* Former U.S. President Barack Obama announced his support for Kamala Harris' presidential bid early Friday morning.
* The Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Moldova announced Friday that 64 political parties are eligible to participate in the presidential election and the republican constitutional referendum scheduled for Oct. 20.
* Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), visited the China-DPRK Friendship Tower Friday on the occasion of the 71st anniversary of the country's Fatherland Liberation War victory, state media reported Saturday.
* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday a recently announced guideline on the operation of U.S. nuclear assets on the Korean peninsula is certain to add security concern in the region, South Korean and Russian news agencies reported.
* The European Union (EU) announced on Friday that it has transferred 1.5 billion euros(1.62 billion USD) worth of frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.
* The European Council on Friday placed France and six other European Union (EU) member states (including Belgium, Italy, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia) under formal procedures, urging them to take corrective measures to address their budget deficits.
* The European Union (EU) has granted 136 million euros (148.2 million USD) to help reconstruct the Vore-Hani i Hotit railway line in Albania, following an agreement Friday between the EU, the Ministry of Finance of Albania and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Tirana.
* In a telephone conversation on Friday, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico proposed a technical solution to his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Shmyhal, to partially restart the transit of Russian company Lukoil's oil via Ukraine.
* The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Friday reiterated its concerns over the lingering "highly challenging" nuclear safety and security situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP).
* Myanmar hosted the Fourth Meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) National Security Chiefs in Nay Pyi Taw on Friday, the state-run daily The Mirror reported on Saturday.
* Brunei's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) announced that areas within three nautical miles (5.56 kilometres) radius of specific locations in the country are declared temporary restricted airspace, local media reported on Saturday.
* Russia's central bank has raised its key interest rate by 200 basis points from 16 to 18 percent, it said in a statement Friday.
* Lithuania is set to allocate an additional 20 million euros (about 21.7 million USD) this year for the acquisition of various types of combat and reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas announced on Friday.
* The World Bank Group's Board of Executive Directors has approved development loan totalling 599.1 million euros (650.5 million USD) for Romania to support its economic and environmental sustainability.
* France's TGV high-speed train services are gradually resuming after severe disruptions caused by arson attacks, with one-third of the trains expected to be operational by Friday afternoon, announced the resigning Minister for Transport, Patrice Vergriete.
* At least 30 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on a school that had been housing displaced people in Gaza on Saturday, Palestinian health officials said, while Israel's military said it had struck a Hamas command centre in the school complex.
* At least 39,258 Palestinians have been killed and 90,589 injured in Israel's military offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, Gaza's health ministry said on Saturday.
* The Iranian government has announced that all state centers, organizations and banks will shut down on Sunday due to the hot weather, the official news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.
* Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said on Friday that negotiations over the Gaza conflict "must not go on indefinitely."
* The U.S.-British naval coalition launched three air strikes on Houthi-held Yemeni airport in the port city of Hodeidah on Friday, the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported.
* King Abdullah II of Jordan and U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday discussed efforts to achieve an immediate and enduring ceasefire in Gaza and address the humanitarian crisis in the region.
* Delegations from Egypt, the United States, Qatar, and Israel will meet Sunday in Italy's capital Rome to continue the Gaza truce talks, Egypt's Al-Qahera News TV channel reported on Friday.
* Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday urged African countries to implement robust and innovative strategies to promote their traditional cuisines to position the continent as an attractive gastronomy tourism destination.
* Afghan caretaker government has signed the contract of installing 33 electronic scanners aiming to boost security, curb smuggling, and indorse comprehensive screening commercial goods, the country's acting deputy prime minister for economic affairs office said in a statement on Saturday.
* At least 22 people were killed when Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked the city of al-Fashir, a pro-democracy activist group said on Saturday, the worst toll after weeks of stalemate on that front in the country's civil war.
* The average life expectancy of Japanese people rose in 2023 for the first time in three years, due to a decline in deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic, government data showed. The average life expectancy of women in Japan came to 87.14 years, up 0.05 from 2022, while for men it stood at 81.09, up 0.04.
* Profits of China's major industrial firms increased 3.5 percent year-on-year in the first six months, up from the 3.4 percent increase recorded in the first five months, official data showed on Saturday.
* Thailand's economy is projected to grow 2.7 percent in 2024, up from 2.4 percent expected earlier, due to an increase in foreign tourist arrivals, private consumption and exports, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday.
* Afghanistan exported and imported commercial goods valued at 5.24 billion USD from January to June 2024, said the country's Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a 400 million USD concessional loan on Friday to support the reconstruction of houses and community infrastructure in Pakistan's southern Sindh province damaged by the devastating floods in 2022.
* Singapore's Changi Airport registered 16.5 million passenger movements in the second quarter this year, an increase of 13.4 percent compared to a year ago, the airport said Friday.
* Hungary is planning to allow the temperature limit for a section of the Danube which receives cooling water from the Paks nuclear power plant to be exceeded for security of supply reasons, the energy ministry said in a statement on Friday.
* More than 27,000 people in northeast China were evacuated and hundreds of factories were ordered to suspend production as Typhoon Gaemi brought heavy rains, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.
* Flooding has disrupted traffic on a major highway in southern Myanmar on Friday and Saturday, posing challenges for travelers, the state-run Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) reported on Saturday.
* Heavy rain caused a dam to burst in central Russia's Chelyabinsk region on Friday, prompting officials to evacuate several nearby villages, local authorities said.
* Malaysian authorities have issued an alert on Saturday as hot and dry weather has persisted in several areas over the past week.
* Amid escalating wildfire threats in southern Europe, the European Union (EU) has activated its Civil Protection Mechanism to support the most affected regions.
* Central and southern Italy are grappling with a severe water shortage, with agricultural supplies projected to last only three more weeks, according to local authorities and media reports.
