* The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission announced Friday the start of a mandatory election silence period beginning Saturday ahead of the Nov. 11 parliamentary elections.
* The Democrats 66 (D66) party, led by Rob Jetten, has won the Dutch parliamentary election, the country's Electoral Council confirmed on Friday. Council Chairman Wim Kuijken announced the final results at a public hearing, stating that D66 received 29,668 more votes than its closest rival, the Party for Freedom (PVV) led by Geert Wilders.
* China's commerce ministry on Friday announced the suspension of some of the export control measures that were announced on Oct. 9, with the suspension effective immediately and set to remain in place until Nov. 10, 2026.
* Chinese customs on Friday announced it will lift a suspension on soybean imports from three U.S. companies, including CHS Inc., effective on Nov. 10.
* The first official visit by a top Indian trade official and a 43-member Indian delegation has accelerated trade talks and deepened business ties, a New Zealand government statement said Friday. The visit by India's Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal featured high-level business meetings, engagements with the New Zealand Indian community, and talks focused on advancing their free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations.
* The defense chief of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Friday slammed the United States for recent military actions in the Korean Peninsula, saying they threaten the country's security and intentionally escalate political and military tensions in the region, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Saturday.
* NATO continues to play an active role in the militarization of the Arctic, creating new barriers to international cooperation in the region, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova was quoted by TASS as saying on Friday.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that no U.S. officials will attend G20 summit scheduled to be held in South Africa late this month.
* Russia said Saturday that it targeted Ukrainian military-industrial and gas-energy facilities in response to alleged Ukrainian attacks on civilian sites.
* The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has brokered another localized ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), which took effect on Friday, paving the way for repairs of the facility's power supply, the agency said in a statement the same day.
* The U.S. administration has granted Hungary a one-year exemption from U.S. energy sanctions on Russia after President Donald Trump met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the White House on Friday, multiple media outlets reported, citing anonymous White House officials.
* Over 1,000 U.S. flights were canceled on Friday as a reduction in air traffic took effect amid an air traffic controller staffing shortage during the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.
* Israel handed over the remains of 15 Palestinians to the Gaza Strip through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Saturday, a day after Palestinian militants returned the remains of an Israeli hostage under the ongoing ceasefire agreement.
* Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Friday the United States must be held accountable for its "direct involvement" in Israeli airstrikes on Iran in June.
* Despite significant progress in scaling up aid since the Gaza ceasefire, delays in lifting impediments mean urgent needs are still unmet, UN humanitarians said Friday.
* The United States' absence from its fourth-cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Friday prompted the Council to suspend its session and adopt a decision urging Washington to resume cooperation.
* Immigration of Syrian nationals to Germany fell by 46.5 percent in the first nine months of 2025 compared with the same period last year, Germany's Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said on Friday.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has pledged up to 3 million USD in grants to support the Philippines' emergency and humanitarian efforts for victims of Typhoon Kalmaegi, which hit the central Philippines this week, leaving 204 dead and 109 missing.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Friday that it has approved a 100-million-U.S.-dollar loan to address complex and challenging structural reforms in Sri Lanka's financial sector.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Friday that it has made a 145-million-U.S.-dollar investment in Maynilad Water Services, Inc. to enhance water security and improve wastewater services in Metro Manila, the Philippines.
* The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted Lithuania a 300 million-euro (345 million USD) loan to finance defense-related projects, the Baltic News Service (BNS) reported on Friday.
* Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) on Friday night revised its outlook on Israel to "stable" from "negative," while affirming its sovereign credit rating at "A."
* Cambodia attracted fixed-asset investment of 9.2 billion USD in the first 10 months of 2025, a year-on-year increase of 67 percent, said a Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) report on Friday.
* Türkiye targets a total investment of 80 billion USD in renewable energy by 2035 to address increasing electricity demand, a cabinet minister said Friday.
* Egypt and Qatar on Thursday signed an investment agreement worth 29.7 billion USD to develop a major real estate and tourism project on Egypt's Mediterranean coast, the Egyptian government said in a statement.
* Zimbabwe's economy is expected to maintain strong momentum in 2026, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said.
* Hurricane Melissa has claimed at least 75 lives and impacted nearly 5 million people in Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica, one week after landfall in the Caribbean, a UN spokesperson said Friday.
* A total of 126,562 malaria cases were detected and treated in Myanmar between January and August 2025, the state-owned Myanmar Radio and Television reported on Saturday.
* The Netherlands has ordered the culling of around 120,000 chickens at a poultry farm in the northern province of Friesland after a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu was detected, the agriculture ministry announced on Friday night.
