* Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will call the federal election on Friday morning for May 3, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on Thursday.
* Richard Rasi, vice chairman of the Hlas party, was elected chairman of the Slovak National Council on Wednesday. Rasi secured all 79 votes from the members of parliament present, surpassing the 76-vote threshold required in the 150-member legislature. The position had remained vacant since April 2024, when then-chair Peter Pellegrini won the presidential election.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the commitments reached by the United States, Russia and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia on freedom of navigation in the Black Sea, and viewed the move "a crucial contribution to global food security and supply chains," his spokesman said on Wednesday.
* The eighth Lao-Thai Joint Committee Meeting on the Police Cooperation kicked off in Lao capital Vientiane, focusing on enhancing police collaboration, particularly in preventing and combating transnational crimes.
* Thailand's cabinet on Thursday approved a draft law to legalize casinos within entertainment complexes to attract large-scale investments and enhance the Southeast Asian country's vital tourism industry.
* Singapore has launched a digital platform to enhance maritime workforce training, with full implementation expected in the second half of 2025, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) announced on Thursday.
* Russia's new Ambassador to the United States Alexander Darchiev arrived in Washington D.C. on Wednesday. Darchiev will informally present his credentials to the Trump administration on Thursday, according to the U.S. State Department.
* Moscow is "categorically against" the possible deployment of Western peacekeepers in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday.
* France will provide an additional 2 billion euros (2.2 billion USD) in aid for Ukraine, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday.
* Sweden plans to increase its defense spending by 300 billion Swedish kronor (29.8 billion USD) through 2035, aiming to raise defense expenditure to 3.5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030, the government announced on Wednesday.
* Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk underscored on Wednesday the need for a "good peace" in Ukraine, and called for full security guarantees for his country from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
* The Afghan interim government's spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, has said that several issues, including reopening the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and handing over the control of the Afghan Embassy in Washington, had been discussed here with a U.S. delegation.
* U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced plans to impose 25-percent auto tariffs, with the measures set to take effect on April 2.
* European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday night expressed deep regrets about the United States' decision to impose tariffs on imported European cars.
* Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru on Thursday expressed deep regret over the U.S. decision to impose a 25-percent additional tariff on automobiles, instructing related officials to persistently negotiate for Japan's exemption.
* Multiple Latin American countries voiced disagreement on a U.S. government decision to impose tariffs on countries that purchase oil or gas from Venezuela.
* The Sri Lankan navy said it seized an Indian fishing boat and apprehended 11 Indian fishermen on Thursday morning for poaching in the waters off Delft Island in Sri Lanka's Northern Province.
* A search has been under way for four U.S. soldiers who went missing during a military exercise in Lithuania, according to a NATO spokesperson on Wednesday evening.
* The UN agency for Palestine refugees said on Wednesday that the situation in the Gaza Strip is witnessing a near-total collapse in all aspects of life.
* Jordan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi met Wednesday with German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, renewing calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
* Iran has blasted recent remarks by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas against the Islamic Republic.
* Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad has called for greater vigilance against seditious bids by the "enemies" of Iran and Iraq, the official IRNA news agency reported on Thursday.
* The combined profit of China's major industrial enterprises went down 0.3 percent year on year in the first two months of 2025, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday.
* Britain's economy is expected to grow by only one percent in 2025, half of the previous forecast of 2 percent, said the country's finance minister on Wednesday.
* The Afghan interim government has inked 10 contracts worth over 289 million USD for the generation and transmission of electricity, the office of the acting deputy prime minister for economic affairs said in a statement on Thursday.
* NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured bright auroral activity on Neptune for the first time, NASA said on Wednesday.
