* Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Friday urged efforts to promote the healthy and orderly development of artificial intelligence in China in a beneficial, safe and fair direction.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff discussed the possibility of direct Russia-Ukraine talks during their meeting in Moscow, local media reported Friday citing Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov.
* The United Nations Security Council on Friday strongly condemned the deadly terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir, calling for accountability and international cooperation to bring the perpetrators to justice.
* Pakistan on Saturday warned of a full-force response to any attempt by India to divert or block its share of water under the Indus Waters Treaty.
* The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) unveiled a new-generation destroyer at the Nampho Dockyard on Friday, as its top leader lauded the launching of the advanced warship as a major step to modernization for the country's naval forces, state media said Saturday.
* The Russian military has completed an operation to regain control of the border region of Kursk, and the results have been reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Saturday.
* U.S. President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday on the sidelines of Pope Francis' funeral in Vatican City.
* British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Rome on Saturday afternoon, said a Downing Street spokesperson.
* China and Central Asian countries have agreed to boost cooperation in various fields, said a press release from the Sixth China-Central Asia Foreign Ministers' Meeting held Almaty on Saturday.
* Greece's Ministry of National Defense has announced a sweeping reform plan to overhaul the country's reserve system, aiming to have 150,000 active reservists by 2030, according to Defense Minister Nikos Dendias on Friday.
* Belarus will raise the minimum subsistence budget by 3.3 percent on average per capita starting from May 1, 2025, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security said on Friday.
* The final Rafale fighter jet out of the 12 ordered by Croatia from France arrived in Zagreb on Friday, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
* A group of 199 Venezuelan migrants returned home from the United States on Friday, reported state-run Venezolana de Television.
* A Hamas delegation arrived in Egypt's Cairo on Saturday to discuss efforts toward reaching a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
* Yemen's Houthis on Saturday claimed responsibility for a missile attack that reportedly triggered sirens across southern Israel earlier in the day.
* At least four people were killed and 516 others injured on Saturday after a massive explosion rocked Shahid Rajaee Port in the city of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran's Hormozgan province, local media reported.
* The Houthi group claimed on Friday that U.S. warplanes had conducted 1,200 raids on Yemen since mid-March, resulting in hundreds of civilian casualties and widespread destruction of infrastructure.
* International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff and the Sri Lankan authorities have reached a staff-level agreement on economic policies to conclude the Fourth Review of Sri Lanka's reform program supported by the IMF's Extended Fund Facility (EFF), the IMF said in a statement on Friday.
* Thailand is set to roll out its new arrival card system on May 1, requiring all foreign nationals to submit their personal and travel information online up to three days prior to entering the country, authorities said on Friday.
* The death toll from a 7.9-magnitude earthquake in Myanmar has risen to 3,763 as of Friday, the official daily Myanma Alinn reported on Saturday. In addition, 5,107 people were injured and 110 people reported missing.
* Mount Lewotobi in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province erupted on Friday, prompting the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center to issue an aviation warning and a safety advisory.
