* Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will seek reelection in 2026, the presidency's Secretary of Social Communication Paulo Pimenta confirmed on Thursday.
* The formation of polling stations for the presidential elections in Belarus has been completed, the Central Election Commission said on Thursday.
* Russia and China held consultations on missile defence and strategic stability in Beijing earlier this week, Russia's foreign ministry said on Friday.
* China and the United States have agreed to extend the U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement for five years, China's Ministry of Science and Technology said on Friday.
* The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden announced Thursday that it will send Ukraine another tranche of weapons worth 500 million USD.
* Hungary has proposed a truce between Russia and Ukraine, according to Minister of the Prime Minister's Office Gergely Gulyas on Thursday.
* Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk held talks with visiting French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday on Ukraine, European security and Poland-France relations.
* Russia has modernized the naval component of the country's strategic nuclear forces, Navy Commander-in-Chief Alexander Moiseyev said on Thursday at an international Arctic forum in St. Petersburg.
* Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra pledged additional stimulus and debt relief measures on Thursday in a bid to shore up the Southeast Asian country's sluggish economy amid weak consumption and high household debt.
* Mongolia's parliament, the State Great Khural, has approved the country's first-ever deficit-free state budget for 2025, local media reported on Friday, citing the parliament's press office.
* Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday approved the country's defense plan for 2026-2030.
* The Estonian parliament, Riigikogu, has passed a government-proposed bill to introduce a security tax aimed at bolstering the country's defense capabilities.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "deeply concerned" by the recent and extensive violations of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity, urging parties to de-escalate violence throughout the country, his spokesperson said Thursday.
* China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing agreed with Egypt that both nations should promote peace and negotiations to achieve stability in the Middle East, amid several crises in the region including Syria, according to a media pool report.
* U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan discussed on Friday the need for continued efforts to counter any resurgence of Islamic State in Syria following the fall of Bashar-al Assad.
* Turkey's priority in Syria is ensuring the stability and prevention of domination by groups deemed terrorists after the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday.
* Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has instructed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to prepare for a stay on the Syrian side of the Mount Hermon summit during the winter months, according to a statement issued by his office on Friday.
* Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a meeting Friday on combating terrorism and achieving stability in Syria, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
* Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday highlighted the necessity to protect Syria's national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
* More than 1.1 million people have fled their homes across Syria since the recent hostilities erupted two weeks ago amid reports of food and fuel shortages, UN humanitarians said on Thursday.
* Syria's interim authorities announced Thursday that all public and private educational institutions will resume classes on Sunday, following a period of disruption due to recent political upheavals in the country.
* More than 44,875 Palestinians have been killed and 106,454 injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Friday.
* South Sudan's ceasefire monitors on Thursday expressed deep concern over the deteriorating security situation in Tambura County of Western Equatoria State, located southwest of Juba, the national capital.
* Turkey can step in to resolve disputes between Sudan and the United Arab Emirates, President Tayyip Erdogan told the head of Sudan's sovereign council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in a phone call on Friday, the Turkish presidency said.
* China's 2024 grain output hit a record high of 706.5 million tonnes, an increase of 1.6 percent from the output last year, official data showed Friday.
* The United Kingdom's (UK) monthly real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 0.1 percent in October 2024, following a drop of 0.1 percent in September, official data showed on Friday.
* Economic growth in the Netherlands will pick up in the coming years unless U.S. import tariffs and European retaliation unleash a trade war, the Dutch central bank (DNB) said on Friday.
* New Zealand's overseas visitor arrivals were 240,200 in October 2024, an increase of 14,200 from October 2023, with the biggest changes in arrivals from Australia, the United States, Singapore, and Britain, the statistics department Stats NZ said on Friday.
* Sri Lanka's All Share Price Index (ASPI) of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) surpassed the 14,000 mark for the first time in history on Thursday, the country's financial press said, quoting official data.
* South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said Thursday that it is time to prioritize the implementation, take stock of progress made, and agree on how to accelerate progress toward the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
* Hefty medical expenses are pushing over 150 million people in Africa into poverty, denying them quality and productive lives, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.
* Traveler movement at South Africa's main border crossing point with Mozambique is now open "until further notice," the country's Border Management Authority (BMA) announced on Thursday.
* The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) has welcomed an agreement signed between Ethiopia and Somalia Wednesday to end their bitter dispute over Addis Ababa's plans to build a port in Somaliland, a region of Somalia.
* The Bank of Latvia on Friday revised the Baltic country's GDP growth forecast for 2024 down to 0.1 percent from previously projected 0.6 percent.
* Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos said Friday that the government has evacuated over 45,000 residents from villages around the active Kanlaon Volcano, which erupted on Monday.
* The number of mpox cases reported so far this year in Africa has surpassed 65,000, as the death toll surged to over 1,200, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
