* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday asked for more humanitarian aid into Gaza and for safety and security mitigation measures for delivery.
* Chinese Premier Li Qiang landed in Jakarta on Saturday for an official visit to Indonesia at the invitation of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. Following the visit, Li will also travel to Malaysia and attend the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations)-GCC (the Gulf Cooperation Council)-China Summit in Kuala Lumpur on May 26-28.
* A new round of direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine will take place, with Kiev confirming plans for a second round of negotiations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday announced that 390 Ukrainians returned home from captivity during the first stage of prisoner exchange with Russia under the "1,000 for 1,000 formula".
* Pakistan has extended its airspace ban on all Indian flights by one month, the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) announced on Friday. The ban was initially imposed on April 24, 2025.
* The Chinese Consulate General in Sydney on Friday urged Chinese citizens to remain vigilant and take appropriate safety precautions after local media reported a recent street attack in eastern Sydney.
* U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to impose tariffs on Samsung and other smartphone producers, following an earlier announcement targeting Apple.
* European trade chief said on Friday that the European Union (EU) stands ready to defend its interests after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose 50-percent tariffs on all EU goods effective June 1.
* European stocks fell sharply on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump escalated trade tensions with the European Union (EU), proposing sweeping new tariffs and targeting tech giant Apple. The announcement reignited investor fears over the economic fallout of a renewed transatlantic trade war.
* Russia remains one of the largest arms exporters in the world, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday, noting that the country's military equipment is currently in demand.
* Japan's new agriculture minister has pledged to make rice available at 2,000 yen (about 14 USD) per 5 kilograms at retail outlets like supermarkets by early June.
* Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New South Wales (NSW) Premier Chris Minns on Friday toured the regions north of Sydney that have been inundated by widespread flooding following five consecutive days of torrential rainfall.
* Latvia has officially joined the Outer Space Treaty, the foundational United Nations agreement governing peaceful space activities, the Foreign Ministry announced on Friday.
* The fifth round of negotiations between Iran and the United States concluded on Friday in Rome, with limited but inconclusive progress, according to the Omani mediator facilitating the talks.
* A U.S. federal judge has issued an injunction blocking the Trump administration from revoking the legal status of foreign students studying and working in the country.
* Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has asked the Constitutional Court to annul a decision by Parliament Speaker Nataliya Kiselova blocking debate on a proposed referendum over adopting the euro in 2026.
* Croatia and China have agreed to cooperate in the development of knowledge and technology for biodiversity conservation and green development, the Croatian government said in a statement on Friday.
* The Caspian Pipeline Consortium has resumed operations at the Kropotkinskaya oil pumping station, Kazakhstan's Kazinform news agency reported Friday.
* The Norwegian government announced on Friday that it will admit up to 15 new patients from Gaza for medical treatment, citing the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the besieged Palestinian territory.
* Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Friday that the fifth round of Iran-U.S. indirect talks was "one of the most professional rounds."
* The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Friday that its air force struck more than 75 targets across the Gaza Strip over the past day.
* Yemen's Houthi group on Friday claimed responsibility for launching a "hypersonic ballistic missile" attack on Ben Gurion Airport in central Israel, which was reportedly intercepted by Israeli defense systems earlier in the day.
* The Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Friday reaffirmed its commitment to environmental conservation to ensure sustainable development in the region.
* The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) announced on Friday that it has taken control of the strategic city of Al-Dibaibat in South Kordofan State, after battles with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
* Germany's struggling economy delivered an unexpected performance in the first quarter of 2025, with gross domestic product (GDP) rising by 0.4 percent compared to the previous quarter, according to figures released Friday by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).
* Peru's economy expanded by 3.9 percent in the first quarter of 2025, driven mainly by growth in manufacturing, services and mining, the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) reported Friday.
* The number of foreign tourists visiting Slovenia rose by 31.1 percent year-on-year in April, reaching 378,333, the country's Statistical Office reported on Friday.
* Mongolia has registered 114 new cases of measles infection over the past 24 hours, bringing the national caseload to 3,042, according to the country's National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) on Saturday.
* Ethiopia has vaccinated more than 11 million children as part of a nationwide campaign to contain the spread of an ongoing measles outbreak, local media reported.
* Emergency service authority of Australia's state of New South Wales (NSW) said on Saturday that early estimates suggest more than 10,000 properties have been damaged in floodwaters in the state's eastern regions.
* An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1 jolted West of Macquarie Island at 2025-05-23 16:33:26 GMT on Friday, the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences said.
