* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that deploying foreign troops in Ukraine is unacceptable to Russia, as Ukraine's Western allies work to provide security guarantees for Kiev.
* Sixty-five Ukrainians, deported from Russia and stranded at the Russian-Georgian border, have returned home, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Friday.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine has successfully test-fired a domestically made long-range Flamingo missile, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported Thursday.
* Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto, together with Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar, has sent a joint letter to senior European Union (EU) officials, urging the European Commission to take immediate action following an attack on the Druzhba oil pipeline at the Russian-Belarusian border.
* Former Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe was arrested on Friday by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) over alleged misuse of state funds, state media reported.
* Leaders from more than 20 countries and heads of 10 international organizations will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2025, which will be held in Tianjin from Aug. 31 to Sept. 1, Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin said on Friday.
* China is willing to work with the Republic of Korea (RoK) to promote the strategic cooperative partnership to a higher level, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday.
* Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan signed a roadmap on Friday aimed at boosting bilateral trade to 3 billion USD in the next five years, the Kazakh presidential press service said.
* New Zealand and the United States trade officials met in Washington to address concerns over new U.S. tariffs on New Zealand goods, a New Zealand government statement said Friday.
* The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that it is reviewing the records of over 55 million U.S. visa holders for any deportable violations, part of its escalating crackdown on immigration.
* Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday rebuked U.S. President Donald Trump, saying he "should not meddle" in Brazil's internal affairs.
* Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone Thursday to discuss trade and security relationship.
* Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto on Thursday criticized the trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and the United States, saying it favors Washington over the EU after the release of its details.
* China's e-commerce sector saw steady growth in the first seven months of 2025, with online sales of a variety of products showing significant growth, the Ministry of Commerce said Friday.
* Indonesia, through its state-owned energy company PT Pertamina, is eyeing business opportunities in the development of the ASEAN Power Grid, a flagship regional energy cooperation initiative of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
* China's early rice output reached 28.52 million tonnes in 2025, up 340,000 tonnes or 1.2 percent from the previous year, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.
* The Lao central bank announced Friday to lower its 7-day basic interest rate from 9.5 percent to 9 percent, offering relief to businesses and households while stimulating economic growth as inflation continues to ease.
* The Indian parliament passed a bill to ban online games involving money, officials said Thursday. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025 prohibits online money gaming services, advertisements and financial transactions related to them.
* The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits has increased by the most in approximately three months last week, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.
* Britain, together with 22 partners, on Thursday condemned the decision of Israel's Higher Planning Committee to approve more than 3,400 housing units in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank, according to a statement issued by the British government.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a 410 million USD financing package for the Reko Diq copper-gold mine in Pakistan, the ADB said on Friday.
* The Republic of Korean government on Friday revised down its 2025 growth outlook by 0.9 percentage points amid uncertainties at home and abroad. Real gross domestic product (GDP), adjusted for inflation, was forecast to grow 0.9 percent this year, down from 1.8 percent estimated in January, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
* Pakistan's textile exports surged by over 32 percent during the first month of the current fiscal year 2025-2026, compared to the same period of the last fiscal year, officials from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said on Thursday.
* Singapore has launched a new standard to help data center operators and users deploy energy-efficient Information Technology (IT) equipment, aiming to reduce IT energy consumption in data centers by at least 30 percent, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) announced Friday.
* The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has recalled a salad mix imported from Australia after tests detected levels of Bacillus cereus exceeding permissible limits.
* Sri Lanka will build two battery power plants with a combined capacity of 260 megawatts in 2026 and 2027, said a minister on Thursday.
* Indonesia booked a balance of payments deficit of 6.7 billion USD in the second quarter of 2025, the country's central bank said on Thursday.
* Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi is scheduled to discuss the country's nuclear issue in a phone call with his French, British and German counterparts on Friday, the official news agency IRNA reported.
* Slovenia again urged Israel to stop its ground offensive on Gaza City, warning it would only bring further destruction and risk dragging the region into a prolonged conflict, Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said Thursday.
* The devastating wildfires sweeping across Spain this summer should serve as a warning to the rest of Europe about the rising dangers of climate change, a Barcelona-based climatologist said on Wednesday.
* The European Union (EU) and the United States on Thursday unveiled details of a July trade framework, setting tariff limits but leaving out key sectors such as wines and digital rules.
* Slovenia on Thursday rejected and criticized the latest sanctions imposed by the United States on judges and prosecutors of the International Criminal Court (ICC), stressing the importance of judicial independence.
* A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in Britain in the year to June 2025, the highest figure recorded for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001, official data showed Thursday.
* The Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Friday called for decisive international action to compel Israel to address and halt the spread of famine, after a United Nations-backed initiative confirmed that parts of Gaza are experiencing a "man-made" famine.
* Senior United Nations (UN) officials on Friday warned that Gaza is facing a severe famine caused by Israeli restrictions and obstruction of humanitarian aid, calling for an immediate ceasefire and full, unimpeded access to deliver food and supplies to civilians in urgent need.
* More than half a million people in Gaza are facing famine conditions marked by starvation and preventable deaths, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) released on Friday.
* Israeli companies will be excluded from a major arms fair organized by the Netherlands Industries for Defense and Security (NIDV) in November in Rotterdam, organizers confirmed Thursday.
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said he had instructed officials to begin "immediate negotiations" for the release of hostages in Gaza and an end to the war, while also vowing to approve military plans to seize Gaza City.
* The World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Friday urged global action to address the escalating health threats posed by extreme heat to workers worldwide.
* Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi is scheduled to discuss the country's nuclear issue in a phone call with his French, British and German counterparts on Friday, the official news agency IRNA reported.
* New Zealand and the United States trade officials met in Washington to address concerns over new U.S. tariffs on New Zealand goods, a New Zealand government statement said Friday.
* Iran's Navy on Thursday kicked off a two-day missile drill codenamed "Sustainable Power 1404" in the Gulf of Oman and northern Indian Ocean, according to a statement published on the Iranian army's news website.
* Israel's West Bank settlement expansion plan negatively affects Palestinians and increases the risk of displacement, UN humanitarians said on Wednesday.
* An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 jolted Drake Passage at 0216 GMT on Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The epicenter, with a depth of 10.8 km, was initially determined to be at 60.19 degrees south latitude and 61.82 degrees west longitude.
