* Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi held a strategic dialogue with Sergei Shoigu, secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council, in Beijing on Friday.
* U.S. President Donald Trump ruled out any chance of immediate in-person talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after their tense shouting match at the White House on Friday.
* European leaders lined up to show solidarity with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday following a tense shouting match between Ukrainian President and the U.S. President Donald Trump inside the Oval Office earlier in the day.
* Russia has appointed Alexander Darchiev as its new ambassador to the United States following the approval of Washington, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday.
* Russia is open to dialogue with all countries including the United States, given that it is based on mutual respect, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin ratified an agreement on security guarantees with Belarus within the Union State, according to a document posted on the country's official legal information portal on Friday.
* Mozambican President Daniel Chapo announced that the ongoing political dialogue has resulted in full consensus among all parties involved, paving the way for the signing of an agreement on March 5 in Maputo, the country's capital, state media Radio Mozambique (RM) reported on Friday.
* Thailand has made progress in its fight against transnational scam syndicates operating along its borders, with declining fraudulent cases and financial losses reported within the country, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on Friday.
* The consequences of severe cuts in U.S. foreign aid will be especially devastating for vulnerable people across the world, and the move will "run counter to" Washington's global interests, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Friday.
* The U.S. State Department has approved potential arms sales to Israel totaling about 3 billion USD, the Pentagon said Friday. The packages, notified to Congress under emergency procedures, bypass standard legislative review processes.
* Israel's obstruction of the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement makes it impossible to extend the first phase, a senior Hamas official said Friday.
* Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Thursday that the country does not rule out the possibility of holding negotiations over its nuclear program, but will not "bow to bullies."
* Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer affirmed on Friday the importance of the prompt initiation of the reconstruction of Gaza without displacing the Palestinians from their land.
* The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has declared a ceasefire with Turkey, following the call of its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan for disarmament and dissolution, local media reported on Saturday.
* Lebanese Finance Minister Yassine Jaber revealed on Friday that the World Bank is working on establishing a 1-billion-USD reconstruction fund for Lebanon as part of the ongoing efforts to support the country's economic recovery.
* The number of food-insecure people in Kenya stands at 2.15 million, up from 1 million in July 2024, according to the East African country's National Drought Management Authority (NDMA).
* The Indonesian government plans to ban crude oil exports to optimize domestic refinery capacity and better manage the national oil supply.
* Exporting most of Australia's gas has led to higher prices for Australian households and businesses, said the Australia Institute, which applauds the government's recent commitment to prioritize supply to the domestic market.
* India's gross domestic product (GDP) grew at the rate of 6.2 percent during the third quarter (October-December) of the country's financial year 2024-25 (April 2024-March 2025), official data showed on Friday.
* Sweden's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 1 percent in 2024 compared with the previous year, supported by strong net exports and increased investment, Statistics Sweden reported on Friday.
* France's gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 0.1 percent in volume terms in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024, following a 0.4 percent increase in the previous quarter, the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) announced on Friday.
* Italy's consumer prices rose by 1.7 percent year-on-year in February, driven mainly by energy costs, according to preliminary data released on Friday by the national statistics institute, ISTAT.
* The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has revised its Kazakhstan GDP growth forecast for 2025 downward to 5.2 percent, with a further slowdown to 4.5 percent in 2026, the Interfax news agency reported on Friday, citing the bank's latest Regional Economic Prospects report.
* The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board completed the third review under the 48-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with Sri Lanka, providing the country with immediate access to Special Drawing Right (SDR) 254 million (about 334 million USD) to support its economic policies and reforms, the IMF said in a press release on Friday.
* Cambodia's famed Angkor Archaeological Park attracted 279,604 international visitors in the first two months of 2025, an increase of 18.5 percent compared to the same period last year, said a news release on Saturday.
* The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Friday urged divers and dive operators "to exercise heightened vigilance and adhere to strict safety protocols" in diving areas with strong currents, following the deaths of two Russian divers on Thursday.
* India's federal health minister J P Nadda Friday said efforts were underway to eliminate tuberculosis (TB) from the country by 2025 end.
* The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Friday that the ongoing mpox outbreak in Africa remains classified as a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS).
* China's meteorological authority on Saturday renewed a yellow alert for a cold wave, as most parts of the country will see temperatures plunging over the next few days.
* A 6.0-magnitude earthquake jolted Indonesia's eastern Maluku province early Saturday without triggering large waves, the country's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency reported.
