* Moldova's Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu said on Friday he was stepping down from his post. Munteanu, who has served as prime minister since November 2025, offered no detailed explanation for the decision, saying only that he could no longer carry out his mandate "in accordance with my principles and convictions."
* Chinese authorities announced Friday that starting from January 1, 2027, the country will cancel the policies of halving the vehicle and vessel tax for energy-saving vehicles and exempting certain new energy vehicles (NEVs), including pure electric commercial vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and fuel cell commercial vehicles from the tax.
* Republic of Korea has approved a strategy to build its own low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications network by 2035 and move up its lunar landing target to 2030, Yonhap News Agency reported Friday. The strategy was approved Friday at a meeting of the National Space Committee chaired by President Lee Jae Myung.
* Japan announced a draft cabinet order Friday to raise the fees for foreign nationals' residence status changes and renewals to up to 75,000 yen (about 466 USD) from the current 6,000 yen.
* President of Myanmar Min Aung Hlaing arrived in the Lao capital Vientiane on Friday for a state visit from Friday to Sunday, accompanied by his spouse and a high-level delegation.
* Malaysia will continue to pursue an independent and neutral foreign policy while defending its national interests and principled positions on international issues, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Thursday.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that it is "ridiculous" for the United States to maintain what he described as a "one sided" relationship with NATO.
* International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi on Thursday condemned Tuesday's drone attacks as "unacceptable" after they caused significant damage to a fire station supporting emergency response at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Iran will buy U.S. agricultural products as part of a potential peace agreement to end the war -- a statement that Iran has refuted.
* U.S. job growth cooled in June, according to data released Thursday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nonfarm payrolls for the month rose by a seasonally adjusted 57,000, fewer than May's 129,000 jobs added and short of than economists' forecasts of 115,000.
* Thailand's exports are expected to grow 8 percent to 10 percent in 2026, up from a 2 percent to 4 percent gain seen earlier, despite risks from Middle East tensions and global trade uncertainty, a shippers' group said on Friday.
* Indonesian state-owned energy company Pertamina and its downstream subholding, Pertamina Patra Niaga, have confirmed their readiness to distribute an initial 37.92 million liters of B50 biodiesel as the country begins implementing its mandatory B50 fuel blend policy, local media reported on Friday.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Mongolia's Golomt Bank JSC on Thursday signed a 64-million-U.S.-dollar loan agreement to support sustainable finance and expand lending to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), including women-owned businesses in Mongolia.
* Indonesia will modernize 4,582 fishing vessels as part of a national priority program aimed at boosting the productivity and competitiveness of its capture fisheries sector, a minister said Thursday.
* About 100,000 Lebanese children risk missing the new school year unless war-damaged schools are repaired by September, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a statement Thursday.
* France recorded at least 2,025 excess deaths during the latest heatwave that swept across the country in late June, French Health Minister Stephanie Rist said on Friday.
* The death toll from the June 24 earthquake in Venezuela has risen to 2,595, Acting President Delcy Rodriguez said Thursday. Rodriguez said more than 12,000 people have been injured and search and rescue operations remain underway, with 6,462 people rescued so far. The earthquake also destroyed 189 buildings.
* Jordan, in cooperation with Qatar, on Thursday dispatched humanitarian, medical and food aid to Venezuela to support relief efforts following twin earthquakes that struck the country, the Jordanian Armed Forces said in a statement.
* The Peruvian government has declared a state of emergency in 796 districts across 22 regions and the Constitutional Province of Callao, due to the "imminent danger" posed by heavy rains associated with the El Nino climate phenomenon, the Presidential Office said Thursday.
* The United Nations and its partners continue to support response to the Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN humanitarians said Thursday.
* At least 40 people were killed and 8 others injured after a passenger bus plunged into a deep ravine in the Sherani district of Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province on Friday, provincial government officials told Xinhua.
* Indonesia has raised the alert status of Mount Anak Krakatau from Level II to Level III after data showed a surge in volcanic activity and magma movement toward the surface, Lana Saria, acting head of the country's Geological Agency, said Friday.
