* Venezuela's National Electoral Council confirmed on Friday that President Nicolas Maduro has won Sunday's elections with 51.95 percent of the vote. With 96.87 percent of the ballots counted, Maduro received 6,408,844 votes, while his main opposition rival garnered 5,326,104 votes (43.18 percent), according to Elvis Amoroso, head of the National Electoral Council.
* Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Friday said the recent U.S. position on Venezuela's elections was "reckless" and renewed his call for the international community to avoid interventionism.
* U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has won enough delegate votes to secure the Democratic presidential nomination, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Jaime Harrison announced on Friday, noting that the results are not yet official.
* Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte presented a reshuffled cabinet to President Gitanas Nauseda on Friday, proposing the replacement of the ministers of agriculture and health, according to a statement from the Lithuanian government.
* The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) on Friday published a schedule for the country's general elections next year, which are scheduled to be held on Sept. 16, 2025, in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi.
* China's Ministry of Emergency Management Saturday dispatched a working team to southwest China's Sichuan Province to guide rescue efforts after a flash flood and mudslide.
* Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Friday that foreign tourists are now allowed to take their pre-wedding pictures with their own traditional costumes for free-of-charge at the famed Angkor Archaeological Park.
* Australia's Prime Minister has promised to deliver the country's first comprehensive economic policy for the Indigenous population.
* Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin will evaluate the progress of the Rantau Panjang-Sungai Golok bridge upgrading project on Saturday, Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.
* The water level at the cooling pond of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine, which is vital for the facility's nuclear safety, has continued to decrease over the past weeks, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Friday.
* Slovakia expects the European Commission (EC) to defend the interests of European Union (EU) member states in an oil transit dispute with Ukraine, Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar said Friday.
* Russia's Gazprom GAZP.MM said it would send 42.4 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Saturday, the same volume as on Friday.
* Forty illegal migrants were detained in Lithuania's Utena County after they entered the country from the border with Latvia, and three people were still on the run, the Lithuanian police said on Friday.
* The immigration authorities on Indonesia's Bali island announced on Friday that they have intensified supervision of foreign nationals, especially tourists, as a proactive measure in response to a surge in tourist arrivals.
* An Israeli delegation will travel to Cairo in the coming days for negotiations to reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Friday.
* Iranian Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani exchanged views on the alleged Israeli assassination of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh with officials from the European Union (EU) and Jordan, according to statements released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Friday.
* Around 90 percent of reservations to Lebanon by expatriates were canceled amid rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, a Lebanese tourist syndicate head said Friday.
* At least 39,550 Palestinians have been killed and 91,280 injured in the Israeli military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
* At least 32 people were killed and 63 others injured in a beach attack in Somalia's capital Mogadishu late on Friday, police said on Saturday.
* Sri Lanka's economic recovery continues with real gross domestic product (GDP) posting three consecutive quarters of expansion, and growth accelerating to 5.3 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday.
* Despite poor manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) reading in July, economists still expect the recovery in Malaysia's manufacturing sector.
* Death Valley, one of the hottest locations in the world at the height of summer, just experienced the hottest month on record this July, with an average 24-hour temperature of 108.5 degrees Fahrenheit (42.5 degrees Celsius), said U.S. Death Valley National Park officials on Friday.
* The death toll in the landslide-affected region in India has risen to 300, according to India's official broadcaster All India Radio. A full-scale rescue and relief operation is underway in the affected area to help survivors, trace the missing and pull out bodies from the debris.
* Floods and mudslides destroyed village homes and part of a highway in China's southwestern province of Sichuan on Saturday, killing at least two people and leaving 17 missing in two incidents, state media reported on Saturday.
* As firefighters continued battling massive wildfires raging across the western United States on Friday, their efforts are expected to face significant challenges this weekend due to high temperatures and approaching thunderstorms.
* An earthquake of magnitude 6.7 struck off the eastern shore of the island of Mindanao in the Philippines on Saturday, the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) said. The quake was at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles), GFZ said.
