Ukraine's President Zelenskiy disbanded the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament on Tuesday and scheduled snap parliamentary elections for 21 July, news wires reported. The 41-year-old TV comedian, who won 73% of the presidential vote last month, promised the early vote in his inauguration speech on Monday, saying that current lawmakers were too focused on self-enrichment and lacked public trust.

Joko Widodo has been re-elected as Indonesia's president after last month's vote, beating former general Prabowo Subianto. According to the results, which were released a day ahead of schedule in the early hours of Tuesday, amid fears of unrest, Widodo won 55.5% of the vote to Prabowo's 44.5%.

The White House announced Sunday afternoon the first part of its Middle East peace proposal, what officials are calling an economic "workshop" aimed at encouraging capital investments in the West Bank, Gaza, and the region, CNN reported, citing a senior administration official.

The TV star Volodymyr Zelenskiy was sworn in as Ukraine's new president on Monday and his first step was to disband parliament and to set up early elections in two months, news wires reported.

At least a dozen people were injured after a tourist bus was hit by a roadside bomb Sunday near a museum being built close to the Giza Pyramids in Egypt. The exact number of injured was not immediately known, but Egyptian officials told the AP at least 16 people were hurt.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that the purchase of S-400 defense systems from Russia was a done deal, adding that Ankara would also jointly produce S-500 defense systems with Moscow.

Iran’s top diplomat on Saturday dismissed the possibility of war erupting in the region, saying Tehran did not want a conflict and that no country had the “illusion it can confront Iran”, the state news agency IRNA reported.

The US Federal Aviation Administration has issued an advisory to US commercial airliners flying over the waters of the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to exercise caution as tensions between Washington and Tehran continue to simmer.

French President Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern hosted at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Wednesday a first summit for the Christchurch Call initiative aimed at curbing online extremism, news wires reported. The Christchurch Call initiative was spearheaded by Ardern after a gunman who identified himself as a white supremacist killed 51 people at two mosques in March in Christchurch, New Zealand.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday declared a national emergency over threats against American technology. The move, done via executive order, authorised the Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, in consultation with other top officials, is aimed at banning all transactions that involve information or communications technology that “poses an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States.” The executive order gives now the Commerce Department 150 days to write regulations implementing it.