* Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened an emergency meeting of the National Command Authority (NCA) early Saturday to discuss possible responses involving the country's missile and nuclear capabilities, amid escalating tensions with India, state television reported.
* Amid escalating military conflict with Pakistan, the Indian government Saturday said 32 airports across northern and western parts of the country have been shut for civilian flight operations until May 15.
* All schools, colleges and other educational institutions in the Indian-controlled Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Chandigarh were shut for two days till Saturday, following escalating tensions with Pakistan, Indian media reported on Friday.
* China strongly urges India and Pakistan to act in the larger interest of peace and stability and exercise calm and restraint, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Saturday. The spokesperson made the remarks when asked to comment on the escalating tension between India and Pakistan.
* Canada's new federal cabinet will be sworn in Tuesday morning, said the office of the governor general on Friday. According to an announcement of the office, Governor General Mary Simon will preside over the swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall.
* Romania's Constitutional Court on Friday validated the results of the first round of the presidential election rerun held on May 4, confirming that the process complied with constitutional procedures.
* Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said on Friday that he is submitting to parliament a proposal to hold a national referendum on whether Bulgarians agree that their country should adopt the single European currency euro in 2026.
* Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye on Friday officially launched the campaign for the country's combined legislative and district elections, scheduled for June 5, in Gitega, the country's political capital.
* Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin had in-depth exchanges of views on China-Russia relations and major international and regional issues and reached many new and important common understandings during Xi's visit to Russia, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Friday.
* China and the United States kicked off on Saturday a high-level meeting on economic and trade affairs in Geneva, Switzerland.
* French President Emmanuel Macron and visiting Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Friday signed a treaty of friendship in Nancy, northeastern France, aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation in areas such as defense and energy.
* Hungary has expelled two Ukrainian diplomats accused of conducting espionage under diplomatic cover, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced on Friday. Szijjarto confirmed that the two expelled diplomats were stationed at the Ukrainian Embassy in Budapest.
* Mexico has filed a legal lawsuit against Google for labeling the Gulf of Mexico as "Gulf of America" on Google Maps for American users, arguing that the move violates the sovereignty and international recognition of Mexican territory, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday.
* An operation to find and clear unexploded ammunition off the coast of Lithuania began on Friday, the Baltic News Service (BNS) has reported. According to the Lithuanian Armed Forces, the mission aims to safeguard existing underwater infrastructure.
* Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi confirmed on Friday that the next round of indirect talks with the United States will be held in Oman on Sunday, adding the Omani side is expected to announce the time to start the negotiations.
* Despite the threat of explosives in Syria, UN humanitarians said on Friday that while 670,000 people have been displaced since November, more than 1 million others have returned home.
* Hamas on Friday rejected U.S. accusations that it was controlling humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.
* Police in Istanbul detained 982 people during a large-scale security operation aimed at maintaining public order and identifying criminal suspects, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Friday.
* The Israeli military said on Friday it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen, triggering air raid sirens in central Israel. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the alerts were activated in accordance with standard procedures.
* A total of 9,113 Afghan refugees returned to their homeland from neighboring Iran and Pakistan on Wednesday and Thursday, Afghanistan's High Commission for Addressing Returnees Problems said Friday.
* Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday that the government must intervene in the pricing system to shield families from what he views as unjustified price increases, as inflation continues to put pressure on household budgets.
* Cambodia exported products worth 9.13 billion USD in the first four months of 2025, a year-on-year increase of 14 percent, said an official report released on Saturday.
* Canada's unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 6.9 percent in April, following an increase of 0.1 percentage points in March, Statistics Canada said Friday.
* Central banks of the East African Community (EAC) member states on Friday projected regional economic growth at 5.8 percent in 2025.
* Turkey inked a gas supply deal with Syria on Friday, agreeing to provide six million cubic meters of natural gas daily for its neighbor country, Syria's state-run SANA news agency reported.
* The death toll from Africa's ongoing mpox outbreak has surpassed 1,750, as the number of cases reported since the beginning of 2024 approaches 130,000, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
