* Countries at the U.N. COP16 summit on nature on Friday approved a measure to create a permanent body for Indigenous peoples to consult on United Nations decisions about nature conservation.
* The Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said the test-fire of the country's latest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was "a legitimate and just exercise of its sovereign right to self-defence" and part of the counteraction in response to the provocative moves by hostile forces, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Saturday.
* The United States is sending additional military assets including warships, fighter jets and bombers to the Middle East, said the Defense Department on Friday.
* Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina met in Riga on Friday with her Estonian counterpart Kristen Michal, and they discussed cooperation within the European Union (EU) framework and support for Ukraine's bid to accede to the bloc.
* Pakistan government has made biometric verification mandatory at airports across the country in a step to increase border security, the interior ministry has said.
* Sri Lanka's Department of Immigration and Emigration was setting up an online appointment system for passport applications, according to an announcement by the Government Information Department on Friday.
* Spain remains deeply shaken by the deadly flash floods that have left 205 people confirmed dead and wrecked havoc across the regions of Valencia, Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia in the east and southeast parts of the country. As of Friday, many more are still unaccounted for.
* The Serbian government has declared November 2 a national day of mourning for those who died in the collapse of a roof structure at the Novi Sad railway station on Friday. The Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Novi Sad said 14 bodies have been recovered from the debris so far.
* Pakistan's Acting President Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday called for adopting international best practices, focusing on innovation and using the latest technology to improve governance in Pakistan, said the President House.
* Leaders of UN agencies and humanitarian organizations on Friday warned the situation in North Gaza is "apocalyptic," calling on Israel to cease its assault on the region and on humanitarians, and urging all parties to protect civilians.
* A third phase of the polio vaccination campaign in the northern Gaza Strip is set to resume on Saturday after being postponed over escalating violence, a UN statement said on Friday.
* Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday accused Israel of rejecting efforts to reach a ceasefire as Israeli forces resumed bombing Beirut's southern suburbs and other areas in Lebanon at dawn on Friday.
* Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that the United States and Israel will "undoubtedly receive a crushing response" for what they do against his country, state media reported.
* Russian gas producer Gazprom GAZP.MM said it would send 42.4 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Saturday, the same volume as on Friday.
* Japan's cabinet office on Friday lowered its growth forecast for the current fiscal year to an expansion of 0.7 percent in inflation-adjusted real terms, down from a previous projection of 0.9 percent in July.
* Russia's pipeline gas exports to Europe rose by over 15 percent to 26.52 billion cubic meters in the first 10 months this year, Russia's TASS news agency reported on Saturday. For the entire year of 2023, the figure amounted to about 28.15 billion cubic meters, said the report.
* Iraq's Oil Ministry said Friday that the country has reduced its oil production and cut its crude exports to 3.3 million barrels per day, in line with its commitment to the OPEC+ agreement on output cuts.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Friday that it approved a loan of 85 million USD to fund the modernization of irrigation networks and increase agricultural production in Nepal.
* Namibia's intra-Africa trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in September 2024 saw exports valued at 4.7 billion Namibian dollars (about 267 million USD) and imports worth 7.7 billion Namibian dollars (about 437 million dollars) from other African countries, the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) said Friday.
* The World Food Program (WFP) on Friday urgently appealed for 404 million USD to support its humanitarian assistance operations in South Sudan in 2025 amid warning of rising hunger.
* More than 1,600 people have been vaccinated against the Marburg virus disease in Rwanda, including those at high risk of contracting the virus and contacts of positive cases, a senior official has said.
* The crew of China's Shenzhou-18 spacecraft held a handover ceremony with the Shenzhou-19 crew and transferred the keys of the country's space station to the latter on Friday. The Shenzhou-18 crew has now completed all planned tasks.
* Japan logged record-breaking temperatures in October, marking the hottest October since record-keeping began in 1898, data from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) showed. The monthly average temperature across Japan exceeded typical October temperatures by 2.21 degrees Celsius, according to the JMA data released Friday.
