* South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) looks forward to the establishment of a government of national unity, said the party's Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula on Thursday.
* Malawi's political party Alliance for Democracy has written to United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres, asking the UN to intervene in investigations surrounding Monday's plane crash that killed Malawian Vice President Saulos Chilima and eight others.
* The Second China-U.S. Track 1.5 Dialogue was held in Beijing on Thursday under the theme of "sharing perspectives and finding solutions on key and urgent issues".
* Chinese Premier Li Qiang said in Auckland on Friday that since the beginning of this year, the momentum of China's economic recovery has continued to consolidate and strengthen. In the long run, the long-term positive trend of the Chinese economy will not change.
* The South Korean government saw signs of economic recovery for the second successive month in its monthly economic report on Friday due to a continued export growth and an improved service industry.
* Russia has expressed deep disappointment and concern over Argentina's recent actions related to military assistance to Ukraine, Russian media cited Dmitry Feoktistov, Russian ambassador to Argentina, as saying on Friday.
* Bolivian President Luis Arce and his Paraguayan counterpart Santiago Pena on Thursday pledged to take joint positions at international organizations such as the United Nations (UN), the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur).
* An air-raid alert was issued throughout Ukraine early Friday as the country was hit by a series of air attacks by Russian forces, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement.
* The U.S. government has returned another $156 million to Malaysia in recovered assets linked to scandal-hit state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), taking the total returned so far to $1.4 billion, the U.S embassy in Kuala Lumpur said.
* Ukraine will get 50 billion USD in loan from the Group of Seven (G7) countries using profits from frozen Russian financial assets, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported Thursday.
* Iran and Azerbaijan on Thursday held their first joint military drill in Poldasht County in the northwestern Iranian province of West Azarbaijan.
* Ukraine plans record power imports on Friday after significant energy infrastructure damage by Russian missile attacks, Ukrainian power grid operator Ukrenergo said.
* The U.S. and Egypt on Thursday signed eight funding agreements under which the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide Egypt with grants worth 130 million USD to support Egypt's development.
* The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) announced on Thursday that it has approved an 8.6-million-USD grant for South Sudan to enhance non-oil revenue mobilization.
* Hezbollah said it had launched rockets and weaponised drones at nine Israeli military sites in a coordinated attack on Thursday, ramping up hostilities on Lebanon's southern border for the second consecutive day.
* Missiles fired by Yemen's Houthi militants struck the Palau-flagged Verbena cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden on Thursday, sparking a fire and severely injuring one of her crew, U.S. Central Command said.
* The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on Thursday it will provide up to $500 million for mid-stage trials evaluating vaccines administered as a nasal spray or pill to protect against symptomatic COVID-19.
* The International Monetary Fund (IMF) board on Thursday cleared the way for Argentina to draw $800 million to help drive its economic recovery, saying the lending program was "firmly on track".
* Sri Lankan economy is expected to expand by 2.2 percent in 2024 and reach 3 percent in 2026, assuming successful debt restructuring negotiations and the implementation of structural reforms, according to the World Bank's latest Global Economic Prospects report on Friday.
* Myanmar exported over 180,000 tons of rice and broken rice in the first two months of the fiscal year 2024-25, earning over 91 million USD, the Myanmar Rice Federation reported on Thursday.
* The Central Bank of Uzbekistan said on Thursday that it has decided to maintain the key rate at 14 percent per annum.
* Brazil's 2024 grain harvest is set to be 5.9 percent smaller than 2023 due to poor weather in several parts of the country, the state-run Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) reported Thursday.
* At least six people have been killed this week and around 2,000 tourists stranded in India's Himalayan state of Sikkim in landslides and floods after incessant rainfall, officials said on Friday.
