* Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Friday that the country may hold parliamentary elections in October or November. Vucic was elected president in April 2017 and re-elected in April 2022. Under Serbia's Constitution, the president serves a five-year term and may be re-elected once.
* Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has called for calm as the country awaits the results of the general elections. Hichilema made the call late Friday amid reports of violence in some parts of the country. Hichilema urged citizens to maintain peace and follow the rule of law while awaiting the outcome of the elections.
* Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a series of major initiatives, including a nationwide AI-skilling program, as the country celebrated its 80th Independence Day on Saturday. The AI-skilling program was designed to benefit 10 million young people nationwide, according to Modi in his address to the nation.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) "are actively cooperating in all the sectors while making concerted efforts to ensure the regional security and stability," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Saturday.
* In his address marking the 81st anniversary of the Korean Peninsula's liberation from Japanese colonial rule on Saturday, Republic of Korean President Lee Jae Myung called on the RoK and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to respect each other, refrain from unnecessary confrontation, and pursue peaceful coexistence and shared growth.
* Russian forces seized eight settlements and launched 14 group strikes on Ukrainian military infrastructure over the past week, said the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday.
* Ukrainian forces struck Russian gas producer Novatek's gas condensate processing complex at the Baltic port of Ust-Luga in Russia's northwestern Leningrad Region, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Friday.
* Hungarian authorities on Saturday began the controlled sinking of two barges in the Danube near the Paks nuclear power plant as decreasing water levels threatened the plant's operation again, the country's Prime Minister Peter Magyar said.
* Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Friday that he will approve the appointment of the new U.S. ambassador-designate to Brazil only after the October presidential election.
* The Afghan Taliban celebrated on Saturday the fifth anniversary of its return to power after defeating the U.S.-led coalition forces in the country amid tight security.
* China will expand a cross-border cash pooling pilot scheme nationwide, allowing more multinational companies to centrally manage their cross-border renminbi and foreign-currency funds, according to a notice issued Friday.
* The Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) has approved 14 new investment projects, the state-owned daily The Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Saturday.
* The Dutch economy is projected to grow by 1.4 percent in 2026 before slowing to 1.2 percent in 2027 amid considerable international uncertainty, the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB) said Friday.
* Humanitarian partners warn that aid work is being delayed and restricted in the West Bank by a network of over 900 physical obstacles, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Friday.
* Latvian armed forces confirmed on Friday that a NATO fighter jet operating under the Baltic Air Policing mission shot down an unidentified foreign drone that had violated the country's airspace in the northeastern region of Balvi.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that he would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz a U.S. territory.
* A senior Iranian diplomat said Saturday that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed and opened only under Iran's command. Kazem Gharibabadi, Iranian deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, made the remarks on X in response to a claim by U.S. President Donald Trump, who said on Friday that he would soon declare the strait a U.S. territory.
* Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said that Iran has made no decision yet on the resumption of negotiations with the United States, the state-run IRIB news agency reported Saturday.
* Eleven people were killed and several others wounded on Saturday in two Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon, which Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said sent a "clear message" against the ongoing negotiating track, according to Lebanese sources.
* Hezbollah on Saturday called on the Lebanese authorities to stop pursuing direct negotiations with Israel, describing the talks as "humiliating."
* A vessel belonging to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Friday evening, the company said Saturday.
* Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem on Friday rejected the U.S.-mediated framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel, describing it as an Israeli-imposed arrangement.
* Yemen's Houthi group said Saturday that Saudi forces launched "artillery and missile strikes" on areas along Yemen's northern border in the province of Saada, as tensions between the two sides continue to escalate.
* Five people were injured in a shooting at Virginia State University, prompting a temporary campus lockdown early Saturday, the university said. The shooting involved "multiple suspects," and the campus was placed on lockdown, the university said on social media X.
* About 12 km of coastline in central Oman's Ras Madrakah area has been affected by oil spill from the grounded vessel Caroline Bezengi, the country's Environment Authority said Saturday.
* A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia's North Sumatra province on Saturday, the second strong quake to hit the country in a single day, according to Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).
* Flooding has affected 32 townships across nine regions and states in Myanmar since mid-July, Myanmar Radio and Television reported on Saturday.
* The wildfire raging in the High Fens area of eastern Belgium has burned about 1,600 hectares as of Saturday afternoon, setting a new record for the region, local media reported.
