* The United States may lose its voting rights at the UN General Assembly at some point if it does not pay its dues to the United Nations for a certain number of years, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, on Thursday. The spokesperson confirmed that the United States did not pay its dues to the United Nations in 2025.
* Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), has said he will unconditionally respect and support all policies and decisions of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Friday. Kim made the remarks in a reply letter to his Russian counterpart dated Thursday.
* The U.S. Senate on Thursday advanced a resolution aimed at limiting U.S. President Donald Trump's ability to take further military action against Venezuela.
* Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez announced Thursday the start of a government work agenda focused on assisting and rebuilding the areas affected by the U.S. military strikes carried out on Jan. 3.
* Venezuela's National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said Thursday that the government is carrying out the release of "a significant number of Venezuelan and foreign people."
* Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez said Thursday that her country is not "subjugated" to the United States following last weekend's U.S. assault and the ensuing capture of President Nicolas Maduro.
* Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva held a phone conversation on Thursday to discuss the situation in Venezuela, the Brazilian government said.
* Colombia's presidential office said Thursday that Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez will pay an official visit to Colombia, during which Colombian President Gustavo Petro will meet her in Bogota to help advance peace building and reconciliation efforts in Venezuela.
* The Russian military launched a massive strike, including with the Oreshnik hypersonic missile, against critical facilities in Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday.
* Any military units and facilities deployed by Western countries on Ukrainian territory will be regarded as legitimate targets of the Russian Armed Forces, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on Thursday.
* German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday that a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia is a necessary prerequisite for the deployment of international troops to help secure peace in Ukraine, adding that the world remains "far off" from such a stage.
* Speaking in his annual address to French ambassadors on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the United States is "gradually turning away" from certain allies and "breaking free from international rules."
* U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened again to strike Iran "very hard" if its authorities "start killing people" protesting in the Middle Eastern country.
* Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen on Thursday described recent remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump and members of his administration on Greenland as "worrying," while reiterating Finland's support for Denmark and Greenland's right to self-determination.
* Brazil and Mexico on Thursday jointly condemned the recent U.S. attacks on Venezuela's sovereignty and dismissed any notion of dividing the world into spheres of influence, the Brazilian presidency said in a statement.
* French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France has decided to vote against the signing of the free trade agreement between the European Union and the South American bloc Mercosur.
* Nearly 2,500 Afghan nationals detained in neighboring Iran and Pakistan have been released and returned to Afghanistan over the past month, the local media outlet Tolo news reported on Friday.
* The Syrian army on Thursday launched heavy shelling against positions of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods of Aleppo, as the civilian death toll rose amid escalating clashes, state media and local authorities said.
* Direct flights between Israel and Belarus resumed on Thursday after nearly four years, with a flight departing Minsk International Airport and landing at Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv. The airline, currently the only operator on the route, had stopped flights to Israel in February 2022.
* Jordan and the European Union (EU) issued a joint statement on Thursday following the first Jordan-EU Summit held at Al Husseiniya Palace, in which they urged scaled-up humanitarian access to Gaza and reiterated support for the two-state solution.
* Greek farmers on Thursday expressed cautious optimism toward a renewed government invitation for talks with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as nationwide protests and road blockades entered a new phase.
* China will intensify efforts in 2026 to improve earthquake disaster prevention and mitigation, emergency response and early-warning capabilities, as part of broader efforts to shift earthquake governance toward pre-disaster risk reduction.
* About 380,000 households across France were left without electricity on Friday morning as Storm Goretti brought strong winds to northern Europe, local media reported. French and British meteorological agencies had issued weather alerts ahead of the storm, advising residents to remain indoors.
* Romania is facing severe winter weather as the National Meteorological Administration (ANM) issued multiple Orange and Yellow Code warnings on Thursday for heavy snowfall, blizzards, strong winds and extreme cold across large parts of the country.
* Singapore has launched an Inclusive Justice Taskforce to review how the criminal justice system can better support people with disabilities and mental health conditions.
* Indonesia's state budget deficit widened to 695.1 trillion rupiah (about 41.28 billion USD) by the end of 2025, as the government increased spending to support economic growth amid global headwinds, the country's finance minister said on Thursday.
