* The 22nd edition of the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premier defense and security summit, opened in Singapore on Friday amid geopolitical tensions. This year's dialogue drew representatives from 47 countries, including 40 ministerial-level delegates, 20 chief of defense forces-level delegates, over 20 senior defense officials, and prominent academics, according to the Singapore Ministry of Defense.
* The Kremlin announced Friday that it expects both Russian and Ukrainian draft peace memorandums to be reviewed during upcoming negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that he discussed the meetings of Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Turkey in a phone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
* Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the second round of talks planned in Istanbul should have strong delegations to "maintain momentum toward a peaceful resolution."
* A Chinese envoy warned Friday that more weapons on the battlefield will only protract the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
* The Russian Investigative Committee said Friday it had prevented a terrorist attack in Moscow and seized explosives planned to be used in a crowded place.
* Azerbaijan's parliament on Friday ratified an agreement with China establishing a mutual visa-free travel regime for holders of ordinary passports, Sputnik Azerbaijan reported.
* Finland will lead a new European Union (EU) initiative focused on applying quantum technology to defense, the Finnish Ministry of Defense announced on Friday.
* The U.S. Department of State on Friday ordered all U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide to "immediately begin additional vetting" for anyone seeking a visa to travel to Harvard University for "any purpose."
* U.S. President Donald Trump announced Friday that he plans to double tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to 50 percent, a move aimed at further shielding the domestic industry from foreign competition.
* Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday confirmed that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will send a mission next week to assess the possibility of reopening the border to Mexican cattle exports.
* The Cuban government summoned the highest diplomatic representative of the United States in the country, Mike Hammer, to protest his "provocative and irresponsible" behavior, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday. The ministry delivered a note of protest to Hammer, chargé d'affaires of the United States in Havana.
* U.S. President Donald Trump bid farewell to Elon Musk in the Oval Office on Friday, after the billionaire announced his decision to step back from his role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
* Indonesia's national rice reserve has reached a historic milestone, surpassing 4 million tons as of Thursday, the highest level recorded since the establishment of the country's state food company Perum Bulog in 1969.
* Myanmar has kicked off a forum on post-earthquake economic recovery in Nay Pyi Taw, following the devastating 7.9-magnitude earthquake, the state-owned daily The Mirror reported on Saturday.
* The capital of Tajikistan, Dushanbe, hosted the first high-level international conference on glacier preservation on Friday, the country's Khovar news agency reported.
* Kazakhstan plans to introduce administrative liability for illegal trade on electronic trading platforms, the country's Kazinform news agency reported Friday.
* Australia's greenhouse gas emissions rose slightly in 2024, according to a federal government report published on Friday.
* A total of 2,202 Afghan families with 9,288 members returned home from neighboring Iran and Pakistan on Thursday and Friday, Afghanistan's High Commission for Addressing Returnees Problems said Saturday.
* The world body on Friday expressed shock at the attack on the World Food Programme (WFP) premises in El Fasher, the capital city of Sudan's North Darfur region.
* U.S. Supreme Court on Friday lifted a federal district court order that kept humanitarian parole protections in place for more than 500,000 migrants from four countries of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
* Israel has decided to ban the entry of foreign ministers from Arab countries who planned to visit Ramallah in the West Bank on Sunday for a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israel's state-run Kan TV News reported on Friday night.
* Egypt on Friday condemned Israel's decision to establish 22 new settlements in the West Bank. In a statement, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the move a provocation and a flagrant violation of international law and Palestinian rights.
* Afghans in different provinces staged protests in support of Palestinians and strongly condemned the ongoing Israeli military aggression in Gaza on Friday, the state-run Bakhtar news agency reported.
* Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned Austria's charge d'affaires in Tehran on Friday to protest "misleading and baseless" claims in an Austrian intelligence report about its nuclear program.
* Hamas said on Friday that it is consulting with Palestinian forces and factions regarding the Gaza ceasefire proposal put forward by U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.
* Israeli forces arrested 80 people across the occupied West Bank over the past week, the military said on Friday, as tensions continue to rise in the territory amid Israel's ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.
* Turkish police detained 873 people in a large-scale security operation in Istanbul aimed at maintaining public order and apprehending criminal suspects, the city's police department said on Friday.
* At least 26 civilians were killed in attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on three towns in Sudan's western Kordofan region, the Sudanese government announced on Friday.
* China's external portfolio investment assets, excluding reserve assets, had climbed to 1.42 trillion USD by the end of 2024, official data showed on Friday.
* India's economic growth rose to 7.4 percent during the period from January to March, Q4 of Financial Year 2024-25, government data released on Friday showed. The previous quarter, from October to December 2024, recorded a growth of 6.4 percent.
* Thailand's economy improved in April on a monthly basis due to increased activities in the manufacturing and service sectors, along with a rise in private investment, the central bank said on Friday.
* Canada's real gross domestic product (GDP) by industry edged up 0.1 percent in March after contracting 0.2 percent in February, Statistics Canada said Friday.
* Italy's economy grew by 0.7 percent year on year in the first quarter, according to data released Friday by the National Institute of Statistics, slightly higher than the earlier estimate of 0.6 percent.
* Greece's unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent in April, marking the lowest level in 17 years, according to the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT).
* The Czech economy expanded by 2.2 percent year-on-year in the first quarter (Q1) of this year, marking the strongest gross domestic product (GDP) growth since the second quarter of 2022, according to data released on Friday.
* The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has called for aggressive efforts to control mpox in southern Ethiopia to avert possible cross-border spread.
* Nearly 6,000 people have been affected by severe weather in Sri Lanka as of Saturday morning, according to the latest report from the country's Disaster Management Center (DMC).
* Wildfire smoke has triggered air quality alerts in six provinces and territories across Canada, according to Environment Canada's weather information published on Friday.
* The number of casualties of landslides at a quarry in Indonesia's West Java province on Friday rose to at least 13, with several others missing, a rescuer said.
* A total of 100 forest and steppe fires have been recorded across Mongolia in the first five months of 2025, ravaging 632,352 hectares of land, the country's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said Friday.
