* China remained the largest export country for Myanmar between October last year and March this year, according to the Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday.
* The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired one ballistic missile into its eastern waters, the Republic of Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Wednesday.
* The United Nations Security Council will discuss food security and the conflict between Ukraine and Russia in May, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, also council president for the month, said on Tuesday.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin urged Western countries to stop supplying Ukraine with weapons during a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday.
* Putin signed a decree on Tuesday on retaliatory sanctions against individuals and entities in response to their "unfriendly actions" over the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his country may put the issue of neutral status on a nationwide referendum, the Ukrinform news agency reported Tuesday.
* France's Socialist Party and the hard-left La France Insoumise (LFI) agreed in principle on Wednesday to run together in June parliamentary elections and try to deprive newly re-elected President Emmanuel Macron of a majority.
* The Czech Republic will seek an exemption period to the European Union's proposed embargo of Russian oil, gaining time for pipeline capacities to be increased, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Wednesday.
* Hungary cannot support a proposed European Union embargo on crude oil imports from Russia as that would destroy its energy security, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Wednesday.
* Slovakia wants a three-year transition period for it to phase in the European Union's proposed embargo on Russian oil, Economy Minister Richard Sulik said on Wednesday.
* India's central bank on Wednesday raised its repo rate by 40 basis points to 4.4 percent with immediate effect for the first time since August 2018 citing inflation.
* Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Wednesday urged the United States to boost investment in Central America to help curb migration, saying not enough had been done.
* Sri Lankan Finance Minister Ali Sabry told parliament on Wednesday that the country's current useable foreign reserves were less than 50 million USD.
* The Republic of Korea's imported car sales fell in single digits last month due to a prolonged supply shortage of semiconductors used to make vehicles, industry data showed Wednesday.
* Iceland's central bank raised its key interest rate by one percentage point to 3.75% on Wednesday, the second hike this year, and warned of further tightening over the next months to tame stubbornly rising inflation.
* Slower growth in manufacturing output and freight transport is inevitable after the recovery from the pandemic, when consumer spending shifted to merchandise from services.
* Australian retail sales easily sped past forecasts for a third straight month in March as spending built a head of steam that should help it weather this week's rise in interest rates.
* The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday is expected to raise interest rates by half of a percentage point and announce the start of reductions to its $9 trillion balance sheet as US central bankers intensify efforts to bring down high inflation.
* Home price growth in Canada is "unsustainably strong" and higher interest rates are needed to moderate demand, a senior Bank of Canada official said, while also noting the inflationary risks of the country's overheating economy.
* Burundi's military said on Wednesday 10 of its African Union (AU) peacekeepers were killed in an attack on their base in Somalia, while a security source in the region and a Mogadishu-based source said dozens were dead.
* The Beijing municipal government on Wednesday said that travelers entering China via Beijing will be subject to 10 days of concentrated isolation plus seven days of home quarantine.
* The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended travelers continue to wear masks in airplanes, trains and airports despite a judge's April 18 order declaring the 14-month-old transportation mask mandate unlawful.
* The four main parties to negotiations on an intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines have prepared an "outcome document" for approval by the broader membership, the WTO said on Tuesday, with its chief hoping for a final deal by June.
* About 6,000 residents have been forced to evacuate as large wildfires continue spreading in the southwestern US mountain state of New Mexico, the state's governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said Tuesday.
