* Cambodia is committed to eliminating online scam networks by April 2026, as more than 7,000 online scam suspects have been deported so far, said a spokesperson on Friday.
* The next round of trilateral talks between Ukraine, the United States and Russia will be held on Feb. 17-18 in Geneva, Moscow and Kiev confirmed on Friday. The Russian delegation will be led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, Russia's state news agency TASS reported, citing Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
* European leaders at the 62nd Munich Security Conference (MSC) have called for greater strategic autonomy, reflecting growing anxieties over a fractured international order and a widening rift in transatlantic relations.
* The Russian armed forces took control of four settlements and launched strikes against Ukrainian military facilities over the past week, Russia's Ministry of Defense said Friday.
* Europe should take measured steps to reduce its dependence on U.S. digital platforms to strengthen its own competitiveness and resilience, the Finland Chamber of Commerce said in a press release published Friday.
* China and Ukraine should stick to the right direction and maintain stable and healthy development in bilateral relations, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday in Munich.
* The military activities in Ukraine are undermining local grid conditions, posing "ever-present risks" to nuclear safety and security, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Thursday.
* Britain will deploy a carrier strike group to the North Atlantic and the High North this year, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Saturday.
* Georgia's migration authorities deported more illegal migrants over the past year than in the previous decade combined, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said Friday in a video address. In December, the prime minister said 1,131 illegal migrants had been expelled in 2025, pledging to expel at least 3,500 more in 2026.
* A senior adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said negotiations between Tehran and Washington could advance and protect mutual interests if they are grounded in realism and avoid excessive demands.
* Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir said on Friday that Israel remains committed to the complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip and the disarmament of Hamas, according to a statement issued by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
* Nigeria's next presidential poll will be held early in 2027, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said, as the most populous African country begins preparations for its general elections.
* Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa announced Friday that the federal government will be moved to the southwestern city of Guayaquil for several weeks to address local issues.
* Farmers from across Greece gathered in the capital Athens on Friday for a nationwide rally, driving tractors and agricultural machinery into Syntagma Square.
* Nearly 150,000 Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan so far this year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday, adding to an already unprecedented wave of returns that is deepening a humanitarian crisis in the country amid severe winter conditions.
* Vivian van de Perre, acting head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO), met with leaders of the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group in Goma on Friday to discuss a ceasefire monitoring mechanism. The meeting comes as diplomatic efforts intensify to stabilize the country's volatile east.
* The 39th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) opened Saturday at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.
* Nearly 4,000 Yemenis will be affected by a U.S. decision to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Yemenis in the United States, said a Yemeni official on Friday evening.
* Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone on Friday to discuss ways to deepen bilateral ties and promote regional stability.
* Iraq's National Center for International Judicial Cooperation said on Friday that the number of Islamic State (IS) detainees transferred from Syrian prisons to Iraq has reached 5,704.
* Trade turnover between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan amounted to 36 million USD in 2025, marking a nearly 24-fold increase from a year earlier, Chairman of the Kyrgyz Cabinet of Ministers Adylbek Kasymaliev said on Friday during talks with visiting Tajik Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda.
* The Russian Central Bank cut its key interest rate for the sixth consecutive time by 0.5 percentage points to 15.5 percent annually on Friday. The bank also eased monetary conditions, while noting that monetary conditions remain tight, it said in the statement.
* China has issued guidelines to promote upgrading of the tea industry, setting a target for the total size of the full industrial chain to reach 1.5 trillion yuan (about 216 billion USD) by 2030.
* The World Bank (WB) has committed to providing up to 1 billion USD annually in Kazakhstan over the next six years under a new Country Partnership Framework for 2026-2031, the country's National Economy Ministry said Thursday.
* The Malaysian economy grew 5.2 percent year on year in 2025 with strong domestic demand and favorable exports, exceeding the official forecast of 4 percent to 4.8 percent, its central bank said Friday.
* Fitch Ratings affirmed Romania's sovereign credit rating at "BBB-" on Friday, the lowest investment-grade level, and maintained a negative outlook, citing high fiscal and external deficits and rising public debt.
* Romania's economy grew by 0.6 percent in 2025 but entered a technical recession in the final months of the year after two consecutive quarterly contractions, according to flash estimates published on Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).
* A state of emergency has been declared in New Zealand's South Waikato region after a man died when his car became submerged in floodwaters amid severe overnight storms, officials said Saturday.
