* Japan's government will urgently and flexibly take steps to ease the pain of the surging cost of living to ensure the economy's recovery from COVID-induced doldrums, Finance Minister Suzuki Shunichi said on Wednesday.
* Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) announced on Wednesday that it continues to expect the Singapore economy to grow by 3-5 percent in 2022, with growth likely to come in at the lower half of the forecast range.
* Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will hold dual charge as finance minister, the president's office announced on Wednesday, and will lead talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the crisis-hit nation seeks a bailout.
* A joint session of Philippines Congress on Wednesday declared Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the winner of this month's election and confirmed he would become the country's next president.
* The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired three ballistic missiles into its eastern waters, the Republic of Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Wednesday.
* Swedish diplomats will discuss Turkey's demands during meetings in Ankara on Wednesday aimed at resolving Turkish reservations over Sweden and Finland's applications for NATO membership, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said.
* US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke by phone with the Republic of Korea National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han to discuss the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea's launch of three ballistic missiles, the White House said late on Tuesday.
* Israel and Turkey's top diplomats said on Wednesday their countries were hoping to expand economic ties as they seek an end to more than a decade of strained relations.
* Talks with Iran aimed at ending a long standoff on explaining the origin of uranium particles found at apparently old but undeclared sites are at "a very difficult juncture", U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday.
* Egypt will position itself as an impartial arbiter while hosting this year's COP27 U.N. climate summit, as it pushes other nations to act on climate pledges while promoting the interests of the developing world, a senior Egyptian official said.
* Seventy six people were still missing after a crowded boat of migrants sank off Tunisia on Wednesday, an official from the International Organization told Reuters, adding that 24 people had been rescued.
* The United Arab Emirates has won a contract to operate ground services at three airports in Afghanistan, UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said on Wednesday on Twitter, confirming an announcement made earlier by the Taliban.
* The Chinese mainland on Tuesday reported 102 locally-transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which 44 were in Shanghai and 41 in Beijing, the National Health Commission said Wednesday.
* The Brunei government on Tuesday said its Early Endemic Phase will end on May 31, and the guidelines for COVID-19 control measures will be updated beginning in June.
* Nigeria has received 4.4 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine from Spain, a government official said.
* Denmark is considering providing vaccines produced by Bavarian Nordic BAVA.CO to close contacts of those infected with monkeypox, the Danish Health Authority told Reuters on Wednesday.
* South African disease experts said on Wednesday that they did not see a need for a mass vaccination campaign against monkeypox or believe that cases would explode in the same way as COVID-19.
* The Canadian province of Quebec confirmed 15 cases of monkeypox as of Monday, the Quebec health department said on Tuesday, with more cases from other parts of the country expected.
* The monkeypox virus circulating in Portugal belongs to a less aggressive lineage spreading in West Africa, the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge said Tuesday.
* Spain's Ministry of Health Tuesday confirmed 15 new cases of monkeypox, bringing the country's total number of cases to 51.
* Weather analyses from Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) have revealed that more above-average rainfall is possible in the coming winter and spring months.
