* All 27 European Union (EU) countries have agreed to extend 50 billion euros (54 billion USD) in aid to Ukraine at a special summit in Brussels on Thursday, European Council President Charles Michel said on social media.
* Russia is not planning to deploy nuclear weapons in other countries, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Thursday.
* The top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) called for strengthening its naval force during a visit to the country's major shipyard, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Friday.
* Northern Ireland is set to elect a government on Saturday for the first time in two years after the British parliament agreed to revamp post-Brexit trade rules to break a political stalemate.
* International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi will visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine next week to discuss the facility's safety issues, the agency said on Thursday.
* Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Thursday called for intensifying efforts to achieve an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza to protect the Palestinian people, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
* Hamas has received a truce proposal for a ceasefire and release of hostages in the Gaza Strip positively but it has not responded yet, a Qatari official told Reuters on Thursday.
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected on Thursday an executive order issued by U.S. President Joe Biden sanctioning Israeli settlers accused of attacking Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
* Yemen's Houthis on Thursday said their naval forces targeted an unidentified British merchant vessel in the Red Sea in the group's campaign to disrupt shipping to protest Israel's bombardment of Gaza.
* Israeli warplanes conducted an aerial attack early Friday on several locations south of the Syrian capital, causing material damage, the Syrian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
* New Zealand is providing a further 5 million NZ dollars (3.07 million USD) in response to the humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank.
* The United Nations and its humanitarian partners made a plea on Thursday for 2.7 billion USD to support the millions affected by the prolonged conflict in Yemen.
* Iran on Thursday started the construction of a 5,000-megawatt (MW) nuclear power plant in the southern province of Hormozgan, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA).
* Iran will not start a war but would "respond strongly" to anyone who tried to bully it, President Ebrahim Raisi said on Friday, a day after the U.S. said it was planning attacks on Iranian sites in Iraq and Syria.
* Pakistan's military has killed 24 militants in three days in the restive province of Balochistan, broadcaster Geo News reported on Friday, citing a military statement.
* The Israeli army released on Thursday 114 Palestinians through the Kerem Shalom crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, who were arrested during the ground operation.
* The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) on Wednesday held interest rates steady and put off a widely expected rate cut in the nearest future.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday said it committed 9.8 billion USD in climate finance from its resources in 2023, a more than 46 percent increase on its 2022 climate financing commitments.
* Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng on Thursday expressed extreme disappointment at the U.S. intention to significantly increase its duties on softwood lumber.
* International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday said she anticipates that the Federal Reserve would begin to cut U.S. interest rates in "a matter of months" but cautioned that there was a risk to the global economy of waiting too long to ease policy.
* The International Monetary Fund and Egypt have agreed on the main policy elements of an economic reform programme, the IMF said in a statement.
* Greece will extend a special tax return on agricultural diesel by a year, to support protesting farmers who demand lower energy costs and fast compensation for crops and livestock lost in destructive flooding, its Prime Minister said on Friday.
* Iraq's January oil revenue totalled $8.25 billion from exports of 103.508 million barrels, an oil ministry statement said on Friday.
* Italy's annual inflation rate rose to 0.8 percent in January, up from 0.6 percent in December, according to Italy's National Statistics Institute (ISTAT) on Thursday.
* Australia's rate of inflation fell to its lowest level in over two years at the end of 2023, official figures have revealed.
* Several areas in India's northern hilly states, namely Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, received significant snowfall over the past 24 hours, thus bringing down temperature and disrupting normal life, government sources said on Thursday.
