* China, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos are working to crack down on telecom fraud in the Thai-Myanmar border region, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a press conference on Friday.
* A Republic of Korean court approved the release of arrested President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday, opening a possibility for the impeached leader to be tried without detention. The Seoul Central District Court accepted Yoon's request to cancel his arrest, which was made by Yoon's legal team on Feb. 4.
* Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has offered to resign if the opposition Save Romania Union (USR) backs the ruling coalition's candidate, Crin Antonescu, in the upcoming presidential election.
* Ukrainian and the U.S. delegations are expected to meet for peace talks next week in Saudi Arabia, the UNN news agency reported Friday, citing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
* The Latvian parliament on Thursday approved the appointment of three new cabinet ministers in a government reshuffle described by Prime Minister Evika Silina as a "restart" amid criticism over her administration's recent performance.
* Russia launched another large-scale attack on Ukraine's energy system overnight Friday, Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said on Facebook.
* Russia would view the potential deployment of European troops to Ukraine as direct NATO involvement in the conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin has officially appointed Alexander Darchiev as the new ambassador to the United States, read a decree posted on the country's official portal on Thursday. Darchiev previously served as the director of the North Atlantic Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry.
* U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to build a strategic bitcoin reserve. The reserve will draw from cryptocurrency assets seized by the U.S. government through civil or criminal forfeiture proceedings, said venture capitalist David Sacks, who has been appointed as the White House AI and crypto czar by Trump for his new administration.
* Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and her U.S. counterpart Donald Trump have agreed on another month-long pause to a 25-percent tariff on Mexican goods that comply with the rules of origin of the North American free trade agreement known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), Sheinbaum said Thursday.
* Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc announced on Thursday that Canada will halt the second wave of tariffs on U.S. goods until April 2.
* Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko supported the idea of building a plant to produce Russian drones in Belarus, the press service of the Belarusian leader said on Thursday.
* European Union (EU) leaders on Thursday greenlighted plans to enhance the bloc's defense capabilities and reaffirmed their support for Ukraine.
* The United Kingdom (UK) has finalized a 30 million pounds (38.70 million USD) deal with defense tech company Anduril to supply Ukraine with advanced attack drones, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Thursday.
* The Norwegian parliament on Thursday agreed to increase the country's support for Ukraine in 2025, with an additional allocation of 50 billion Norwegian kroner (4.59 billion USD).
* Turkey may consider contributing troops to a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine if necessary, the semi-official Anadolu Agency reported Thursday.
* The Sri Lanka Navy seized an Indian fishing boat and apprehended 14 Indian fishermen for poaching in Sri Lankan waters on Thursday night, the navy said in a statement on Friday.
* The Kyrgyz-Tajik border issue has been fully resolved, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov said Thursday in an interview with the country's Kabar News Agency, commenting on the agreement on the delimitation of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border.
* Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani held a phone conversation to discuss Turkmen gas deliveries to Iraq through Iran, Turkmen local media reported on Thursday.
* The United Nations has released 110 million USD in emergency aid for Africa, Asia and Latin America following cuts in donor funding, the UN aid agency said on Thursday.
* The Israeli and U.S. air forces have conducted a joint military drill involving a strategic bomber, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Thursday.
* Hamas on Thursday condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's recent threats against the group, saying they complicate matters regarding the Gaza ceasefire agreement and encourage Israel not to implement its terms.
* At least 16 security personnel were killed in coordinated attacks by armed groups in Syria's coastal Latakia governorate Thursday, marking the deadliest assault on the new government's forces since the fall of the previous government, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
* Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani on Thursday wrapped up a 24-hour diplomatic visit to the Netherlands, including a historic stop at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague.
* At least 92 suspected terrorists were killed and 111 others arrested in various operations by Nigerian troops in the past week, the military said Thursday.
* The Sudanese government on Thursday welcomed a statement by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) rejecting efforts to create a parallel authority in the country.
* Jordan will host a meeting of Syria's neighboring countries on Sunday to discuss cooperation on combating terrorism, drug and arms smuggling, and other shared challenges.
* Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Workneh Gebeyehu has called for restraint and dialogue to ease rising tensions in South Sudan.
* The Philippines has temporarily banned poultry imports from Indiana, New York, and Pennsylvania due to the bird flu outbreaks in these U.S. states.
* The European Central Bank announced on Thursday that it would slash key interest rates by 25 basis points in a bid to wind down the restrictive monetary policy.
* Republic of Korea's industrial lending grew slower in the fourth quarter of last year owing to domestic political uncertainty, central bank data showed Friday.
* SpaceX launched the eighth test flight of its giant Starship rocket on Thursday, but lost contact with its spacecraft shortly after launch.
* Daily global sea ice cover dropped to an unprecedented low in early February, reflecting the ongoing warming of the planet, the EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service reported on Thursday.
* Tens of thousands of residents in Australia's states of Queensland and New South Wales (NSW) are suffering from power outages as tropical cyclone Alfred approaches the eastern coast of the country and brings intense wind and heavy rainfalls.
* The forest fire in the northeastern Japanese prefecture of Iwate has weakened after two days of rain through Thursday, while the government announced plans to offer financial support for disaster victims.
