* Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Lao PDR Thongsavanh Phomvihane in Beijing on Thursday, with both pledging to push forward the building of a China-Laos community with a shared future.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday proposed establishing a security zone along Russia's state border and demanded the complete expulsion of enemy forces from the Kursk region during a visit to a military command center overseeing operations in the area.
* U.S. officials have landed in Moscow for talks over the Ukraine crisis, Russian media reported on Thursday. The team was headed by U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, according to TASS news agency.
* Moscow will wait for further details from Washington regarding a recent ceasefire proposal discussed during talks between the United States and Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
* U.S. military aid to Ukraine has been restored, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported Wednesday.
* Relevant authorities from China and the United States have been maintaining communication on trade issues, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.
* Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez reiterated his call for European unity in defense and security during a meeting with his Finnish counterpart, Petteri Orpo, in Helsinki, according to a press release issued by the Spanish government on Wednesday.
* Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will have talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his official visit to Russia on March 13, the press service of the Belarusian leader said on Wednesday.
* Britain would revoke the accreditation of a Russian diplomat and a diplomatic spouse in response to a similar action taken by Russia earlier this week against British diplomats, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement on Wednesday.
* Russian forces have recaptured Sudzha, a key town in the Kursk region that was previously held by Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday.
* Defense ministers from Europe's top five military powers, France, Germany, Britain, Italy and Poland, met on Wednesday in Paris and voiced support for the Ukrainian army.
* The Indonesian government is seeking to enhance its cooperation with Saudi Arabia in the fields of higher education, science, and technology.
* Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon signed an agreement on the delimitation and demarcation of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border in Bishkek on Thursday.
* British Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said on Wednesday that the U.S. imposition of a 25-percent tariff on global steel and aluminum imports was "disappointing," local media reported.
* Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called on Australians to back local businesses by purchasing homegrown products, rallying behind "Team Australia" in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported on Thursday.
* Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa ratified a new constitutional declaration on Thursday, laying the legal foundation for a five-year transitional phase aimed at rebuilding political and legal structures.
* As the return of Afghan refugees continues from Pakistan and Iran, a total of 118 families returned to their homeland Afghanistan from the neighboring countries in a single day on Wednesday, reported the state-run Bakhtar news agency on Thursday.
* An Israeli airstrike on Thursday targeted a residential building in the Mashrou' Dummar neighborhood northwest of the Syrian capital Damascus, killing one person, local media and a war monitoring group reported.
* Israel said on Thursday it had delivered 10,000 packages of humanitarian aid to the Druze community in Syria.
* The United Nations and partners have mobilized relief efforts to help residents in Syria's western Latakia Governorate recover from recent violence, UN humanitarians said on Wednesday.
* The World Bank has presented a 1-billion-USD reconstruction project in Lebanon, focused on rebuilding critical infrastructure, the National News Agency (NNA) reported on Wednesday.
* UN Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg on Wednesday emphasized the necessity of coordinating regional and international efforts to decrease tensions and advance an inclusive political process in Yemen.
* Libya deported 160 Bangladeshi migrants voluntarily to their home country on Wednesday, according to the Libyan Illegal Migration Control Department.
* At least 1,383 civilians have been killed in the recent wave of violence in Syria's coastal region, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Wednesday.
* At least 80 people have been confirmed dead and more than 100 others injured as heavy rain, snowfall and flash floods swept through parts of Afghanistan over the past month, a local media outlet reported late Wednesday.
* China stepped up its greening efforts last year with 4.446 million hectares of forest planted, a report from the National Greening Commission said on Wednesday. This figure is higher than the 3.998 million hectares of afforestation achieved in 2023, the commission stated.
* The World Trade Organization (WTO) said on Wednesday that global goods trade showed signs of continued growth at the start of 2025, as reflected in the latest Goods Trade Barometer.
* The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has announced that its previous forecasts for global oil demand growth in 2025 and 2026 remain unchanged.
* France's central bank, Banque de France (BdF), announced on Wednesday that it has lowered the gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast to 0.7 percent for the whole year of 2025.
* Thailand's consumer confidence dropped for the first time in five months in February due to mounting concerns over political instability and trade wars, despite ongoing government stimulus measures, a survey showed on Thursday.
* Indonesia recorded a state budget deficit of 31.2 trillion rupiah (about 1.9 billion USD), or 0.13 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati announced on Thursday.
* The Bank of Canada on Wednesday reduced its key lending rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 percent.
* Africa's gross domestic product (GDP) growth is projected to rebound, reaching 3.8 percent in 2025 and 4.1 percent in 2026, a report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has revealed.
* Libya's state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced Wednesday the resumption of oil production at the Mabruk oilfield after a suspension of 10 years.
* Mongolia has imported a total of 26,506 cars in the first two months of 2025, up 6.5 percent year-on-year, local media reported Thursday, citing data from the Mongolian Customs General Administration.
