* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday strongly condemned a reported attack by Israeli settlers on a mosque in Deir Istiya in the occupied West Bank, his spokesperson said.
* Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuels are set to hit a record high in 2025, increasing 1.1 percent over 2024, according to a study highlighted Thursday at the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Brazil's Amazonian city of Belem.
* The U.S. administration has reached frameworks of bilateral trade agreements with Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador and Ecuador, the White House said on Thursday.
* The Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States on Friday finalized their tariff and security agreement by announcing a joint fact sheet on summit talks between the ROK President Lee Jae-myung and U.S. President Donald Trump on Oct. 29.
* Russian air defense forces shot down 216 Ukrainian drones overnight, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday. According to the ministry, 66 drones were intercepted over southern Russia's Krasnodar region and 59 over the Black Sea.
* The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday denounced a joint statement issued recently by G7 foreign ministers in Canada about the DPRK's "complete denuclearization," the official Korean Central News Agency reported Friday.
* Following lengthy negotiations, Germany's ruling parties on Thursday announced an agreement on detailed plans to reform the country's military service model, including provisions that could allow the reintroduction of conscription.
* Singapore has proposed a set of Guidelines on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Risk Management for the financial sector and is inviting interested parties to submit feedback by Jan. 31, 2026.
* Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday announced the second tranche of projects aimed at strengthening the economy as part of broader national strategies to boost the country's competitiveness.
* The UN Security Council on Thursday adopted a resolution to renew the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) for a year, until Nov. 15, 2026.
* Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei on Thursday rejected the anti-Tehran claims made in a recent Group of Seven (G7) statement, calling them "baseless and irresponsible."
* Lebanese leaders on Thursday called for the immediate return of Lebanese prisoners held in Israeli jails, urging global intervention through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
* South Africa announced a new visa scheme on Thursday, aiming to attract international film and creative production companies to shoot and invest in the country through a streamlined digital process.
* Approximately 3.4 million people in Somalia are currently experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, with more than 620,000 of them facing emergency levels of food insecurity, a UN spokesperson said Thursday.
* Syria's interior and defense chiefs held a high-level meeting on Thursday to strengthen coordination as the country steps up its nationwide campaign against Islamic State (IS) cells amid a surge in militant attacks in the east, according to officials and monitoring groups.
* The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects U.S. economic growth to slow in the fourth quarter from its earlier forecast of 1.9 percent but lacks data to assess it due to the federal government shutdown, an IMF spokesperson said Thursday.
* Britain's economy saw a further slowdown in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025, with the real gross domestic product (GDP) only edging up by 0.1 percent, estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed Thursday.
* China's railway construction saw stable progress in the first 10 months of 2025, with fixed-asset investment expanding 5.7 percent year on year, according to the country's railway operator.
* Portuguese wine exports to the United States fell by 9.3 million euros (10.82 million USD) in the first nine months of 2025, as the sector continues to feel the impact of U.S. tariff measures, according to data provided by ViniPortugal to local media.
* U.S. space technology company Blue Origin launched its massive reusable New Glenn rocket on Thursday, sending NASA's ESCAPADE twin spacecraft bound for Mars.
* Health authorities in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) have issued a measles alert for central Sydney and the city's airport.
