* The battlefield situation provides grounds to believe that the Ukraine crisis is approaching its conclusion, although it is impossible to specify a timeline for its end while hostilities continue, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
* U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Saturday that a new vision of building a constructive U.S.-China relationship of strategic stability, as agreed by the two heads of state during their recent summit in Beijing, is "meaningful for the history of peace in the region and the world." Hegseth made the remarks while responding to a question from a member of the Chinese delegation at the Shangri-La Dialogue 2026 in Singapore.
* China and the European Union (EU) are discussing the establishment of a trade and investment consultation mechanism and will hold related dialogue, the Ministry of Commerce said Saturday.
* Cuba is a nation of peace and poses no threat to the United States or any other country, the Cuban Association of the United Nations (ACNU) said Friday.
* Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Friday that accusations against Russia over drones allegedly detected in European Union (EU) countries are unfounded and unsupported by evidence.
* Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday rejected U.S. intervention in response to a U.S. decision to label two Brazilian criminal factions as foreign terrorist organizations, insisting that Brazil will fight organized crime on its own.
* Russia has summoned its ambassador to Armenia, Sergey Kopyrkin, for consultations over the Armenian leadership's pivot toward the European Union (EU), the Russian Foreign Ministry said Saturday.
* Mexican and U.S. officials concluded the first formal round of negotiations in Mexico City on Friday as part of the review process for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), Mexico's Economy Ministry said.
* The U.S. military will relocate three RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance aircraft from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam to Yokota Air Base in Tokyo starting this summer, Japanese media reported Friday. The U.S. side said the move is intended to strengthen intelligence gathering and surveillance operations.
* Russia carried out a retaliatory combined strike on Ukraine's military airfields and energy, fuel and transport infrastructure supporting the Ukrainian armed forces, the Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday.
* The Indian government has shared the names of over 2,680 people with the Bangladesh government for nationality verification, Spokesman of India's Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday.
* Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced on Friday that Hungary had reached a political agreement with the European Union on the release of 16.4 billion euros (19.1 billion USD) in previously frozen EU funds.
* Greece is considering adopting tougher migration measures following a sharp increase in migrant arrivals on the island of Crete, Greek media outlet To Vima reported on Friday.
* Türkiye on Friday expressed concern over the escalation in the Black Sea after a Turkish-owned cargo vessel was hit by a drone on Thursday night.
* The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant temporarily lost all off-site power overnight for the 16th time since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Friday.
* U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday deferred his "final determination" on a draft deal with Iran after meeting for about two hours with his national security team at the White House Situation Room.
* Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Friday that no agreement has been finalized with the United States yet and the exchange of messages between the two sides is continuing.
* The more Israeli forces hit targets in southern Lebanon, the greater the restraint on emergency response capacity and access for relief delivery, UN humanitarians said Friday.
* A U.S.-made MQ-9 Reaper drone crashed in Yemen's oil-rich northeastern province of Marib on Friday after being shot down, a Yemeni military official told Xinhua.
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said that Israeli ground forces had crossed the Litani River, beyond the "security zone" it controls in southern Lebanon.
* The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) on Friday said it is sending emergency medical supplies to Iran as the ongoing Middle East conflicts have severely affected the country's healthcare sector. The aid package includes medicines, personal protective equipment, injury kits, and minor surgical tools, valued at 2 billion Indonesian rupiahs (around 112,000 USD), the PMI said.
* The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reaffirmed on Friday its commitment to supporting peace and stability in southern Lebanon despite a deteriorating security situation marked by continued hostilities, repeated violations along the Blue Line, and the risk of further escalation.
* Participants in the 61st Ministerial Meeting of the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa (UNSAC), held in the Burundian commercial capital of Bujumbura, have called for sustainable peace and resilient development in Central Africa.
* Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and state-controlled enterprises reported combined profits of more than 1.37 trillion yuan (about 202 billion USD) in the first four months of 2026, representing year-on-year growth of 1.9 percent, latest government data showed Friday.
* The combined gross domestic product (GDP) of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries reached 3.02 trillion USD in 2025, up 16.6 percent from 2020, Kazinform news agency reported Friday.
* Indonesia is offering 118 potential new oil and gas working areas as part of efforts to boost national production through massive exploration and the accelerated optimization of idle wells and structures, the country's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said Friday.
* German inflation slowed in May after two consecutive months of sharp increases driven by the Middle East war, official data showed on Friday, with the help from a temporary government fuel tax cut aimed at easing energy-driven price pressures.
* France's economy contracted by 0.1 percent quarter on quarter in January-March 2026, according to revised data released on Friday by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE).
* The Nepali government on Friday unveiled an ambitious budget of 2.12 trillion Nepali rupees for the upcoming 2026-27 fiscal year.
* As the Ebola outbreak caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain continues in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that early detection and community mobilization remain critical to saving lives, while potential treatments and vaccines are still being assessed.
* The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East African bloc, has called for urgent regional preparedness against the current Ebola outbreak, warning that it poses a growing threat to the wider Horn of Africa region and beyond.
* Cambodia achieved its 95-95-95 HIV treatment targets last year, and is on track to eliminate AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, the country's Minister of Health Chheang Ra has said.
* Peru has extended a state of emergency for 60 days in 41 districts across 11 regions to continue responding to damage caused by recent heavy rains, the presidency said Friday.
* At least 18 people lost their lives and 30 others sustained injuries when a truck carrying recently returned Afghan refugees overturned in eastern Afghanistan's Laghman province early Saturday, the provincial police office said in a statement.
* Mount Semeru, located in Indonesia's East Java province, erupted on Friday evening, sending an ash column approximately 2,000 meters above the summit, according to the Indonesian Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG).
