* Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko confirmed their readiness to work together in the fight against terrorism in a phone call, the TASS news agency quoted the Kremlin as saying on Saturday.
* The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Chinese officials met this week in Beijing and committed to further develop bilateral ties, the DPRK media said on Saturday, as Pyongyang seeks to expand its diplomatic engagement after COVID-19 lockdowns.
* Japan will work to strengthen its defence and diplomatic capabilities to maintain peace, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Saturday, according to public broadcaster NHK, adding that military buildups around the country have been growing.
* Honduras and China have signed a 6.8 billion lempiras ($275.99 million) cooperation agreement to help boost infrastructure for education establishments in the Central American nation, the Honduran government said in a social media post on Friday.
* The Russian military has carried out 49 retaliatory strikes with high-precision weapons from March 16-22 in response to Ukrainian attacks, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday.
* Finland's President Alexander Stubb officially signed his country's accession to NATO's Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) and the Paris Protocol, the Finnish government said in a press release issued on Friday.
* The U.S. Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed a $1.2 trillion budget bill, keeping the government funded through a fiscal year that began six months ago and sending it to President Joe Biden to sign into law and avert a partial shutdown.
* The Indian navy handed over 35 Somali pirates to the police in Mumbai on Saturday, after 100 days of anti-piracy operations east of the Red Sea, where piracy has resurfaced for the first time in nearly a decade.
* A long line of blocked relief trucks on Egypt's side of the border with the Gaza Strip where people face starvation is a moral outrage, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said during a visit to the Rafah crossing on Saturday.
* Israeli forces fighting in Gaza have killed more than 170 gunmen during their days-long raid at the Palestinian enclave's main hospital, the military said on Saturday.
* At least 32,142 Palestinians have been killed and 74,412 injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, the Gaza health ministry said on Saturday.
* U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on a visit to Israel, reiterated Friday that the United States opposes a ground operation by the Israeli military in Rafah.
* U.S. forces conducted self-defense strikes against three Houthi underground weapons storage facilities in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Friday.
* Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani will pay an official visit in mid-April to the United States to discuss bilateral relations, a statement by al-Sudani's media office said on Friday.
* Nigeria's army has rescued 17 students and a woman who were kidnapped in a dawn raid by armed men two weeks ago in northwest Sokoto state, the state governor said on Saturday.
* A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying a Russian, a Belarusian and an American en route to the International Space Station (ISS) was launched on Saturday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, live footage showed.
* Myanmar has launched an automated cargo clearance system at its border town of Tachilek in eastern Myanmar's Shan state to facilitate trade with neighboring Thailand, the official daily The Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Saturday.
* Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday urged to fulfill the requirements in medical and nursing sectors amid pressing shortage of medical professionals. About 30 percent to 40 percent of doctors or nurses trained in Sri Lanka opt to leave the country, according to the President's Media Division (PMD).
* The Russian central bank on Friday decided to keep the key interest rate unchanged at 16 percent per annum, according to a bank statement. It said that current inflation pressure in Russia is gradually weakening, but remains high.
* Thailand's House of Representatives on Friday approved the fiscal 2024 budget bill worth 3.48 trillion baht (95.6 billion USD) after three days of debate.
* The Indian government has further extended the ban on the export of onions until further orders, officials said Saturday. Previously, it was prohibited until March 31 this year.
* Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Friday said the key interest rate reduction announced Thursday by the central bank will be beneficial for investment and government debt.
* Myanmar earned 262.236 million USD from mineral exports in over 11 months of the 2023-24 fiscal year through March, according to the Ministry of Commerce on Saturday.
* The Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) said on Friday that it expects the country's economy to stagnate this year amid high interest rates and the European economic downturn.
* Afghanistan's central bank Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) will sell 15 million USD by auction on Saturday in a bid to stabilize the exchange rate of the national currency afghani, the bank said in a statement.
* Global average sea level rose by about 0.3 inches (0.76 centimeters) from 2022 to 2023, a relatively large jump due mostly to a warming climate and the development of a strong El Nino, according to a new NASA analysis.
* Singapore recorded its fourth warmest year in 2023 due to El Nino dominance in the second half, and 2024 may be warmer when El Nino event decays, according to Singapore's Annual Climate Assessment released Saturday.
* Much of southern Africa is expected to grapple with large-scale food shortages this year following an El Nino-induced drought that has ravaged crops and affected other critical food security resources for most rural communities.
