* Campaign season for Spain's general election scheduled on July 23 kicked off on Thursday, with incumbent Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, candidate of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, and Alberto Nunez Feijoo from the People's Party, among others, being the major contesters for the post of the country's prime minister.
* Prime Minister Chris Hipkins made his first foreign policy speech on Friday since he took office six months ago, describing New Zealand as "the best little country in the world" as well as its relationships with major countries including China.
* U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will join President Joe Biden for NATO meetings in the United Kingdom and Lithuania next week before traveling to Indonesia for an ASEAN ministers meeting, the State Department said on Friday.
* Brazil's lower house of Congress approved in the early hours of Friday the main text of a tax reform that will restructure the country's complex consumption taxes, a move President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva touted as a "great victory".
* Turkey did not green-light Sweden's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) at a three-party meeting held in Brussels on Thursday, but the participants agreed to meet again next Monday in Vilnius, Lithuania, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.
* Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday discussed further aid and the reconstruction of Ukraine.
* Non-essential travel by Russian citizens to and through Finland to other Schengen area countries will continue to be restricted, and restrictions will be tightened for business travelers, property owners and students, Finland's Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a press release on Thursday.
* The defense ministers of Switzerland, Austria and Germany have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on their participation in the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI), the Swiss Federal Council said in a statement issued on Friday.
* Turkey expects Gulf countries to make direct investments of about $10 billion initially in domestic assets as part of President Tayyip Erdogan's trip to the region in two weeks, according to two senior Turkish officials.
* Israeli security forces on Friday killed two Palestinians who carried out a shooting attack against police this week, Israel's military said.
* The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has pledged to provide 15 million USD to help rehabilitate the West Bank Palestinian city of Jenin in the wake of an Israeli raid, the official news agency WAM reported on Thursday.
* The European Union said it has handed over military equipment to the Somali National Army (SNA) to help them fight against the al-Shabab terrorist group as the African Union peacekeepers are withdrawing from the country.
* The United Nations mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said Friday it would stay committed to working with the South Sudanese people, as well as regional and international partners for sustainable peace and stability in the country.
* The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations on Friday called for enhanced early warning and anticipatory action in Somalia ahead of an expected El Nino and positive Indian Ocean Dipole event.
* Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Thursday said the country's third moon mission Chandrayaan-3 is scheduled to be launched on July 14.
* The U.S. economy added the fewest jobs in 2-1/2 years in June, but persistently strong wage growth pointed to still-tight labor market conditions that most certainly ensure the Federal Reserve will resume raising interest rate later this month.
* Farmers in India have fallen behind in planting key summer-sown crops such as rice, cotton, corn and soybeans due to the uneven distribution of monsoon rainfall, although they could catch up in the coming weeks if sufficient rain occurs.
* The inflation rate in Cyprus dropped to 1.9 percent in June, the lowest level in the last 25 months, the country's statistical service (Cystat) said Thursday.
* The International Monetary Fund will seek the support of Pakistan's political parties, including former Prime Minister Imran Khan's party, for a recently announced $3 billion bailout programme, as the country prepares for national elections, the lender said on Friday.
* Iran has discussed with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) joint investment in the oil and gas industry and joint development of shared oilfields, Shana News Agency affiliated to the Iranian Oil Ministry reported Thursday.
* Nigeria plans to boost its tax-to-GDP ratio to at least 18% in three years, part of a push to curb its reliance on borrowing to finance public spending, its presidency said in a statement.
