* Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong has called for unremitting work to consolidate and expand China's poverty alleviation achievements, and to optimize regular rural support policies.
* Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has rejected raising military spending to 5 percent of GDP as requested by NATO, describing the proposal as "incompatible," "unreasonable" and "counterproductive."
* Finland's parliament voted 157-18 on Thursday to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines, citing national security concerns amid regional tensions.
* The United Nations verified 41,370 grave violations against children in armed conflict in 2024, according to a report released on Thursday. The number of grave violations, which affected 22,495 children in 25 situations, represents a 25 percent surge in comparison with 2023.
* U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to keep TikTok running in the United States for another 90 days, allowing his administration more time to negotiate a deal under the "sell-or-ban" law.
* The Canadian federal government will adjust its counter-tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum products beginning July 21, aligning the measures with progress made in broader trade negotiations, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
* U.S. President Donald Trump will decide on whether he will order a strike against Iran in the next two weeks, as aerial conflict between Israel and Iran continues one week after a surprise attack by Israel.
* Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that ceasefire must be an urgent priority in the Middle East. Xi made the remarks during his phone talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. During the call, the two leaders exchanged views regarding the situation in the Middle East.
* Russia considers any discussion of regime change in Iran completely unacceptable, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said.
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel had already destroyed "more than half" of Iran's missile launchers and was "capable of striking all of Iran's nuclear facilities."
* Iran's air defense systems were activated Thursday in response to "hostile targets" over the capital Tehran, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported.
* Iran's atomic chief on Thursday called on the United Nations nuclear watchdog to immediately end its "inaction" and condemn Israeli attacks on Iran's "peaceful" nuclear facilities, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency.
* Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Thursday renewed Egypt's call for halting the ongoing military escalation between Israel and Iran and for advancing a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, describing negotiations as the only path to regional stability.
* Iraq's top Shiite cleric Ali al-Sistani warned Thursday that any threat targeting Iran's supreme religious and political leadership would portend dire consequences for the region.
* The Australian government has suspended its embassy operations in Iran's capital and ordered officials to leave the country amid the escalating military conflict in the region.
* Italy will maintain operations at its embassies in both Tehran and Tel Aviv amid the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel, while organizing charter flights to assist Italian nationals wishing to leave the two countries, Antonio Tajani, minister of the foreign affairs and international cooperation, said on Thursday.
* British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for restraint following reports that U.S. President Donald Trump has approved plans for a military strike against Iran, The Telegraph reported on Thursday.
* The Czech Republic is temporarily closing its embassy in Tehran, Iran, due to escalating military conflict between Israel and Iran, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Thursday.
* Pakistan on Thursday issued a travel advisory, urging its citizens to avoid all travel to Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria due to the prevailing security situation in the region.
* Slovenia has temporarily withdrawn its diplomatic staff and their families from the embassy in Tehran due to escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs announced on Thursday.
* A total of 269 Afghan nationals who were held in Pakistan's prisons have been set free and repatriated to their homeland Afghanistan on Thursday, reported the local media outlet Tolonews on Friday.
* The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Thursday issued a warning about the emergence of famine hotspots in Yemen in the coming months.
* Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno held an emergency meeting on security and safety after some 50 people had been killed in deadly incidents since May, the presidency said in a statement Thursday.
* International trade must be governed by transparent rules and legal predictability, not by unilateralism or coercive economic measures, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Thursday.
* Indonesia is strengthening its promotional efforts to tap into the growing global tourist market, as the Southeast Asian archipelago continues to struggle to catch up with neighboring countries in attracting international visitors.
* The Philippines' overall balance of payments (BOP) posted a deficit of 298 million USD in May 2025, a reversal from the 2-billion-dollar surplus recorded in May 2024, according to the latest Philippine central bank data.
* Argentina's unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage points to 7.9 percent in the first quarter of 2025, the highest in almost four years, said the National Institute of Statistics and Census Thursday.
* Norway's central bank on Thursday cut its key interest rate from 4.5 percent to 4.25 percent, citing easing inflation and increased economic stability.
* Greece's economy is projected to grow by 2.3 percent in 2025 and 2.0 percent in 2026, according to the Monetary Policy Report released Thursday by the Bank of Greece, the country's central bank.
* The Central Bank of Turkey kept its policy rate unchanged at 46 percent on Thursday, in line with market expectations.
* Malaysia's domestic tourism expenditure for the first quarter of 2025 recorded 29.4 billion ringgit (6.9 billion USD), an increase of 22.1 percent year-on-year, official data showed Thursday.
* Sri Lanka Customs has earned around 165 billion rupees (about 550 million USD) in taxes from vehicle imports so far in 2025, local media reported on Friday, quoting Additional Director General of Customs Seevali Arukgoda as saying.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday approved a 400 million USD loan for a climate-resilient project in Bangladesh that marks a cofinancing with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
* Britain recorded its hottest day of the year on Thursday as an amber heat health alert was issued across England. According to the Met Office's latest forecasts, much of the south of England has seen temperatures rise to between 31 Celcius and 32 Celcius by Thursday afternoon.
