* Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced on Thursday his candidacy for the presidential elections scheduled for Sept. 7. The president announced the decision to race for his second five-year term in an interview posted on the presidency's website.
* Kenyan President William Ruto on Thursday dismissed all cabinet secretaries except the deputy president and the prime cabinet secretary who is also the cabinet secretary for foreign and diaspora affairs.
* The African Union Mission in South Sudan (AUMISS), Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East African bloc, and the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) on Thursday called for a consensus-driven electoral process in South Sudan.
* Nearly one-third of the world's millionaires will be from emerging markets by 2028, according to the latest "Global Wealth Report 2024" by Swiss financial services company UBS.
* The recent cyberattack in Indonesia that massively disrupted its national data system has urged the country to strengthen its cyber resilience and evaluate its digital technology policy.
* China said it is willing to strengthen implementing development strategies with Saudi Arabia, and intensify trade and investment exchanges, its commerce minister said in a statement on Friday.
* The expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) into Ukraine is an "unacceptable threat" to Russia's security, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.
* U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday the Israel-Gaza war must end now and Israel must not occupy the enclave after the war, telling reporters his ceasefire framework had been agreed on by both Israel and Hamas but there were still gaps to close.
* Poland, France, Germany and Italy will cooperate on a project to develop a long-range cruise missile, the Polish Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday.
* Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani on Thursday rejected the claim by leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that Tehran was providing Moscow with military support in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
* British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called on other NATO allies on Thursday to do more to increase their defence spending, saying it was needed to protect the alliance's values in "a new and dangerous era".
* French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday he reassured allies at the NATO summit in Washington that France would have continuity in its international commitments related to the alliance and Ukraine.
* Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday the country expects to reach NATO's 2 percent of GDP spending target by 2032.
* Pakistan and Azerbaijan have agreed to take economic relations to new heights, enhancing the bilateral investment level of up to 2 billion USD in areas of mutually beneficial projects.
* Uzbekistan will allocate 255 million USD to the charter capital of the joint project company for the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, as reported by Uzbek media on Thursday.
* Finland's parliament is set to vote on a bill on Friday granting border guards the power to turn back asylum seekers crossing from Russia, after more than 1,300 people arrived in the country forcing Helsinki to close its border.
* During a phone call with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Iran's President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that Iran has no limit for deepening its relations with Serbia.
* Hamas said on Thursday that it has not received any new information from mediators regarding the ceasefire negotiations this week.
* Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday called for the establishment of a national inquiry committee into Hamas's Oct. 7 attack, which will also probe the conduct of the government, military, and other security agencies.
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the border zone between the Gaza Strip and Egypt must remain under Israeli control, even after the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian enclave concludes.
* Israel's military said on Friday that a day earlier it struck a military post in southern Syria in retaliation after a projectile was fired from Syria into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
* The Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization, in coordination with the Jordan Armed Forces, on Thursday sent 50 trucks of aid to the Gaza Strip to relieve the enclave's humanitarian crisis.
* The U.S.-British coalition launched five airstrikes in Yemen's port city of Hodeidah on Thursday, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported. The TV report said that raids hit targets in the area of Ras Issa, northwest of the city, without providing further information.
* Four migrants who tried to reach Britain died in the night from Thursday to Friday after their boat capsized in the Channel, a French coast guard spokesperson said on Friday, confirming earlier media reports.
* Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday that his country needs to strike a balance between resources and population size to stimulate economic growth, enhance living standards, and alleviate poverty.
* Russian gas producer Gazprom GAZP.MM said it would send 42.4 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Friday, the same volume as on Thursday.
* The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday urged the U.S. government to reduce its high fiscal deficit and to put debt on a downward trajectory, reiterating the organization's suggestion following the completion of the IMF staff's recent 2024 Article IV Mission to the country.
* China's foreign trade reached a new high in the first half (H1) of this year, providing more momentum for the economic recovery, official data showed Friday.
* The Malaysian central bank on Thursday maintained the overnight policy rate (OPR) at 3 percent.
* Myanmar's Yangon Region Investment Committee (YRIC) approved seven new investments in Yangon In June, which will create over 3,000 jobs, the state-run media Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) reported on Friday, citing the YRIC.
* Around 800 women die "needlessly" across the world every day in pregnancy and childbirth, with the vast majority in developing countries, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday.
* Over three-quarters of Romania's counties will be under a Red Code alert for extreme heat and severe thermal discomfort this weekend, with temperatures expected to soar to 41 degrees Celsius, according to the Romanian National Meteorological Administration (ANM).
* Kuwait was hit by a heatwave on Thursday as the highest temperature exceeded 50 degrees Celsius, according to the Kuwait Meteorological Department.
* Landslides in Nepal swept two buses with at least 65 passengers on board into a river on Friday, while landslides elsewhere in the mountainous country killed at least 10 people, police said.
* A severe storm wreaked havoc mainly in central parts of Latvia on Thursday afternoon, breaking many trees, damaging property and causing large traffic congestions, according to emergency services.
* Some popular tourist cities in the southern Italian island region of Sicily are telling tourists to go elsewhere due to extreme water shortages, according to local government and media reports.
