* Talks between Britain and India on a free trade agreement (FTA) have gained momentum but further work is needed on services and tariffs to secure a deal, a British source close to the negotiations told Reuters.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the West was stoking the "flames of war" by supporting Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, and that Western weapons supplied to Ukraine "burn well" on the battlefield.
* Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said his planned talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin could lead to restoration of the Black Sea grain initiative, and called on Western countries to consider Russia's demands, Turkish broadcasters reported on Friday.
* Russia is negotiating exports of food to countries most in need after quitting the Black Sea grain initiative, but has not yet signed any contracts, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said on Friday.
* Algeria has submitted a request to become a shareholder member of BRICS Bank with an amount of $1.5 billion, Ennahar TV quoted Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune as saying.
* India and Sri Lanka said on Friday that they had agreed to improve economic ties by increasing cooperation in renewable energy and studying the feasibility of building an oil pipeline and a land bridge between the two countries.
* Turkey will act to ratify Sweden's NATO membership bid in conjunction with cooperation from Stockholm in the fight against terrorism, President Tayyip Erdogan was quoted on Friday as saying.
* Turkey issued arrest warrants for Danish politician Rasmus Paludan and nine other suspects for burning a copy of the Koran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm in January, the Turkish justice minister said.
* Seconded staff and operations at the Swedish embassy in Baghdad have been relocated temporarily to Stockholm for security reasons, news agency TT reported on Friday, citing the Swedish foreign ministry.
* Moscow will do "all it can" to protect Africa from the consequences of Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea grain export deal, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said on Friday.
* Iran "reserves the right for reciprocal and proportional action" after the European Union imposed new sanctions over Tehran's support for Russia's “special military operation” in Ukraine, its foreign ministry said on Friday.
* Mediterranean and Middle East countries will meet in Rome on Sunday to boost efforts to stem illegal migration flows, with Italy saying the aim is to help countries in Africa in order to reduce the impetus for migrants to reach Europe.
* Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan is set to meet his Azeri and Russian counterparts in Moscow, Russia's TASS news agency said on Friday.
* Iran's oil ministry said the oil cargo of an Iranian-flagged supertanker seized by Indonesia last week does not belong to Tehran, Iranian state media reported on Friday.
* The death toll from a landslide in India's western state of Maharashtra rose to 22 on Friday, with six more bodies being pulled out from underneath layers of mud before rescue operations were suspended, disaster relief officials said.
* At least seven people were killed and 16 others missing in Bhutan after flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains washed away a section of a small hydroelectric plant on Thursday, local media reported.
* Greece struggled to contain a wildfire west of Athens that burnt forestland for a fifth day on Friday as another heatwave hit the country.
