* The Lao government will provide more financial support to help financial institutions in accelerating loans to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in 2024.
* Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) on Thursday launched the process of nomination for presidential candidates in the July elections.
* Algeria planned to hold early presidential elections on Sept. 7, according to a presidential statement.
* Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet will pay an official visit to Laos on March 25-26 at the invitation of his Lao counterpart Sonexay Siphandone, Cambodia's foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
* Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday left for a two-day state visit to the neighbouring country of Bhutan.
* Russia and Ukraine both believe the conflict will end through negotiations, China's special envoy for Eurasian affairs said on Friday, even though the warring states view the prospect of peace talks very differently and are adamant in their positions.
* The United States will ask the U.N. Security Council on Friday to back a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an Israel-Hamas hostage deal, increasing pressure on its ally Israel to allow more humanitarian aid and better protect civilians.
* The world's first Nuclear Energy Summit convened in Brussels on Thursday, highlighting the role of nuclear energy in addressing global challenges such as reducing fossil fuel use, enhancing energy security, and boosting economic development.
* Explosions sounded in cities across Ukraine on Friday morning as Russia launched a fresh missile attack, local media reported.
* European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to invite Bosnia to open EU membership negotiations, while also stressing the Balkan country would have to undertake more reforms before the talks could begin.
* Moldova's Parliament on Thursday endorsed an appeal to press on with a drive to join the European Union, but the opposition walked out of the vote and separatists in the Transdniestria region urged authorities to drop their claim to the enclave.
* The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives and Democratic-majority Senate on Friday will scramble to beat a midnight government shutdown deadline by passing a $1.2 trillion bill keeping the government funded through September.
* The European Commission proposed on Friday imposing tariffs on imports of grain from Russia and Belarus in a bid to curb the income of Moscow and its ally, and placate farmers who have protested for months over cheap imports.
* The European Commission's plans to impose tariffs on agricultural products from Russia and Belarus will impact global food security, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Friday.
* Germany and France have reached a "breakthrough" on how to develop the planned joint Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) for a new tank design and split up tasks between the two countries, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Friday.
* Slovenia, Croatia and Italy are joining forces to implement trilateral border police patrols aimed at tackling illegal migration, Slovenian Interior Minister Bostjan Poklukar said on Thursday.
* The Canadian government will decrease the number of temporary residents allowed into the country, and for the first time, will set targets for the percentage they represent in the total Canadian population as is done for permanent resident arrivals, Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced at a news conference in Ottawa on Thursday.
* Mexico will provide support for undocumented Mexican migrants targeted by a new law in the U.S. state of Texas that threatens them with imprisonment if they refuse to be deported, Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena said Thursday.
* Azerbaijan has begun its diplomatic relations with the Afghan caretaker government, Afghanistan's Tolonews TV quoted Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson of the Afghan caretaker government, as saying on Thursday.
* Mexico has signed an agreement with Venezuela to deport migrants and reached deals with Mexican and Venezuelan companies to employ them, Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena told a news conference on Thursday.
* The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday unanimously adopted the first global resolution on artificial intelligence that encourages countries to safeguard human rights, protect personal data, and monitor AI for risks.
* U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday he believed talks in Qatar could still reach a Gaza ceasefire agreement while Israel attacked Hamas gunmen in the enclave's Al Shifa hospital and evacuated patients.
* Australia and Britain said in a joint statement on Friday there were potentially devastating consequences of an Israeli ground invasion of Rafah in Gaza.
* Finland will resume funding to the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, its foreign trade and development minister said on Friday.
* Militants killed at least 23 Nigerien soldiers and wounded 17 more during an attack on a military unit in the northwestern corner of the country on Wednesday, the defence ministry said.
* The EU's naval mission in the southern Red Sea said on Thursday it had destroyed three ballistic missiles and a Houthi seaborne drone to protect merchant ships.
* Some 7,160 new foreign-invested firms were set up across China during the first two months of 2024, marking a 34.9 percent increase year on year, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed on Friday.
* The International Monetary Fund's executive board on Thursday approved a third review of Ukraine's $15.6 billion loan program, allowing the release of $880 million for budget support and bringing total disbursements to $5.4 billion, the IMF said.
* An International Monetary Fund staff mission is in Ethiopia, a senior finance ministry official said on Thursday, as the nation faces a deadline with major creditor countries to secure a loan from the international lender.
* Germany's upper house of parliament passed on Friday a 3.2 billion euro ($3.46 billion) tax relief package for small and medium-sized companies, aimed at unleashing new investment amid weak foreign demand and high interest rates.
* Myanmar exports about 2,000 tons of coffee annually and this year's exports are expected to remain consistent with that figure, U Myo Aye, chairman of the Myanmar Coffee Association, told Xinhua on Friday.
* Afghanistan shipped exported products worth 1.81 billion USD in the past 12 months, or the Persian calendar year 1402, down by 6 percent year on year, Abdul Salam Jawad, spokesman of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, said on Thursday.
