* Norway's new monarch will reign as King Haakon VIII and use the motto "Alt for Norge" ("All for Norway"), according to an official record of the Council of State published by the Norwegian government on Friday.
* UN humanitarians on Friday expressed concern over attacks in Gaza that are killing civilians, particularly children, damaging humanitarian supplies and infrastructure, and restricting the entry of key supplies.
* Russian forces captured seven settlements and conducted large-scale strikes against Ukrainian military and industrial targets over the past week, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States and Venezuela have reached an oil agreement.
* Venezuela announced Friday what it called "a historic agreement" with the U.S. government to promote investment in the recovery and reconstruction of strategic infrastructure for its hydrocarbons industry.
* The U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network on Friday proposed a rule that would revoke Banque Misr UAE's correspondent banking access to U.S. financial institutions as part of a new sanctions campaign targeting Iran.
* Mining authorities from Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru signed a joint declaration Friday to strengthen regional cooperation on strategic minerals amid growing global demand linked to energy transition and new technologies.
* Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Friday that Iran will negotiate with the United States, but remains wary of Washington, stressing that Tehran will honor its commitments only if the other side does the same.
* The U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network on Friday proposed a rule that would revoke Banque Misr UAE's correspondent banking access to U.S. financial institutions as part of a new sanctions campaign targeting Iran.
* Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein held a phone call on Friday with his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi to discuss regional developments and the outcomes of Omani-Iranian talks in Tehran, said the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.
* Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty held a phone call on Friday with Sudan's Foreign Minister Mohi El-Din Salem to discuss developments in Sudan and efforts to end the crisis.
* The top UN envoy for Haiti on Friday called for stepped-up international security support for the country following a gang massacre that killed at least 47 people.
* Thailand launched a government program on Friday to give citizens access to commercial artificial intelligence (AI) tools after more than 1.3 million people had registered for advance access in less than two weeks.
* Malaysia is working to realize 50 billion ringgit (about 12.4 billion USD) in medical device exports by 2030 by developing technology, owning intellectual property, and building world-class medical technology companies, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said on Friday.
* The U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh said Friday that the Fed's predominant focus right now should be on prices, as inflation remains above the Fed's 2-percent target.
* Uzbekistan's GDP is projected to reach 300 billion USD by 2030, with cumulative foreign investment inflows expected to total 450 billion dollars over the next decade, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said Friday.
* Canada's real gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annualized rate of 3.3 percent in the second quarter of this year, Statistics Canada said Friday.
* A total of 626 bodies had been recovered from mudslide-hit areas in Nepal as of 10:00 a.m. local time on Saturday, according to the disaster authority. National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said that 2,426 people were still missing as of the same time.
* Seven people had been killed, and 554 others remained missing, while two local villagers had been rescued as of 1 a.m. on Saturday after a mudslide struck the Gyirong Port along the China-Nepal border in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, according to the region's emergency management department.
* Six days after a devastating summer storm and torrential rainfall struck Latvia on Aug. 22, power outages are still being reported in some municipalities of the Baltic country, authorities said Friday.
* Finland on Friday expanded a restricted zone for African swine fever (ASF) in the country's southeast after the disease was detected in a wild boar about 40 km west of the previous zone boundary, the Finnish Food Authority said.
