* The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) announced Friday that more than nine million voters have registered during the past week to take part in the country's upcoming general election, scheduled for June 1.
* The Pentagon is sending an amphibious assault ship and a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) to the Middle East amid the ongoing conflict with Iran, U.S. news outlets reported Friday.
* Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Friday reiterated support for Cuba in face of the U.S. blockade that has been in place for more than six decades.
* U.S. President Donald Trump has rejected a proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin to move Iran's enriched uranium to Russia as part of a deal to end the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, a U.S. news website reported Friday.
* The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired an unidentified projectile eastward, with the exact number yet to be confirmed, the Republic of Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Saturday. The JCS is currently analyzing the specifications and range of the projectile.
* Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday announced a plan worth over 40 billion Canadian dollars (about 29.3 billion USD) to enhance the country's defense and economic development in the Arctic.
* Russian air defense downed at least 14 drones heading toward Moscow on Saturday, said Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.
* The U.S. decision to temporarily ease sanctions on Russian oil is intended to help stabilize global energy markets, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday.
* The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday summoned the ambassadors of the United Kingdom and France to Moscow and lodged a strong protest over a Ukrainian missile attack on the Bryansk region, blaming the two European countries for their involvement in the attack.
* French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that France will remain calm after a French soldier was killed on Thursday evening in Iraq. Macron made the remarks during a press conference with visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, reiterating that France "is not engaged in a war" and that the country's position in the Middle East "is purely defensive."
* China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) has announced a new policy to expand a cross-customs-district return model for retail export goods from cross-border e-commerce.
* Thirteen U.S. service members have been killed after two weeks of conflict with Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing a U.S. official.
* More than 400 fuel depots and gas stations in Cambodia remained closed due to new stock delays following the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Saturday.
* Kazakhstan has brought 10,275 citizens home from the Middle East, the Kazinform news agency reported Saturday, citing the Kazakh Foreign Ministry. According to Kazinform, the evacuation was carried out via multiple routes, including land and air corridors, with the help of diplomatic missions.
* The U.S. Commerce Department on Friday revised down the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 0.7 percent in its second estimate.
* The Brunei government on Saturday proposed a national budget of 6.3 billion Brunei dollars (4.92 billion USD) for the 2026/27 fiscal year, slightly lower than the 6.35 billion Brunei dollars allocated in the previous fiscal year.
* Kyrgyzstan's GDP reached 264.05 billion soms (about 3.02 billion USD) in January-February, up 8.8 percent year on year, according to preliminary data released Friday by the country's National Statistical Committee.
* Iran has the right to ensure its own security and the right not to condone attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Vasily Nebenzya told media on Friday.
* Twelve medical workers, including doctors, nurses, and rescuers, were killed early Saturday when an Israeli airstrike struck a primary healthcare center in the southern Lebanese town of Burj Qalaouiyeh, Lebanon's Health Ministry said.
* Israeli shells landed inside the Nepalese battalion's compound of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in the southern Lebanese border village of Mays al-Jabal on Friday, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported.
* U.S. and Israeli military strikes have killed 210 students and teachers in Iran and injured another 160 since Feb. 28, Iran's Fars News Agency reported on Saturday, citing the country's education minister.
* Representatives from Israel and Lebanon are expected to meet for a round of talks in the coming days, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Saturday, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
* Jordanian military forces said Saturday that 85 missiles and drones were launched from Iran toward Jordanian territory during the second week of the ongoing U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict, targeting vital sites across the kingdom.
* Hamas on Saturday called on Iran to refrain from targeting neighboring countries and urged regional states to cooperate to end the war and preserve fraternal ties.
* A Greek-flagged tanker was hit near Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk early Saturday, Greece's Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy Vasilis Kikilias said.
* Ivorian Vice Prime Minister and Defense Minister Tene Birahima Ouattara on Friday reaffirmed Cote d'Ivoire's commitment to strengthening its counterterrorism measures.
* A 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck northern Chile on Friday, with no casualties or material damage reported so far, Chilean authorities said.
