* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday highlighted the role of young people in driving climate action and shaping urban futures, and called for empowering them to accelerate global sustainable development progress.
* US’s Democrat Kamala Harris' election campaign on Thursday rejected claims by Republican Donald Trump of widespread election fraud in the battleground state of Pennsylvania and said the system was working as it should to identify the small number of issues arising.
* The China-U.S. financial working group has held its sixth meeting in the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C., China's central bank announced Thursday.
* The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) conducted a "crucial" test of its latest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Hwasongpho-19 on Thursday, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Friday.
* South Korea's foreign minister Cho Tae-yul and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts Antony Blinken and Iwaya Takeshi called Democratic People’s Republic of Korea's latest ICBM launch on Thursday a "flagrant violation" of multiple U.N. security council resolutions. The three held a phone call, Seoul's foreign ministry said in a statement.
* New Zealand has reached a trade deal with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, that Wellington said would open up major opportunities for Kiwi exporters in the Middle East.
* Moldova's Constitutional Court confirmed the results of the Oct. 20 referendum, approving the country's path toward European Union (EU) accession. The court's decision, announced by its president, Domnica Manole, marks a significant step in Moldova's EU integration.
* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov plans to visit Malta in December to take part in a meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Vedomosti daily reported on Friday, citing foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
* The Second Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security kicked off on Thursday, with the aim to conduct frank and inclusive discussions on such topics as the multi-polarization of the world, security on the Eurasian continent, and global economic security.
* Algeria's Minister of Energy and Mining Mohamed Arkab met with Deputy Chairman of Russia's State Duma Vladislav Davankov on Thursday to discuss strengthening energy cooperation, according to a statement from Algeria's Ministry of Energy and Mining.
* Kyrgyzstan has introduced a visa-free policy for organized tourist groups from China, the Ministry of Economy and Commerce announced Thursday.
* Iran summoned Germany's charge d'affaires in Tehran in protest against Germany's "unjust" decision to shut all Iranian consulates, state media reported on Thursday.
* Germany announced Thursday it will close all three Iranian consulates on its territory in response to the execution of Jamshid Sharmahd, a German-Iranian dual national.
* The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies have demonstrated resilience amidst regional conflicts, which have had only a limited impact on their economic stability, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday.
* The South Sudan peace process has failed to register significant progress due to insufficient political will and lack of dedicated and predictable funding, peace monitors said on Thursday.
* Israeli bulldozers damaged the office of U.N. aid agency UNRWA in the West Bank's Nur Shams camp on Thursday, the agency's chief said, with Israel disputing his account in the latest exchange between both sides.
* U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed "opportunities for regional de-escalation" with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant during a phone call, the Pentagon said on Thursday, amid the conflict in the Middle East.
* Forty seven Palestinians were killed and dozens injured overnight, most of them children and women, in Israeli bombardment on the city of Deir Al-Balah, the Nuseirat camp and the town of Al-Zawayda in the central Gaza Strip, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Friday.
* Egypt on Thursday denied it assisted Israeli military operations after media reports that an Egyptian port received a shipment of explosives bound for an Israeli defence contractor.
* Four Thai nationals were killed and one was injured by rocket fire near the town of Metula, close to the border between Lebanon and Israel, Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa posted on the social media platform X on Friday.
* Russian gas producer Gazprom GAZP.MM said that it would send 42.4 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Friday, the same volume as on Thursday.
* South Korea's exports grew for the 13th straight month due to strong demand for locally-made semiconductors and automobiles, government data showed Friday.
* Canada's real gross domestic product (GDP) was essentially unchanged in August, following a 0.1 percent increase in July, Statistics Canada said Thursday.
* Prices in Italy rose by 0.9 percent in October, indicating slight upward pressure even as inflation stayed below long-term trends and remained under the eurozone average.
* Ethiopia's economy is expected to grow by 8.4 percent in the current 2024/2025 Ethiopian fiscal year, which began on July 8, the country's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Thursday.
* At least 321 people have been killed and over 740,000 others displaced in Nigeria so far this year due to the flood that ravaged most parts of the country, authorities said on Thursday.
