* Norway's Centre Party announced on Thursday that it is leaving the coalition government due to its opposition to European Union (EU) energy directives that Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store's Labour Party seeks to implement.
* Cambodia has halted mine clearance projects in eight provinces after the United States has frozen funding, a mine clearance chief said on Friday.
* Washington's latest decisions on the development of a new missile defense system won't help reduce tensions with Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday.
* The Russian military launched drone attacks on civilian and port infrastructure facilities in Ukraine's southern Odesa region early Friday. According to a report by the Odesa Region Prosecutor's Office, the strike in the town of Chornomorsk injured four people, including two utility company employees, a truck driver and a doctor.
* Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru on Friday expressed concern over the United States' decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO), Jiji Press reported.
* Brazil would respond appropriately if the United States imposes tariffs on Brazilian products, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday.
* Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday approved a resolution on state border protection in 2025. The resolution to protect the state border is a very serious decision to protect the sovereignty and defense of Belarus, Lukashenko said while approving the document.
* The United Nations is "deeply concerned" by the M23 rebel group advancing towards South Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a UN spokesman said on Thursday.
* The United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, is continuing its mandate despite an Israeli ban coming into effect, a UN spokesman said on Thursday.
* Israeli Prime Minister's Office said Friday that Israel has received the list of three Israeli civilian hostages Hamas will release on Saturday. The list includes Israeli-French citizen Ofer Calderon, 54, Israeli-American citizen Keith Siegel, 65, and Israeli civilian Yarden Bibas, 35.
* The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Friday that the Air Force (IAF) struck overnight multiple Hezbollah military targets in the Beqaa valley of Lebanon. According to an IDF statement, the targets posed a threat to the Israeli home front and army troops.
* Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who arrived in Damascus for a visit earlier on Thursday, reaffirmed his country's unwavering support for Syria's unity, sovereignty and independence.
* Syria's newly appointed interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, outlined his administration's roadmap for the country's transition in his first address to the nation on Thursday, pledging to establish a legislative framework and a national dialogue on Syria's political future.
* The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced Thursday that its military chief, Mohammed Deif, was killed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.
* Scientists with NASA's Juno mission have discovered a volcanic hot spot in the southern hemisphere of Jupiter's moon Io, NASA said on Thursday.
* Sweden has launched its first military communications satellite, the country's Ministry of Defense announced on Friday.
* The Lao central bank, the Bank of the Lao PDR (BOL), is strengthening foreign exchange management to boost the value of the Lao kip and ensure currency stability, Lao News Agency reported on Friday.
* India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was expected to grow in the range of 6.3-6.8 percent during the financial year 2025-26 (April 2025-March 2026), said a forecast of the country's economic survey issued by the finance ministry on Friday.
* Japan's nationwide unemployment rate came in at 2.4 percent in December 2024, down 0.1 percentage points from the previous month, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
* Austria's gross domestic product (GDP) edged down 0.2 percent year on year in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024, as industrial activity remained sluggish, the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) said in a flash estimate on Thursday.
* The eurozone's GDP stagnated in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024, remaining unchanged from the previous quarter, according to a flash estimate published Thursday by Eurostat. Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) recorded slight growth of 0.1 percent.
* The Philippines' foreign investments yielded net inflows of 17.932 billion USD in 2024, a 39.2 percent increase from 2023, the Philippine central bank said Friday.
* Thailand's economy slowed in December 2024 on a monthly basis due to declines in exports and manufacturing, despite a slight growth in private consumption and tourism revenue, the country's central bank said on Friday.
* Libya's daily oil production has exceeded 1.42 million barrels, according to the state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) on Friday.
* Kazakhstan is prepared to boost its exports to Kyrgyzstan across 175 product categories by more than 203 million USD, according to the press service of the Kazakh government on Thursday.
* Turkey’s tourism revenues rose by 8.3 percent in 2024 from the previous year, reaching 61.1 billion USD, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute on Friday. A total of 62.2 million tourists visited Turkey last year, surpassing the government forecasts.
* Australian authorities have issued a major flood warning for the country's northeast. The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) on Friday issued a severe weather warning for heavy rainfall for communities along a 400-kilometer stretch of coast in far north Queensland state.
