* The new provisional "consolidated" results have indicated that Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema secured 94.85 percent of the votes in Gabon's presidential election, up from the previously announced 90.35 percent, Interior Minister Hermann Immongault said on Friday.
* As the response to Myanmar's 7.9-magnitude earthquake transitions from emergency relief to long-term recovery, there is an urgent need for sustained support in rebuilding housing infrastructures, restoring water and electricity, and enabling economic recovery, Yasmine Praz Dessimoz, director of Operations of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said.
* Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Friday presided over a State Council executive meeting, which discussed measures aimed at stabilizing employment, boosting economic growth, and advancing high-quality development.
* British Prime Minister Keir Starmer reaffirmed his commitment to free and open trade while emphasizing the protection of national interests during a call with U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday afternoon, according to a statement from Downing Street.
* Ukraine peace talks remain difficult while some progress has been made, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday. Peskov said Russia seeks to resolve the Ukraine conflict taking into account its interests.
* The United States will roughly halve its troops in Syria to less than 1,000 in the coming months, said a U.S. military official on Friday.
* The Indian government on Friday announced it will send an astronaut to space next month. The announcement was made by Jitendra Singh, federal junior minister in the Prime Minister's Office, in charge of the Department of Space.
* NASA's Curiosity rover has uncovered a hidden chemical archive of ancient Mars' atmosphere, which suggests that large amounts of carbon dioxide have been locked into the crust of the Red Planet, according to a new study published Friday.
* China's foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow saw marginal recovery in March, in contrast to a decline seen in the first three months, official data showed Friday.
* Tunisia and Egypt are experiencing an "exceptional phase" in their bilateral relations, marked by a push to strengthen trade and investment ties, Tunisian Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Nafti said on Friday.
* Aeneas Chuma, deputy special representative of the UN Secretary-General, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya, stressed the need for continued demining and risk education to ensure people's safety, the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said in a statement on Friday.
* Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on Friday that he is committed, along with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and all parties, to leading a "clear course of action" to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
* Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Friday killed at least 45 Palestinians and injured dozens of others, according to the Civil Defense in Gaza.
* The death toll from U.S. airstrikes on Yemen's fuel port of Ras Isa has risen to 80, with 150 other people wounded, Houthi-run health authorities reported early Saturday.
* Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem on Friday dismissed calls for the group to disarm, warning that any such effort was a "delusion" that would serve Israeli interests.
* Record-breaking narcotics have been seized so far in April in Sri Lanka, with authorities confiscating over one ton of heroin and crystal methamphetamine, the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) said.
* At least 52 people have been killed and 107 others injured by disasters triggered by heavy rains in Rwanda since the beginning of April, an official said on Friday.
* Forty-one people have lost their lives and 257 others sustained injuries in pre-monsoon disasters in Nepal, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said on Friday.
* At least 11 people were killed and nine others injured in a mass shooting Thursday night at a cockfighting arena in Ecuador's coastal province of Manabi, local media reported Friday.
