* Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides on Friday announced six changes to his cabinet in what marks the second major reshuffle of his term and the first in nearly two years, a statement from the presidency said.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia and India are working together to promote the BRICS mechanism's global influence.
* U.S. Department of State said on Friday that U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators met over two days and agreed on the framework of security arrangements.
* Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday that Hungary seeks to avoid taking part in any financial mechanisms related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Orban made the remarks in response to talks among European Union (EU) leaders in Belgium on the use of frozen Russian assets to back a loan for Ukraine.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the official signing of a deal for peace and prosperity between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, his spokesperson said Friday.
* The death toll from the drone strike that hit civilian areas in the city of Kalogi in southern Sudan's South Kordofan state on Thursday has risen to 79, among them 43 children, the state government said on Friday.
* China's latest assistance worth 100 million USD to Palestine will help improve Gaza's humanitarian situation and reduce the suffering of the Palestinian people, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said on Friday.
* Farmers in Greece on Friday blocked several border crossings in northern and central parts of the country as nationwide protests continued over rising production costs and delays in subsidy payments.
* Foreign ministers from several Arab and Muslim countries on Friday expressed concern over recent Israeli remarks suggesting the Rafah Crossing be opened only in one direction to transfer Gaza residents into Egypt.
* Yemen's government said it handed over 26 bodies of the Houthi group on Friday as a gesture of "goodwill" ahead of the expected resumption of talks sponsored by the United Nations.
* Iraq has set up a National Data Bank for Weapons to tighten state control over arms and help strengthen international tracking.
* Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem criticized on Friday the Lebanese government's decision to appoint a civilian representative to a committee tasked with engaging in talks with Israel, calling the measure "an additional slip added to the slip of August 5."
* Several European public broadcasters have announced they will withdraw from the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, after the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) decided not to exclude Israel from the competition.
* Canada announced on Friday that it has removed Syria from its list of foreign state supporters of terrorism and delisted Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham as a terrorist entity.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Saturday approved three projects totaling 381 million USD to boost agriculture, education, and health services in Punjab province, Pakistan, aiming to drive economic growth in the province, which accounts for more than half of the country's population and economic activity.
* The Norwegian government on Friday submitted a comprehensive investment proposal to the parliament, aiming to significantly bolster the country's defense capabilities through the acquisition of long-range precision weapons and additional submarines.
* Sri Lanka's Parliament on Friday passed the third reading of the country's national budget for 2026 with a sweeping majority of 157 votes, completing the country's annual budget process.
* Canada's employment increased by 54,000, or 0.3 percent, in November, driven by gains in part-time work, said Statistics Canada on Friday. The employment rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 60.9 percent, while the unemployment rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 6.5 percent, said the national statistical agency.
* The government of Spain's Catalan region has reached an agreement with the livestock sector to send about 30,000 healthy pigs from the surveillance area of a recent African swine fever outbreak to a designated slaughterhouse, Spanish media reported on Friday.
* Malaysia's worst flooding this year is unlikely to deliver a major blow to economic growth as key manufacturing hubs were largely untouched by Cyclone Senyar's heavy rains, Moody's said Friday.
* The death toll from adverse weather caused by Cyclone Ditwah has risen to 607 in Sri Lanka, the country's Disaster Management Center (DMC) said Friday.
