* Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced in a televised address on Thursday that he will dissolve parliament and call an early parliamentary election for May 18.
* Bulgaria's Constitutional Court on Thursday declared that the election of 16 members of the 240-seat parliament on Oct. 27, 2024, was illegal. According to the court's decision published on its website, all eight current parliamentary groups are affected, including GERB - UDF (three), "There Is Such People" (three seats), and MECH (three), which currently have 69 seats, 18 seats, and 12 seats, respectively.
* United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is visiting Bangladesh to inspect the situation of more than 1 million Rohingya refugees in the country, officials said.
* Global sea levels rose faster than anticipated in 2024, primarily due to the expansion of ocean water as it warms, NASA reported Thursday. A NASA-led analysis found that last year's rate of sea level rise was 0.59 centimeters per year, higher than the expected 0.43 centimeters per year.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he saw "good signals" toward finalizing a 30-day ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
* Russia is "in favor" of the 30-day ceasefire plan proposed by the United States and Ukraine, but nuances exist, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.
* Russia has expanded its entry ban on representatives of the European Union and its member states in response to the bloc's latest sanctions package, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
* The United States is tightening restrictions on Russia's oil, gas and banking sectors by limiting their access to U.S. payment systems, according to CBC News.
* A gasoline storage tank in Russia's Krasnodar Territory was on fire as a result of a Ukrainian drone attack, regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said Friday on his Telegram channel.
* Russian air defense forces on Friday shot down four drones flying to Moscow, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his Telegram channel.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he believes the United States would annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office, U.S. news outlets reported.
* Greenlandic political leaders have firmly rejected U.S. President Donald Trump's latest comments on the potential annexation of Greenland, stressing the need for unity and a strong stance against external pressure.
* U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened a 200-percent tariff on French and European Union (EU) alcoholic products unless the EU removes its 50-percent tariff on American whiskey.
* The World Trade Organization (WTO) said Thursday that Canada has requested WTO dispute consultations with the United States regarding the tariffs imposed by the U.S. on certain steel and aluminum products from Canada.
* France will retaliate if the United States follows through on a threat to impose a 200-percent tariff on all wines and spirits coming from France and other European Union (EU) countries, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade Laurent Saint-Martin said on Thursday.
* Venezuela and the United States agreed on Thursday to resume repatriation flights for undocumented Venezuelan migrants in the United States as part of the South American country's "Return to the Homeland" plan.
* The Indonesian government aims to increase research funding for universities to 1 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), a significant rise from the 0.3 percent allocated in 2024, Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology Brian Yuliarto said on Thursday.
* Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that negotiations on the text of the draft Agreement on Peace and the Establishment of Interstate Relations with Armenia have been concluded.
* Kazakhstan and the European Union (EU) signed key agreements aimed at supporting sustainable economic growth and regional connectivity on Thursday, according to the press service of the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan.
* Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan will resume air traffic after a four-year break. This was announced during a joint statement by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon following bilateral talks in Bishkek on Thursday.
* Palestine, Jordan, and Egypt on Thursday welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump's retreat from his previous plan of displacing the more than 2 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
* Israel carried out a drone attack in the central Gaza Strip on Thursday, targeting militants who attempted to plant explosive devices, the Israeli military said in a statement.
* Iraq on Thursday called on the United States to reconsider its decision to suspend support for international organizations operating within the country.
* Qatar announced on Thursday the start of natural gas supplies to Syria through Jordan to address the country's severe electricity shortage, according to Qatar News Agency.
* Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Thursday that the discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have emphasized the urgency of finalizing a loan program with the fund before summer, according to a statement from the Lebanese presidency.
* The Israeli army on Thursday launched multiple airstrikes in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa region, according to Lebanese and Israeli sources.
* Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa met in Damascus on Thursday with a high-level Turkish delegation, said a statement from the Syrian presidency.
* Sudan on Thursday suspended all imports from Kenya for the latter's hosting of activities involving the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in late February.
* The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Thursday warned against misinformation and hate speech in Libya against refugees and migrants.
* Starving families in a famine-struck camp in west Sudan have been forced to eat animal feed, UN humanitarians said on Thursday. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said it is alarmed by the deteriorating conditions in the Zamzam camp outside El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state.
* International medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) on Thursday warned of soaring malnutrition rates in Somalia, where chronic funding shortfalls have crippled humanitarian efforts.
* The Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Thursday announced the termination of the mandate of its regional peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
* Republic of Korea's export volume rebounded last month due to strong demand for chemical products and transport equipment, central bank data showed Friday. Export volume index rose 2.8 percent in February from a year earlier, after tumbling 10.6 percent in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
* Brazil's output of cereals, legumes and oilseeds is projected to hit a record high of 323.8 million tons this year, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics said Thursday. This represents an increase of 10.6 percent, or 31.1 million tons, over the year of 2024, the agency said.
* NASA and SpaceX are targeting Friday to launch the agency's Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), after the launch attempt was scrubbed on Wednesday due to technical issues.
* The Bangladeshi government is set to launch a countrywide campaign to distribute Vitamin A-plus capsules to 22.6 million children between six months and five years old, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said Thursday.
* Tanzanian health authorities on Thursday declared the end of the country's second Marburg virus disease (MVD) outbreak after recording no new cases for 42 days following the death of the last confirmed patient on Jan. 28.
