* Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone has promised that the Lao government will take immediate actions to address the economic and financial difficulties facing the Southeast Asian country, including skyrocketing inflation.
* Voters will cast their ballots to determine six new Malaysian state assemblies on Aug. 12, the country's election commission said on Wednesday.
* The Thai parliament will convene next week to elect the Southeast Asian country's next prime minister, House speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said Wednesday.
* Indonesian President Joko Widodo met his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape in Port Moresby on Wednesday, the latest leader to visit the island nation as major powers compete for influence in the strategically important region.
* Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday criticized as "unacceptable" the EU's latest demand for ratifying a trade agreement with the Southern Common Market (Mercosur).
* Bolivian President Luis Arce on Tuesday rejected constraints imposed by the U.S. financial system, urging the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) to "reduce dependence on the U.S. dollar."
* Hungary hosted Russia's health minister on Wednesday for a rare visit by a member of the Russian cabinet to an EU and NATO member state, with Budapest saying it wanted to keep communications channels open.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday held a phone conversation with Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the alliance's upcoming summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
* Poland and Italy believe Ukraine must receive real security guarantees, the countries' prime ministers said on Wednesday, ahead of a NATO summit where Kyiv hopes to receive a strong signal that it will be able to join the alliance in future.
* Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan spoke by phone with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and discussed the Black Sea grain deal, a Turkish foreign ministry source said on Wednesday.
* The Philippines will launch e-visa system "within the third quarter" to facilitate the entry of foreign tourists and businessmen into the country, the Department of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday.
* Militants from the Gaza Strip fired rockets on Wednesday after Israeli forces withdrew from the Palestinian city of Jenin on Tuesday, following one of their biggest military operations in the occupied West Bank for years.
* Tunisian President Kais Saied and Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamed Dbeibah on Tuesday held a phone conversation on illegal immigration issues, said the Tunisian presidency.
* The United Nations can play a significant role in supporting the Afghan people and helping them achieve lasting peace, Afghan economists said.
* The Arab League Council on Tuesday called on the United Nations and its Security Council to take tangible and effective measures to protect Palestinian civilians against Israeli "violations."
* Europe will damage its ability to deliver on an international biodiversity deal if it fails to pass a flagship law to restore nature, the EU's environment chief said ahead of what officials expect to be a tight vote next week.
* After a strong rebound in 2021, global foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 12 percent in 2022 to 1.3 trillion USD, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said on Wednesday.
* Russia's economy is steadily recovering from the impact of sanctions and other challenges with a GDP growth of 0.6 percent in the first five months of this year, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said late on Tuesday.
* Germany's cabinet approved on Wednesday the first draft of the 2024 budget for Europe's biggest economy and its financial plans through to 2027, the finance ministry said.
* Sri Lanka's central bank is widely expected to loosen monetary policy further on Thursday, following a massive 250-basis-point interest rate cut in June, as it looks to revive growth amid a rapid fall in inflation.
* Foreign direct investment (FDI) that flowed into Myanmar plunged over 38 percent year-on-year to more than 13.59 million USD in the first quarter of the 2023-24 fiscal year, according to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) on Wednesday.
* New Zealand economy's resilience has been displayed through strong employment data and low levels of government debt, despite the current economic contractions' impact on the government accounts, a minister said on Wednesday.
* The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Wednesday kicked off in Vienna the 8th OPEC International Seminar, its flagship energy event.
* The Future of AI 2023 Annual Summit opened on Tuesday evening in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv with about 1,000 participants from 16 countries.
