* Bolivia's ex-president Evo Morales on Thursday resigned from the ruling Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), a party he led for nearly three decades and that catapulted him to power for more than 13 years.
* Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao has written a letter to Jamieson Greer, the newly appointed United States Trade Representative, congratulating him on his appointment and expressing China's concern on the U.S. tariff policy.
* The armed forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) conducted a launching drill of strategic cruise missile in waters off its west coast on Wednesday, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Friday.
* Talks between U.S. and Russian delegations on bilateral issues concluded in Istanbul on Thursday, according to Xinhua reporters on the scene. The meeting, held at the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul and conducted behind closed doors, lasted over six hours. No official statement was released following the discussions.
* The Ukrainian cabinet has approved an order authorizing government officials to sign a minerals partnership agreement with the United States, the news outlet Ukrayinska Pravda reported Thursday. According to the document, the agreement will be signed either by First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko or Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
* Paris has been in talks with Kiev since October about using Ukrainian minerals for France's defense industry, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Thursday. The French minister said the French defense industry needs access to a number of "very key" raw materials for the next 30 or 40 years.
* Russia is categorically against any peacekeeping forces from European states in Ukraine, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in an interview with American blogger Mario Nawfal in Minsk on Thursday.
* The European Union (EU) on Thursday pushed back against U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that the bloc takes advantage of the United States, arguing that American businesses have reaped significant profits from investments in Europe.
* Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov discussed on Thursday regional developments, especially issues related to the Gaza Strip and Syria.
* Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said Thursday that he sees no reason why Amber Grid's gas transit contract with Russia's Gazprom should not be extended when it expires at the end of this year, Baltic News Service (BNS) reported.
* Kazakhstan has developed a draft regulation proposing a six-month ban on the export of petroleum products from the country, including to member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the country's Kazinform News Agency reported on Thursday.
* Israeli and Qatari delegations arrived in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Thursday for Gaza ceasefire talks, with the participation of U.S. representatives, according to Egypt's State Information Service (SIS).
* Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein held a meeting in Baghdad on Thursday with Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq Mohamed Al Hassan, during which they discussed the withdrawal of the UN assistance mission and their future cooperation.
* The increasing number of kitchens, water points and healthcare facilities signal continuing improvements in Gazan residents' challenging living conditions, UN humanitarians said on Thursday.
* Egypt reaffirmed on Thursday its solidarity with Lebanon and its commitment to supporting the Lebanese government and national institutions after the Lebanese government won a confidence vote in parliament.
* The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday strongly condemned the Israeli attacks on Syrian territory, reaffirming its commitment to Syria's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.
* Tunisia's Defense Minister Khaled Shili met Thursday in Tunis with visiting Chief of General Staff of the Libyan Army Muhammad Ali Al-Haddad to discuss strengthening military cooperation between the two neighboring countries, according to a statement from the Tunisian Defense Ministry.
* The Afghan interim government's Ministry of Public Works announced on Thursday the signing of three Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with Turkmenistan, which focused on improving railway infrastructure in Afghanistan.
* Several explosions killed at least 11 people and injured 65 others on Thursday in Bukavu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), shortly after a political rally in support of the rebel March 23 Movement (M23).
* Laos' inflation rate dropped to 12.7 percent in February, down from 15.5 percent in January, according to a report from the Lao Statistics Bureau on Thursday.
* China plans to expand its ratoon rice cultivation area by approximately 10 million mu (about 666,666 hectares) by 2030, as part of efforts to bolster food security, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
* The Philippines' total external trade in goods rose by 9.1 percent year-on-year to 17.82 billion USD in January, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Friday. Of the total external trade in January, 64.3 percent were imported goods, while the remaining 35.7 percent were exported goods.
* Uzbekistan's national debt exceeded 40 billion USD as of the end of 2024, Uzbek media reported Thursday, citing the country's Ministry of Economy and Finance.
* Poland's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 3.2 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024, according to a preliminary estimate released by the national statistics office on Thursday.
* Turkey’s economic growth is projected to remain at 3 percent in 2025, unchanged from the September 2024 forecast, according to a report by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
* A group of 159 illegal migrants were voluntarily deported from Libya to their home country Nigeria this week, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Thursday.
* Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), are investigating a new cluster of illnesses and community deaths in Equateur Province, where a total of 1,096 people have fallen ill and 60 have died.
* A health alert has been issued over a local outbreak of measles in Australia's second-most populous state. Authorities in the state of Victoria on Thursday night said that an outbreak of measles has been identified in the state after detecting two new cases who were likely infected in metropolitan Melbourne.
* All nine departments in Bolivia are on alert due to rising rivers and the risk of flash flooding following recent heavy rains, local media reported Thursday, citing data from the National Meteorological and Hydrological Service (Senamhi).
