with 166 votes in favor and one invalid ballot.
* French presidential election will be held on April 18 and May 2, 2027, for the first and second rounds of voting respectively, French daily Le Figaro reported on Tuesday. The first round of the presidential election will take place on April 18 next year, followed by the runoff on May 2, the report said, adding that the dates will be officially announced at Wednesday's Council of Ministers meeting.
* Laos' Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has prioritized strengthening food security and promoting export-oriented commodity production, with crop and crop product exports reaching 752 million USD in the first five months of 2026, equivalent to 62.6 percent of the annual plan.
* The Lithuanian parliament on Tuesday approved Social Democratic Party leader Mindaugas Sinkevicius as the new prime minister.
* The indirect U.S.-Iran talks are underway in Doha, with Qatar and Pakistan mediating, an informed source told Xinhua.
* The Latvian government on Tuesday extended its reinforced border security regime in the eastern municipalities of Ludza, Kraslava, Augsdaugava, and Rezekne, as well as in Daugavpils, through Dec. 31 this year.
* Ukraine has received 3.9 billion euros (about 4.4 billion USD) from the European Union (EU) as the first loan under a defense support program, the country's finance ministry said Tuesday.
* The 1st German-Netherlands Corps took over tactical command of the Estonian and Latvian land forces from NATO's Multinational Corps Northeast on Tuesday, in a ceremony in the town of Valga-Valka.
* The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected President Donald Trump's attempt to restrict birthright citizenship, maintaining that the Constitution guarantees automatic birthright citizenship to virtually all children born in the United States.
* British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday unveiled the long-delayed Defence Investment Plan, announcing an additional 15 billion pounds (20 billion USD) for defence that will bring the country's total defence spending over the next four years to nearly 300 billion pounds.
* Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Tuesday warned against any unilateral attempt to alter or undermine the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), saying such actions would violate international law and threaten regional peace.
* Afghanistan said Wednesday it had carried out airstrikes in Pakistan, while Pakistan's military said it had intercepted and neutralized four rudimentary drones.
* Japan raised its departure tax, formally known as the international tourist tax, from 1,000 yen (about 6.14 USD) to 3,000 yen, effective on Wednesday, local media reported.
* Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and state-controlled enterprises reported combined profits of nearly 1.73 trillion yuan (about 254 billion USD) in the first five months of 2026, representing year-on-year growth of 3.5 percent, latest government data showed Tuesday.
* Russia's flagship polar research vessel, the Ivan Frolov, is scheduled to be launched in 2027, with its hull currently more than 50 percent complete, a representative of the Admiralty Shipyards in St. Petersburg said Tuesday.
* A ship has run aground in the Strait of Hormuz after not traveling in Tehran's approved route, reported Iran state television on Wednesday.
* Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Tuesday Iran will not enter negotiations with the United States on a final agreement unless certain paragraphs of a recently signed peace memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two sides are implemented.
* Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tuesday that Iran's delegation, comprising experts, will hold talks with Qatari officials on Wednesday on the release of Iran's frozen assets in Qatar under a recently signed peace memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Tehran and Washington.
* Humanitarian teams in Gaza are assessing the needs of those affected by Monday's Israeli airstrike on the Al Muwasi area of Khan Younis, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Tuesday.
* The Israeli Ministry of Finance on Tuesday launched a 1.6-billion-shekel (537 million USD) aid package to support the export and hi-tech sectors after the shekel recently hit a near 33-year peak against the dollar.
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday visited the "security zone" held by the Israeli military in southern Lebanon as its forces carried out a series of attacks across the region despite a ceasefire agreement between the two countries.
* A new U.S.-backed proposal has created a "major breakthrough" in stalled Gaza ceasefire talks, proposing a shift from Hamas disarmament to weapons storage, which Hamas accepted but Israel rejected, Egyptian sources told Xinhua on Tuesday.
* Two NASA astronauts completed a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday to replace a malfunctioning component on Canadarm2, the station's robotic arm, NASA said.
* Hospitals across Portugal have activated the lowest level of contingency plans ahead of an expected heatwave that could last up to 10 days, Health Minister Ana Paula Martins said Tuesday.
* France recorded at least 300 excess deaths during a late-May heatwave that affected 17 departments placed under an orange heatwave alert, according to preliminary estimates released on Tuesday by French health authorities.
* Hungary on Tuesday recorded the highest temperature ever measured in the country, as an intense heatwave continued to grip much of Europe. The temperature reached 42.0 degrees Celsius in the northern town of Szecseny, 110 km from Budapest, at 3:00 pm, surpassing the previous national record of 41.9 degrees Celsius set in Kiskunhalas in central Hungary on July 20, 2007.
* Croatia has recorded its highest number of employed and insured workers since 1991, the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy announced on Tuesday. According to the latest data from the Croatian Pension Insurance Institute, as of June 29, Croatia had 1,800,461 registered insured workers, the highest figure in the 35 years since the country's independence.
* The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has recorded 1,333 confirmed cases, including 399 deaths, as health and development agencies warn that the epidemic, expanding faster than the current response capacity, could cause wider socioeconomic damage.
* Sri Lanka will strengthen disaster preparedness in agriculture, drinking water supply and energy sectors as the country assesses the possible impact of the El Nino climate pattern, the President's Media Division said Tuesday.
* At least 14 children were killed and several others injured after the roof of a tuition center collapsed in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore on Tuesday, rescue officials said.
