* German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday that Germany is not part of the war against Iran and does not want to become part of it.
* Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has reaffirmed Moscow's principled position on the unacceptability of U.S. economic and political pressure on Cuba. Lavrov made the affirmation following a phone conversation with his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla on Thursday, according to a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
* China will impose anti-dumping duties on imports of halogenated butyl rubber originating in Japan and Canada after a final ruling found that the products were dumped, causing material injury to the domestic industry, the Ministry of Commerce said on Friday.
* Indonesia reported stable macroeconomic conditions supported by strong domestic consumption, while the government also stepped up infrastructure development, officials said on Friday.
* The Cambodian government on Friday approved a draft law on combating online scams, which will deliver severe sentences to masterminds, a minister said.
* Russia's poverty rate declined to 6.7 percent in 2025, down 0.4 percentage point from the previous year, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said on Friday.
* Polish President Karol Nawrocki has said on Thursday that he would not sign a law allowing Poland to take out loans under the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) program of the European Union (EU).
* The 12th Summit of the Developing Eight (D-8) Organization for Economic Cooperation has been postponed due to the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, an Indonesian foreign ministry official said Friday. The summit was originally scheduled for April 13 to 15 in Jakarta.
* Russia's Northern Fleet said Thursday that the nuclear-powered submarine Kazan successfully struck a surface target at a distance of 300 km using an Oniks cruise missile during a planned combat training exercise.
* Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda met with Czech President Petr Pavel in Vilnius on Thursday to discuss strengthening cooperation in the defense industry, particularly in drone technologies and artificial intelligence.
* Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said early Friday that Afghanistan had once again been subjected to airstrikes by Pakistan. Mujahid posted on the social media platform X that, continuing previous attacks, Pakistani forces carried out bombings in several areas in Afghanistan, including Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, and Paktika.
* Civilians, primarily women and children, continue to bear the brunt of escalating cross-border hostilities between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported on Friday.
* Laos' Ministry of Industry and Commerce has announced an adjustment to the country's fuel pricing mechanism, shifting from weekly price reviews to more frequent updates in response to volatility in the global oil market linked to ongoing tensions in the Middle East.
* Australia's energy minister on Friday announced that the federal government will release up to 762 million litres of petrol and diesel from its domestic reserves amid the conflict in the Middle East.
* Indonesia, through state-owned energy company Pertamina, is seeking alternative crude oil import sources as tensions in the Middle East disrupt shipping activities.
* The World Bank on Friday announced the approval of an 800-million-U.S.-dollar loan to help the Philippines strengthen its fiscal resilience, attract higher-quality private investment, and equip its workforce with skills needed for better and more productive jobs.
* The Afghan Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has announced the issuance of work permits to more than 15,000 foreign nationals over the past four years, local media outlet TOLOnews reported late Thursday.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel to end the war and restore Lebanon's sovereignty and stability.
* Türkiye is engaged in "intense" diplomatic efforts to prevent a spillover in the war in the Middle East, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday. Following his meeting with visiting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Erdogan said Guterres' calls for diplomacy and dialogue are highly valuable in these challenging times.
* Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian discussed regional military escalation in a phone call on Friday, read a statement by the Egyptian presidency.
* Russia is deeply concerned over the uncontrolled escalation of the Middle East conflict, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Thursday.
* Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Thursday called for the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz and pledged to open new fronts in his country's conflict with the United States and Israel.
* Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said on Thursday its Navy has hit the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain's Mina Salman port with missiles and drones.
* People across Iran on Friday took to the streets to mark International Quds Day, an annual event expressing support for Palestinians and condemnation of Israeli actions.
* The Israeli army said Friday in a statement that it has begun a broad reinforcement of troops along the northern border with Lebanon, "as part of strengthening readiness for various offensive and defensive scenarios."
* The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority on Friday announced a new 72-hour extension of the country's airspace closure amid ongoing regional tensions.
* The Turkish Defense Ministry said Friday that it intercepted a ballistic munition from Iran that entered Turkish airspace.
* The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group for Iraq's pro-Iranian militias, said Friday that its fighters targeted two U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft over western Iraq.
* Residents in Dubai received mobile alerts on Friday warning of a potential missile threat and urging them to seek shelter.
* The United Arab Emirates (UAE) intercepted 10 ballistic missiles and 26 drones launched from Iran on Thursday, the Defense Ministry said.
* The bodies of 84 identified Iranian sailors killed in the March 4 U.S. attack on the warship IRIS Dena off Sri Lanka's coast were repatriated to Iran, Sri Lanka's Defense Ministry said Friday.
* All six crew members aboard a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft that went down in western Iraq on Thursday were confirmed dead, the U.S. Central Command said Friday.
* A French soldier was killed in an attack in Erbil province in Iraq's northern semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, President Emmanuel Macron said Friday.
* More than 4.1 million people have been internally displaced in Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon and Pakistan since the beginning of the recent escalation in the Middle East, a UN spokesperson said Thursday.
* South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has authorized the deployment of 2,200 soldiers to assist the police in combating illegal mining and gangsterism, the Presidency announced on Friday.
* Peru has declared a state of emergency in 283 districts to mitigate high risks and address the impact of intense rainfall on public safety, the official gazette El Peruano reported Thursday.
