* Cambodia has expressed deep regret if Thailand decides to unilaterally withdraw from the maritime memorandum of understanding (MoU). In a statement dated Friday and released to the media on Saturday, Cambodia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said Cambodia and Thailand signed the MoU regarding the Area of their Overlapping Maritime Claims to the Continental Shelf in 2001 (MoU-2001).
* The meeting between Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi was held in Islamabad on Saturday, according to the Prime Minister's Office.
* U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are heading to Pakistan for talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi this weekend, the White House said Friday.
* An Iranian delegation led by Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi arrived in Pakistan Friday night to discuss regional developments and ongoing peace efforts, said a spokesperson for Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
* U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports "is growing and going global," and will continue as long as it takes. He said the U.S. military had seized two Iranian ships in the Indo-Pacific region that had left Iranian ports before the blockade went into effect.
* Iran's main military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, vowed Saturday to react if the United States continues "blockade, banditry and piracy" in the region, according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency.
* The Cambodian government on Friday reiterated its firm commitment to eradicate online scam networks, saying that the kingdom had raided more than 250 online scam centers nationwide over the past nine months. The Southeast Asian country had shut down 91 casinos for operating online scams, the government said in a statement.
* Russian forces have taken control of the settlement of Bochkovo in the Kharkiv Region and launched a large-scale strike against Ukraine's defense-industrial facilities, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday he is ready to hold the next stage of negotiations with Russia in Azerbaijan, local media reported on Saturday. He made the remarks following his meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in the Azerbaijani city of Gabala, Report news agency said, citing a press statement.
* The UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday called for the peaceful use of nuclear weapons as the world marks the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster.
* Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday that the country's sovereignty "is not negotiable," rejecting any form of foreign interference, particularly from the United States.
* The Canadian government said Friday that it has approved a new natural gas pipeline expansion project.
* Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, together with Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Thailand's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, held the third meeting of the Consultation Mechanism between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of China and Thailand on Friday in Bangkok.
* U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday that exemptions allowing for the purchase of Russian oil already at sea would not be renewed after the current license expires on May 16.
* Japan will start an additional release of about 20 days' worth of oil reserves from May 1 amid uncertainty over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, local media reported.
* The leaders of the European Union (EU) on Friday called for diplomatic efforts to negotiate a lasting end to the Middle East conflict, urging full and permanent freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
* Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday reiterated the unequivocal rejection of any attempt to displace the Palestinians under any circumstances, stressing the full implementation of the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, read a presidency statement.
* The International Maritime Organization (IMO) said on Friday that it is working with member states and partners on an evacuation plan for seafarers stranded in the Gulf, which will be implemented once conditions are safe.
* The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Saturday that it had received a report of a hijacking incident about 45 nautical miles northeast of Mareeyo, Somalia.
* German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said a minehunter, accompanied by a command and supply vessel, will be deployed to the Mediterranean, German media reported on Saturday.
* Greece and France on Saturday signed nine agreements in Athens during a two-day visit of French President Emmanuel Macron, advancing bilateral cooperation across a wide range of sectors.
* Istanbul police seized some 5,000 illegal handgun components in a single raid in a hidden underground bunker, marking the largest such recovery in Türkiye's history, authorities announced Saturday.
* Iran plans to hold the 7th Caspian Summit despite the ongoing war, Iran's Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali told RIA Novosti on Friday.
* Latvia has raised 15 million euros (about 17.55 million USD) to develop a wastewater monitoring platform for public health surveillance, the Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Center announced on Friday.
* Only four countries (including Belarus, Denmark, Ireland and Britain) in the World Health Organization European region have met a two-decade-old global target for influenza vaccination among older adults in the 2022-2023 season, the Copenhagen-based European branch of the UN Health agency (WHO Europe) said Friday.
* Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez and visiting Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Friday discussed cooperation in such areas as energy, security, tourism and trade.
* President of the Council of Togo Faure Gnassingbe has met with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, who is on a diplomatic visit to Lome, according to a statement issued on Friday evening by the Presidency of the Council of Togo.
* Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno on Friday concluded a three-day official visit to Algeria, after the two nations signed 28 agreements and memoranda of understanding spanning key sectors including industry, trade and public works.
* Mali's armed forces said on Saturday that armed terrorist groups attempted attacks in several cities across the country earlier in the morning, adding that the situation was "under control."
* China's Ministry of Culture and has announced an investment of more than 1 billion yuan (about 146 million USD) to subsidize travel-related spending during a month-long tourism promotion campaign. The campaign, centering on the 16th China Tourism Day which falls on May 19, was launched on Thursday and will run until May 31, according to a circular released at a press conference held by the ministry.
* Thailand's exports grew for a 21st successive month in March, driven by industrial shipments amid robust expansion in the global technology supply chain and a short-term easing of U.S. tariff measures, official data showed on Friday.
* Kazakhstan's National Bank on Friday decided to keep its base interest rate unchanged at 18 percent, the Kazinform News Agency reported, citing a Monetary Policy Committee statement.
* The gross domestic product of agricultural production in Kyrgyzstan amounted to 47.923 billion soms (approximately 547 million USD) in January-March, an increase of 102.8 percent year on year, the country's Kabar news agency reported Friday, citing the Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry.
* The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has repaid a 400-million-U.S.-dollar currency swap facility obtained from India in October 2024, the Maldives' state media PSM News reported Friday.
* More than 12 million children in Afghanistan have been vaccinated against polio over the past year, achieving a coverage rate of 98 percent, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, according to local media Tolonews on Saturday.
