* Peter Magyar was sworn in as Hungary's prime minister on Saturday after winning a parliamentary vote at the inaugural session of the new National Assembly, pledging to "change the system."
* Scotland's ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) won a fifth consecutive term in the Scottish Parliament election, but failed to secure an outright majority, highlighting a more fragmented political landscape in Scotland, according to results announced early Saturday.
* Reaching a peace agreement on Ukraine will be a long road involving complex details, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes a three-day ceasefire and a planned exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia, his spokesperson said Saturday.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urges all sides to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further escalation following the exchange of fire in the Strait of Hormuz, a UN spokesman said Friday.
* China will host the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, from May 22 to 23, the Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday.
* Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), on Saturday extended congratulations on the 81st anniversary of Russia's victory in the Great Patriotic War.
* China and Thailand will hold the "Strike-2026" joint army training in Thailand in mid-and-late May, a Chinese defense ministry spokesperson said Saturday. Jiang Bin, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, made the announcement at a press briefing.
* Russia and Ukraine on Friday agreed to a three-day ceasefire and a swap of 1,000 prisoners.
* Reaching a peace agreement on Ukraine will be a long road involving complex details, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday.
* The Cambodian government on Saturday called on people to be vigilant over Hantavirus although no any cases in humans have been detected in the kingdom so far. Hantaviruses are a cluster of viruses carried by rodents that can cause severe disease in humans, said a Ministry of Health's press release.
* American passengers aboard the cruise ship at the center of a hantavirus outbreak will be quarantined in Nebraska upon arrival in the United States, NBC News reported Friday, citing an official from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
* Spanish Secretary of State for Health Javier Padilla said on Friday that the health authorities had taken relevant measures after detecting a suspected case of hantavirus in the eastern city of Alicante.
* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, discussed the situation around the Strait of Hormuz during a phone conversation on Friday, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
* A senior Iranian lawmaker said on Friday that from now on, Iran will mount a military response to the U.S. naval blockade.
* Iran's main military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said Thursday night the U.S. army attacked two Iranian vessels near the Strait of Hormuz and concurrently carried out airstrikes on civilian areas in southern Iran in cooperation with some regional states.
* The French presidency announced on Friday that France's Ambassador to Algeria Stephane Romatet is returning to his post after being recalled to Paris in April 2025 amid tension between the two countries.
* Poland on Friday signed an agreement with the European Commission under the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) program which aimed at strengthening defense and security investment in the European Union (EU) members.
* The Israeli military said Saturday it is investigating an incident in which Israeli settlers allegedly forced Palestinians to exhume the body of an elderly Palestinian man from a cemetery in the northern West Bank and rebury him elsewhere.
* Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Friday that Lebanon is seeking to consolidate the ceasefire with Israel ahead of the next round of negotiations.
* President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Friday discussed developments in the Middle East and their implications for regional and international security and stability, maritime security and the global economy, according to local media.
* The Iranian army said Friday its naval forces have seized an "offending" oil tanker named "Ocean Koi" that sought to disrupt the country's oil exports by abusing the regional circumstances.
* Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Friday called on the EU to pressure Israel to halt its attacks in southern Lebanon, including the destruction of homes and the targeting of paramedics, journalists, and civil defense personnel.
* The United Arab Emirates' air defense systems are responding to incoming missile and drone threats from Iran, the Ministry of Defense said on Friday.
* Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan exchanged views on the current situation in West Asia during a phone call on Friday.
* At least 18 people were killed in Israeli attacks across southern Lebanon on Friday, Lebanese media and rescue officials said, as violence escalated despite a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon.
* Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Friday denied claims that Mexican consulates in the United States are interfering in local politics and should come under scrutiny.
* The Pentagon on Friday began the release of "never-before-seen" files on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), commonly known as unidentified flying objects (UFOs).
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday announced it will mobilize 30 billion USD by 2030 to help the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) advance long-term development priorities and withstand external shocks.
* Japan's central government debt stood at 1,343.84 trillion yen (about 8.58 trillion USD) as of the end of March, hitting a record high for the 10th consecutive year, data from the Ministry of Finance showed Friday.
* Brazil on Friday enacted an agreement designed to streamline trade with other members of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) trade bloc, including Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
* Portugal and Spain launched a joint project on Friday to tackle unemployment in rural border regions, with a budget of over 3.2 million euros (3.77 million USD) co-financed by the European Union (EU).
* Airlines can be exempted from paying compensation for cancelled flights only if they can prove a local fuel shortage caused the cancellation, but high fuel prices alone do not count as "extraordinary circumstances," said a guidance issued by the European Commission on Friday.
* Agreements signed at SAHA EXPO 2026, Türkiye's premier defense and aerospace exhibition, generated a business volume of 8 billion USD, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Friday.
* Japan has recorded more than 400 measles cases since January, a national health research body said Friday.
* With El Nino conditions maturing in the coming months, April 2026 saw the second-highest sea surface temperatures on record for the extra-polar oceans, while the month ranked as the joint third-warmest April globally, the European Union's climate monitoring network reported Friday.
