* Josh Simons, a British Labour member of parliament (MP), resigned on Thursday so that Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham could replace him in his constituency through a by-election. This would pave the way for Burnham's return to the House of Commons. He is widely seen as a potential challenger to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's leadership in the Labour Party.
* Iraq's new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi was sworn in Baghdad on Thursday with a partial Cabinet after lawmakers failed to reach consensus on several key posts, including the interior and defense ministries. Parliament approved 14 members of al-Zaidi's Cabinet, while votes on the remaining portfolios were delayed amid ongoing political negotiations.
* The Lao government has introduced stricter entry requirements for foreign tourists, requiring tour operators to provide confirmed hotel bookings covering the entire duration of visitors' stays as part of new security and tourism management measures.
* Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on Friday for a tour to the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Italy. According to media reports, the PM's visits were aimed at deepening India's strategic partnerships across various sectors, including trade, technology, energy, innovation and green growth, while reinforcing New Delhi's expanding engagement with Europe and the Gulf region.
* John Ratcliffe, director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), met with Cuban officials in Havana on Thursday over "intelligence cooperation, economic stability, and security issues," NBC News reported, citing a CIA official.
* The Estonian government on Thursday decided to extend nighttime closure at two road border crossing points with Russia in southeastern Estonia for another three months, while also shortening the opening hours of the Narva-1 border crossing point.
* The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) announced on Wednesday the addition of three new entries and the updating of ten existing entries across the United Arab Emirates to bolster the resilience of supply chains and facilitate the flow of key goods across the Gulf region.
* Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas affirmed on Thursday that the Gaza Strip is an integral part of the State of Palestine and that any transitional arrangements must be temporary and not infringe upon the unity of Palestinian territory.
* Israeli and Lebanese officials began a third round of peace talks in Washington on Thursday, an Israeli government official told Xinhua. The talks are expected to continue on Friday, though it was unclear whether the sides were close enough to make progress.
* Kazakhstan and Türkiye signed an agreement on Thursday to establish a joint venture for the production and maintenance of unmanned aerial vehicles, the Kazakh Ministry of Industry and Construction said. The agreement was signed in Astana in the presence of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes the deal to release more than 1,600 conflict-related detainees in Yemen, his deputy spokesman said on Thursday.
* Hamas on Thursday called for a direct meeting with the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) on a joint "national strategy" after the conclusion of Fatah's eighth general conference.
* The Convention for the Popular Revolution, or CRP, an armed group active in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), said Thursday it would observe a unilateral ceasefire ahead of what it described as preliminary talks with the Congolese government under Ugandan facilitation.
* An Indian cargo vessel, the MSV HAJI ALI, sank off the coast of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz following a suspected drone attack, with all crew members rescued safely, London-headquartered maritime security analysis firm Windward said on Thursday.
* The Republic of Korean government saw continued downside risks to the economy amid the Middle East tensions, a finance ministry report said Friday. The Ministry of Economy and Finance said in its monthly report, called Green Book, that the Asian economy recently faced lingering downward risks stemming from the Middle East conflict despite the continued recovery trend shown in the significantly expanding first-quarter growth.
* The Brazilian government said Wednesday it will soon introduce a fuel subsidy to help curb rising prices linked to the Middle East conflict, with the measure initially applying to gasoline and potentially expanding to diesel at a later stage.
* Malaysia's economy expanded 5.4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, moderating from 6.3 percent in the previous quarter, driven by resilient domestic demand and sustained export growth, the central bank said Friday.
* Australia will not impose emergency gas export controls for the third quarter (Q3) of 2026 following confirmation that the country's east coast market has sufficient gas supplies, Minister for Resources Madeleine King said on Friday.
* Fuel prices in New Zealand continued to climb in April, with diesel recording particularly sharp gains, according to data released by Stats NZ on Friday. Petrol prices rose 12.6 percent from March to April, while diesel surged 36.6 percent over the same period, the statistics department said.
* Portugal's Council of Ministers on Thursday approved a sweeping overhaul of the country's labor legislation, sending the draft law to parliament after nine months of negotiations with trade unions and business groups.
* Thailand's National Communicable Disease Committee on Friday approved the designation of hantavirus as a "dangerous communicable disease." According to the Ministry of Public Health, the new mandate requires authorities to report suspected cases within three hours, conduct disease investigations within 12 hours, and enforce a strict 42-day quarantine for high-risk contacts.
* Australia's Northern Territory (NT) has recorded the country's first reported death from diphtheria in nearly a decade, as health authorities grapple with a growing outbreak concentrated in remote Indigenous communities.
* Nine people were killed in a landslide near an illegal gold mining site in West Sumatra province in Indonesia, police said on Friday. The landslide occurred late Thursday in Sijunjung Regency at a cliff near the mining site, where several miners were working at the time, witnesses said.
* China's national observatory on Friday renewed blue alerts for rainstorms and severe convective weather, with heavy downpours expected to lash parts of the country's northwest, southwest and south.
