* Sri Lanka went for a long-delayed nationwide local government election on Tuesday for the first time in seven years. Over 17 million registered voters are eligible to cast their ballots to elect representatives to 339 local bodies across the island, according to the chairman of the country's election commission, R.M.A.L. Ratnayake.
* Amid escalating tension, the troops of India and Pakistan exchanged heavy fire and targeted each other's positions Monday on the Line of Control (LoC), an Indian army official said.
* "Make no mistake: A military solution is no solution," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on the tensions between India and Pakistan, at a press encounter on Monday.
* Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday held phone talks with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to discuss the prevailing security situation in South Asia.
* The Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services of Myanmar on Tuesday announced the extension of the temporary ceasefire until May 31.
* China and the European Parliament have decided to simultaneously and comprehensively lift restrictions on mutual exchanges as agreed by the two sides, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.
* Laos will continue its training programs to develop a skilled and sufficient tour guide workforce to meet the growing demands of the tourism sector, aiming to ensure high-quality service, improve visitor experiences, and encourage repeat visits.
* Britain and India have agreed a trade deal after years of on-and-off negotiations, according to a statement released by Downing Street on Tuesday.
* Indonesia and the European Union are currently exploring a final agreement on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement, which is targeted for completion in the first half of 2025, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said on Tuesday.
* Cambodia attracted fixed-asset investment of 3.4 billion USD in the first four months of 2025, up 34 percent compared to the same period of 2024, said a Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC)'s report released on Tuesday.
* The European Commission on Tuesday unveiled a new roadmap to end the European Union's (EU) reliance on Russian gas by 2027.
* The Trump administration announced on Monday that it will pay illegal immigrants in the United States 1,000 dollars plus their travel expenses if they leave voluntarily, in an effort to step up its mass deportation.
* Mexico's government on Monday presented a strategy to protect and strengthen its national steel, textile and footwear industries, as part of its Plan Mexico initiative.
* Canada's Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Monday she would hold a referendum on provincial separation next year if citizens gather the required signatures on a petition, local media reported.
* The Czech Republic will continue training Ukrainian pilots and supplying ammunition and heavy equipment to the country, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced on Monday.
* Iran and the European Union (EU) have voiced their readiness to hold political talks over their differences and mutual concerns, according to a statement released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Monday.
* More than 16,000 children have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the onset of Israel's military offensive on Oct. 7, 2023, at a rate of one child every 40 minutes, Gaza-based health authorities reported on Monday.
* Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani on Monday reiterated Iraq's firm stance on supporting Lebanon in the face of its ongoing crises, said a statement issued by al-Sudani's media office.
* Israeli warplanes carried out dozens of airstrikes on Yemen's Hodeidah province on Monday, wounding at least 21 people and causing extensive damage, Houthi-run media and residents said, a day after the militant group claimed a missile attack near Tel Aviv's main airport.
* The Israeli military said it struck eastern and southern Lebanon on Monday night, targeting what it described as a "strategic weapons facility" and militant sites belonging to Hezbollah.
* Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that Iran will not seek to militarize its nuclear program.
* Some 4.8 million people remain displaced across Yemen, many of whom have been forced to flee multiple times amid worsening shelter shortages and increasing risk of eviction, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported Monday.
* A New Zealand lawmaker is pushing for legislation that would ban children under 16 from accessing social media in a move that could see the country follow Australia's lead in tightening regulations on digital platforms.
* China saw a travel boom during the May Day holiday as demand for family visits, tourism and spring outings surged, official data showed Tuesday. Over the five-day holiday running from May 1 to 5, nearly 1.47 billion cross-regional trips were made nationwide, a year-on-year rise of 7.9 percent, the Ministry of Transport said.
* Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, has seen its unemployment rate rise by tens of thousands to 7.28 million people as of February this year, driven by a surge in workforce growth, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) announced Monday.
* Cambodia exported 282,315 tonnes of milled rice in the first four months of 2025, earning a gross revenue of 209 million USD, the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) said in a news release on Monday.
* Thailand's headline inflation rate turned negative for the first time in 13 months in April, driven by falling energy and food prices, official data showed on Tuesday.
* Indonesia's central bank said on Tuesday that the reciprocal tariff policies imposed by the United States will likely impact the country's economy this year.
* The Philippines' headline inflation slowed further to 1.4 percent in April from 1.8 percent in the previous month, the lowest since November 2019, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Tuesday.
