The British government will remove all remaining COVID restrictions on international travel for all passengers ahead of the Easter holiday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced Monday.   

Ukrainian and Russian delegations resumed peace talks on Tuesday, local media outlet Ukrayinska Pravda reported, citing David Arakhamia, a member of the Ukrainian delegation.

* German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday all diplomatic channels should be kept open in the Ukraine crisis to press for an immediate ceasefire.

* A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Tuesday urged the United States to make tangible efforts to ease the situation in Ukraine.

* Thailand could call an election in November after it completes its hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, a deputy prime minister said on Tuesday, the first indication of polls before the government's term ends.

* Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that he would visit the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Tuesday with the agreement of the European Union and the United Nations. Morawiecki and his counterparts from the Czech Republic and Slovenia will travel to Ukraine to meet President Volodomyr Zelenskiy.

* Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince spoke with Japan's prime minister about the Ukraine crisis and assured him that the United Arab Emirates is keen to maintain energy security and keep global markets stable, state news agency WAM reported on Tuesday.

* The G20 grouping of nations is not an appropriate forum to discuss the Ukraine issue, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry told a regular news conference in the Chinese capital on Tuesday.

* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday that gender equality and women's rights must be at the heart of a renewed social contract that is fit for today's societies and economies.

* China will adhere to its dynamic zero-COVID policy and strategies to tackle both imported and domestic infections, a Chinese health official said at a press conference on Tuesday.

* Indonesia recorded an export value of 20.46 billion USD in February 2022, 6.73 percent higher than last month and 34.14 percent higher than the same month of last year, the Statistics Indonesia (BPS) said on Tuesday.

* Britain's unemployment rate dropped below its pre-pandemic rate in the three months to January while pay rose faster than expected, according to official figures that are likely to bolster the Bank of England's plans to raise interest rates.

* Sri Lanka will start official talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next month, a cabinet spokesman said on Tuesday, as the government seeks to stave off the island nation's worst economic crisis in years.

* The Slovenian government set the maximum retail price of gasoline from Tuesday in order to curb large price hikes, the government said on its website on Monday.

* Egypt is targeting a budget deficit of 6.9% of its gross domestic product in the current fiscal year which ends in June, deputy finance minister Ahmed Kouchouk told Al Arabiya on Tuesday. The government had said last year it was targeting a deficit of 6.7%.

* Tunisia's economy grew 3.1% in 2021 after it contracted by 8.7% in 2020, the state statistics institute said on Tuesday. The economy grew 1.7% in the fourth quarter of 2021, it added.

* Tourists in the European Union more than tripled the nights they spent in short-stay accommodation in December compared with a year earlier, the EU's statistics office said, though levels remained well below pre-pandemic norms.

* The Republic of Korea logged a trade surplus in February due to a faster increase in export, customs office data showed Tuesday.

* India will start administering COVID-19 shots to 12- to 14-year-olds from March 16, as schools reopen with standard restrictions amid significantly lower cases.

* The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will not request an extension of COVID-19 countermeasures scheduled to end on March 21, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Tuesday.

* Germany reported a record high seven-day incidence of the coronavirus on Tuesday, just days before the planned easing of restrictions.

* The White House said the Omicron BA.2 sub-variant of COVID-19 had been circulating in the United States for some time, with roughly 35,000 cases at the moment, and more money was needed to help fight it.

* Australia on Tuesday said it would lift its entry ban for international cruise ships next month, effectively ending all major COVID-related travel bans after two years and boosting a tourism industry hit hard by the pandemic restrictions.

* Brazil recorded 11,287 new coronavirus cases and 171 COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Monday.

* Mexico plans to uphold existing agreements with Russia for its Sputnik V vaccine, as well as those with other countries.

Xinhua/Reuters/VNA