* Rwanda's National Electoral Commission (NEC) said on Friday that preparations for next month's Senate election have reached satisfactory levels.
* The United Nations will start vaccinating some 640,000 children in the Gaza Strip against polio on Sunday, a campaign that relies on daily eight-hour pauses in fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in specific areas of the besieged enclave.
* The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders have agreed to elevate the issue of sea level rise politically, including at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), and strongly called for the inclusion of sea-level rise as a standalone agenda item in the UNGA and other relevant UN processes, according to a communique issued by the PIF.
* China's National Disease Control and Prevention Administration, together with relevant authorities, on Friday released a set of guidelines on the construction and improvement of a smart monitoring and warning mechanism with multiple triggers for infectious diseases.
* Japan's Ministry of Defense has submitted a record-breaking defense budget request of 8.54 trillion yen (about 59 billion USD) for the fiscal year of 2025.
* The U.S. State Department approved a foreign military sale to Croatia of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) for $390 million, the Pentagon said in a statement on Friday.
* Brazil's Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Friday ordered the social media platform X to be blocked nationwide after the company refused to appoint a legal representative in the country.
* Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi and Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi have called for promoting bilateral ties and cooperation.
* Israeli strikes on Saturday killed at least 48 people in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian health authorities said, as clashes took place in central and southern areas of the enclave ahead of the planned start of a polio vaccination campaign.
* Iran is closely monitoring threats and activities by Israel, a top Iranian military commander said on Friday, according to the official news agency IRNA.
* At least 40,691 Palestinians have been killed and 94,060 injured in Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, the enclave's health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
* Russian gas producer 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 Friday.
* India's economic growth rate reached 6.7 percent in the first quarter (April to June) of the 2024-25 fiscal year, according to government data released on Friday.
* The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector came in at 49.1 in August, official data showed Saturday.
* The Philippines' foreign investments yielded net inflows of 1.38 billion USD in July, according to the data released by the Philippine central bank Friday night.
* Kyrgyzstan's economy will grow at least 7-8 percent by the end of this year, local media cited Economy Minister Daniyar Amangeldiev as saying on Friday.
* Amid escalating fears from the ongoing Middle East crisis, markets across the region, including Turkey, and beyond, face severe turbulence as uncertainty takes hold.
* Slovenia's annual inflation stood at 0.9 percent in August, falling below one percent for the first time in over three years, the country's Statistical Office said on Friday.
* The Zimbabwean government on Friday banned the sale of gasoline that has not been blended with ethanol in an effort to further save foreign currency needed to import the fuel.
* Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency said that a Mi-8 helicopter went missing on Saturday over the Kamchatka Peninsula, with 22 people on board. According to preliminary data, those on board include 19 tourists and 3 crew members, the agency said on Telegram.
* Laos has been keeping a close eye on the Mekong River and its main tributaries as water levels have risen after continuous heavy rainfalls, while people living near rivers have stayed alert and prepared for flooding.
* As air travel reached new heights during the summer in the United States, airlines have reported more than 1,400 cases of unruly passengers so far this year, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
* At least six people were dead as Typhoon Shanshan crept eastward through Japan on Saturday, drenching large areas with torrential rain, triggering landslide and flood warnings hundreds of kilometres from the storm's centre.
* India is likely to receive above-average rainfall in September after experiencing surplus rains in August, the weather department said on Saturday.
