* South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol faces a second impeachment vote on Saturday over his short-lived attempt to impose martial law. Opposition parties plan to hold an impeachment vote at 4 p.m. (0700 GMT). Yoon's conservative People Power Party boycotted the first impeachment vote a week earlier, preventing a quorum.
* China has announced decisions to amend and repeal 25 administrative regulations to promote standardized and impartial law enforcement, enhance a law-based business environment, and foster high-level opening up to the world. Chinese Premier Li Qiang has signed a State Council decree formalizing these decisions, which is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 20 next year.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Friday extending Moscow's retaliatory measures in response to a Western price cap on Russia's oil until June 30, 2025, according to a document published Friday.
* A South Korean court on Friday issued arrest warrants for heads of national and Seoul police agencies for their roles in President Yoon Suk-yeol's brief imposition of martial law last week.
* Indonesian Minister of Law Supratman Andi Agtas said on Friday that President Prabowo Subianto would grant amnesty to several categories of prisoners, including drug users and prisoners with long-term illnesses.
* China and the United States on Friday signed a protocol to amend and extend the Agreement Between the United States and China on Cooperation in Science and Technology. They have agreed to extend the Agreement for additional five years, effective from August 27, 2024, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology.
* U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has expressed opposition to using U.S. missiles for attacks inside Russia, a position that aligns with Russia's stance, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.
* Swedish lawmakers approved the country's long-term participation in NATO's multinational brigade in Latvia, according to information from the Latvian Defense Ministry.
* Ottawa and the provinces will respond robustly if the incoming U.S. administration goes ahead with a promise to impose tariffs on imports from Canada, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Friday.
* The European Union and Armenia have officially entered the operational phase of the Visa Liberalisation Dialogue during a Senior Officials' Meeting in Yerevan, the EU Delegation to Armenia announced on Friday.
* Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reaffirmed Italy's commitment to humanitarian aid in Gaza and the two-state solution during her meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas here Friday.
* The Arab League (AL) has adopted a resolution condemning Israel's military incursions into the Syrian buffer zone and adjacent positions after an Egypt-initiated emergency meeting, announced Egypt's Foreign Ministry on Friday.
* Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani emphasized on Friday the importance of preventing any aggression on Syrian territories by any party, stressing that such actions pose a direct threat to the region's security and stability, according to a statement by al-Sudani's media office.
* The Group of Seven (G7) leaders on Friday called for a peaceful transition in Syria following the recent fall of the Bashar al-Assad government.
* U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan agreed on Friday on the need for continued efforts to counter any resurgence of Islamic State in Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
* Argentina's government said on Friday it strongly rejected what it called the arbitrary and unjustified detention of a non-commissioned officer of the country's Gendarmeria, a national security force, in Venezuela.
* Qatar will send its first official delegation to Damascus on Sunday to meet Syria's interim government and discuss reopening the Qatari embassy and enhancing humanitarian aid deliveries, a Qatari official told Reuters on Friday.
* The European Commission will open an air bridge to Syria to deliver emergency healthcare and other essential supplies, it said on Friday. The EU said it had funded flights to bring a total of 50 tons of health supplies from EU stockpiles in Dubai to Adana in Turkey for distribution in Syria in the coming days.
* Turkey's embassy in Damascus will resume work on Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday, adding the diplomatic delegation headed to Syria.
* Austria's conservative-led government said on Friday it is offering Syrian refugees a "return bonus" of 1,000 euros ($1,050) to move back to their home country after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
* 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 economy is expected to grow by about 5% this year, the deputy director of the country's central financial and economic affairs commission said on Saturday.
* Sri Lanka successfully concluded its international sovereign bond (ISB) restructuring, bringing closure to one of the most complex and challenging sovereign debt restructuring exercises in recent history, Secretary to the Treasury of Sri Lanka Mahinda Siriwardana said on Friday night on an online post.
* Cambodia recorded 6 million international tourists during the January-November period of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 22 percent, Tourism Minister Huot Hak said on Friday.
* Bulgaria's software industry is seeing a notable growth in 2024, with revenues expected to reach 9.785 billion BGN (5.248 billion USD), an increase of 12.4 percent year-on-year, according to the annual report released Friday by the Bulgarian Association of Software Companies (BASSCOM).
* In central Sudan, at least 42 civilians were killed in a landmine explosion in Sinnar State on Friday and two attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Gezira State over the past two days, local volunteer groups reported Friday.
* The South Sudanese government has ramped up efforts to prevent the spread of cholera following the deaths of at least 60 people since the outbreak in late October, a government official said on Friday.
* A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck Maule, Chile on Friday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said. The quake was at a depth of 100 km (62.14 miles), EMSC said.
