* French President Emmanuel Macron will speak with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin by telephone at around midday Paris time (1000 GMT), Macron's office said on Tuesday.
* The gross domestic product (GDP) of Ukraine rose 3.4 percent in 2021 following a 4-percent contraction in 2020, the Ukrinform news agency reported Tuesday, citing data from the country's central bank.
* The head of the Ukrainian President's Office Andriy Yermak said that the end of the conflict and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory are Kiev's objectives at the peace talks with Russia, the presidential press service reported.
* The Hungarian government does not support the oil and gas embargo against Russia, a senior official said on Monday.
* The US economy is expected to continue its expansion this year despite a surprise contraction in the first quarter, the US Treasury's chief economist said, adding that inflation may be peaking.
* Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji said on Twitter on Tuesday that he met Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during his visit to the Latin American ally and that the two oil producers aimed to develop their cooperation.
* Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi called on the European Union on Tuesday to tackle surging energy costs, saying it should adapt schemes deployed to handle the COVID-19 epidemic to the impact of the Ukraine conflict.
* Australia's central bank on Tuesday raised its main cash rate by a surprisingly large 25 basis points to 0.35%, its first hike in more than a decade, and flagged more to come as it runs down the curtain on pandemic stimulus.
* Qu Dongyu, director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, said forests can help overcome global challenges such as food security, climate crisis and biodiversity loss.
* China’s Beijing will postpone school reopening for at least one week after the labour day holiday, an official said at a press briefing on Tuesday.
* India's COVID-19 tally rose to 43,084,913 on Tuesday, as 2,568 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.
* Malaysia reported 1,352 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Monday, bringing the national total to 4,450,859, according to the health ministry.
* Croatia's Interior Ministry announced on Monday to lift the remaining COVID-19 entry measures, which means that travelers from all over the world can now enter the country without showing any certificate or giving any explanation regarding COVID-19.
* Just one month after Sweden announced COVID-19 was no longer considered dangerous, scrapping health measures to fight the disease, the country's public health agency on Monday said it is prepared to introduce new restrictive measures should yet another wave hit the country.
* Costa Rica will offer a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to the immunocompromised and to those over 50.
