* The Group of 20 (G20) major economies meeting in India failed on Saturday to reach consensus on phasing down fossil fuels following objections by some producer nations.
* U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Mexico's incoming Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena spoke over the phone about collaboration on migration and security, Mexico's foreign ministry said on Twitter Friday.
* India and Sri Lanka signed five Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) Friday on animal husbandry and dairy, renewable energy, solar power, development of Trincomalee district on Sri Lanka's northeastern coast and payment application.
* Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday discussed "in detail" the renewal of the Black Sea Grain Initiative during a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, the Turkish presidency said in a statement.
* Britain's governing Conservative Party suffered defeats on Friday by losing two parliamentary seats in crucial by-elections just a year before the next general election.
* The Czech Republic plans to acquire at least 77 new Leopard 2A8 tanks from Germany in a planned joint purchase, the country's Defense Minister Jana Cernochova said on Friday.
* Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit on Friday condemned Swedish authorities' repeated approval for some extremists to desecrate the Quran.
* The Iraqi Foreign Ministry condemned Saturday the burning of a copy of the Muslim holy book Quran and the Iraqi flag by members of an extremist group in Denmark.
* Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday called on the Swedish government to hand over the perpetrator of the recent "crimes" of insulting the Quran to Muslim states' judicial systems.
* The humanitarian situation in South Sudan continued to worsen, driven by compounding effects of years of conflict, sub-national violence, food insecurity, climate crisis, and public health challenges, a UN agency said Friday.
* Laos recorded a trade deficit of 126 million USD in June, according to the latest figures from the Lao Trade Portal website.
* Argentina's financial crisis, which has been marked by exchange rate volatility and soaring inflation, should start abating in November and December, with large foreign currency inflows from the wheat harvest, cabinet chief Agustin Rossi told Reuters on Friday.
* Uzbekistan's foreign trade turnover has exceeded 29 billion USD from January to June this year, the country's Statistics Agency said on Friday.
* Mongolia has received a total of 421,780 foreign tourists so far this year, up nearly 73 percent year-on-year, the country's Ministry of Environment and Tourism said Friday.
* There is a greater than 90 percent chance that El Niño will continue through the Northern Hemisphere this winter, according to a recent analysis by the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS).
* Last year was the hottest and driest year on record in Italy, with its long-term impact exacerbating the dramatic consequences of this year's extended drought, a joint report by two Italian research institutes has said.
* Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian teenager during clashes with stone throwers in the occupied West Bank on Friday, Palestinian officials said.
* The death toll from a landslide in India's western state of Maharashtra rose to 26 on Saturday, a disaster relief official said, with dozens still feared trapped under layers of mud and slush two days after the incident.
* At least 17 people were killed and 45 others injured when a passenger bus veered off the road and fell into a waterbody in Bangladesh's Jhalokati district, a senior police official said on Saturday.
