* China is set to remove more entry barriers in emerging industries by leveraging special policy tools to facilitate the application of new technologies, the country's top economic planner said Friday.
* The commander of Ukraine's air force said on Friday that it had shared with U.S. partners a preliminary report about an F-16 jet crash that took place on Monday.
* The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Thursday that he will visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) next week as nuclear safety situation there "remains precarious."
* The United Nations has released $100 million to support 10 underfunded humanitarian crises in Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East, the U.N. said on Friday.
* The United States is imposing visa restrictions on members of the government and others who have obstructed humanitarian aid to the country by taxing shipments, the State Department said on Friday.
* Serbia and France on Thursday signed a series of preliminary agreements on nuclear energy, strategic raw materials, as well as a deal on acquisition of French Rafale fighter jets.
* Israel and Hamas have agreed to halt hostilities in the Gaza Strip for a World Health Organization (WHO)-led polio vaccination campaign, a WHO official said on Thursday.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate cessation of Israel's operations in the West Bank, his spokesman said on Thursday.
* Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), urged Israel on Thursday to provide security guarantee and facilitation for the vaccination against the polio virus in Gaza.
* The British government said on Friday it was "deeply concerned" by Israel's ongoing operation in the occupied West Bank, warning that risk of instability was serious and that there was an urgent need for de-escalation.
* Israel's security cabinet voted on Friday in favor of maintaining Israeli troops along the Gaza-Egypt border as part of any potential ceasefire.
* Israel announced on Friday that it had killed Hamas' commander in Jenin, the West Bank, on the third day of one of its largest assaults in the Israeli-occupied territory in months.
* Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced on Friday that Lebanon has joined the Middle East Green Initiative (MGI), an effort led by Saudi Arabia to mitigate the impact of climate change on the region.
* Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country is committed to maintaining hard-earned peace and development of the southwest Balochistan province at all costs, ensuring the protection of citizens' lives and properties.
* Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday expressed his keen interest in boosting ties with Bangladesh, said a statement from the prime minister's office.
* Rwandan President Paul Kagame has dismissed over 200 military personnel from the Rwanda Defense Force (RDF), including 21 senior and junior officers, the military announced in a statement on Friday.
* India's economic growth slowed to 6.7% year-on-year in the April-June quarter as a decline in government spending during national elections weighed, data showed on Friday, but it remained the world's fastest-growing major economy.
* The Russian economy will grow by 3.9% in 2024, higher than previously expected and higher than last year, thanks to increased state spending, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told state television on Friday.
* Japan's industrial output gained 2.8 percent in July from a month earlier, government data showed on Friday.
* The U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, rose 2.5 percent in July compared with a year ago, as inflation continued to cool amid high interest rates, the Commerce Department reported on Friday.
* The Eurozone's annual inflation rate fell to 2.2 percent in August, down from 2.6 percent in July, marking its lowest point since July 2021, according to a flash estimate published by Eurostat on Friday.
* Canada's economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter, data showed on Friday, but analysts said the central bank was still on track to cut rates for a third consecutive time next week.
* Denmark's government on Friday proposed raising public spending on welfare and defencein 2025 after forecasting robust economic growth and low inflation this year and next, despite recommendations to tighten its budgets.
* OPEC+ is set to proceed with a planned oil output hike from October, as Libyan outages and pledged cuts by some members to compensate for overproduction counter the impact of sluggish demand, six sources from the producer group told Reuters.
* Thailand's industrial output increased for the first time in three months in July, thanks to substantial growth in exports, a recovery in the vital tourism sector and an upsurge in government spending, official data showed on Friday.
* The Central Bank of Mexico (Banxico) on Wednesday lowered the economic growth forecast for 2024 to 1.5 percent, down from 2.4 percent, according to its second-quarter report.
* Austria's inflation rate in August is expected to fall further to 2.4 percent, the lowest level since April 2021, according to a flash estimate released by Statistics Austria on Friday.
* Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index, has dropped to 0.5 percent in August from 2.4 percent in July, Sri Lanka's Department of Census and Statistics said on Friday.
* Indonesia will conduct an audit to reform tourism on the tropical island of Bali to improve tourism quality and preserve local culture and jobs, a senior minister said on Friday.
* New Zealand saw 33,921 new homes consented in the year ending in July 2024, down 22 percent year on year, according to the statistics department Stats NZ on Friday.
* The World Health Organization chief said on Friday that mpox vaccines were set to arrive in Democratic Republic of Congo in the next few days to fight a new strain of the virus.
* Thailand has tightened efforts to monitor all individuals infected with monkeypox (mpox) and their close contacts, ensuring that they are under strict surveillance to prevent further spread of the disease, health officials said on Thursday.
* Romania's National Institute of Public Health (INSP) announced on Thursday that 27 cases of West Nile virus have been recorded across the country since the surveillance period began on June 3. Of these cases, 23 have been confirmed and three patients passed away.
* The tropical depression and Prapiroon storm brought heavy rainfall to many parts of Laos from July 18 to Aug. 21, affecting more than 36,200 people across the country.
* The death toll from devastating floods that have ravaged southeastern Bangladesh for weeks reached 52 on Thursday, according to a report of the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry, as millions of people remained cut off in parts of the country.
* Typhoon Shanshan on Friday continued its slow movement eastward in southwestern areas of Japan, causing severe damage and disruptions with record rainfall and strong winds across the country.
* A heat wave brought record-high temperatures to U.S. Midwest states this week, with more than 60 million people included in alerts over the conditions.
