* The leaders of Ireland’s three coalition parties will discuss the date of the next general election on Monday, Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman said, proposing November 29 as his preferred date.
* Sri Lanka's Election Commission said on Thursday that it has banned opinion polls during the parliamentary election period. Commissioner General of Elections Saman Sri Ratnayake said in a press briefing that the decision was made to prevent the manipulation of public opinion in the lead-up to the election scheduled for Nov. 14.
* The top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) called South Korea "a foreign country and an apparent hostile country," and stressed "useless awareness about fellow countrymen and unreasonable idea of reunification" when he addressed inter-Korean relations, as he called for ramping up the war-fighting capabilities during an inspection trip to the headquarters of the 2nd Corps of the Korean People's Army on Thursday, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Friday.
* Russia will bolster its cooperation with China in the energy sphere as well as in areas of artificial intelligence and space, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
* The BRICS group will generate most of the global economic growth in the coming years thanks to its size and relatively fast growth compared with that of developed Western nations, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
* Kremlin welcomes German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's openness to talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the TASS news agency cited spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Saturday.
* British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on Saturday that businesses wanted "stability and clarity" in trade with China, as London seeks to reset relations with Beijing under the new Labour government.
* Russia and Ukraine each swapped 95 prisoners of war on Friday in an agreement completed with the help of the United Arab Emirates acting as mediator, the Russian Defence Ministry said.
* Naval drills hosted by Iran with the participation of Russia and Oman and observed by nine other countries began in the Indian Ocean on Saturday, Iran's state TV said.
* Russia and Indonesia will hold their first joint navy drills in November, the TASS news agency cited Russian ambassador to Indonesia Sergei Tolchenov as saying on Saturday.
* French Prime Minister Michel Barnier and Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani will meet at the border between the two countries on Friday in a bid to bolster cooperation against illegal immigration.
* France's foreign minister said Paris was open to the idea of an immediate invitation for Ukraine to join NATO, but that talks would continue on the subject with allies.
* German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday reaffirmed his unwavering support for Ukraine during a joint press conference with U.S. President Joe Biden in Berlin, but Scholz stressed that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) must not become a party to the war.
* Ukraine is not considering developing nuclear weapons and recent reports on the topic were driven by an incorrect interpretation of remarks by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, his chief of staff said on Friday.
* Hamas confirmed on Friday the death of its leader Yahya Sinwar, without giving details about how Sinwar died or who would be his successor.
* U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday there was an opportunity to deal with Israel and Iran in a way that potentially ends their conflict in the Middle East for a while.
* Russia is ready to help seek compromises between arch-foes Israel and Iran, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, saying these would be difficult but possible.
* At least 33 people were killed and 85 wounded in Israeli strikes that hit several houses on Friday in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, medics said, where residents said tanks blew up roads and houses.
* Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called on Friday for the strengthening of the U.N. peacekeeping mission to Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, during a visit in Beirut.
* Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held talks on Friday with representatives of Hamas and expressed condolences over the death of the Palestinian Islamist group's leader, Yahya Sinwar, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
* European Union (EU) countries contributing troops to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) have condemned attacks on UNIFIL positions and agreed to increase pressure on Israel to avoid further incidents involving the mission.
* Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Lebanon on Friday to convey a message of support to the Lebanese people who are embroiled in the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict.
* Israel assesses Lebanese Hezbollah's death toll at around 1,500 men, its chief of the general staff Herzi Halevi said in remarks published by the military on Friday.
* At least 42,500 Palestinians were killed and 99,546 were wounded in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, Gaza's health ministry said in a statement on Friday.
* Warplanes of the U.S.-British coalition launched two airstrikes on Yemen's port city of Hodeidah late Friday night, the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported.
* Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Lebanese counterpart, Abdallah Bou Habib, discussed on Friday the latest developments in Lebanon and the efforts made to contain the deteriorating situation in the region.
* World Health Organization (WHO) teams have been on the ground delivering supplies to health facilities before the second phase of the polio vaccination campaign starts in southern Gaza, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
* An Italian coastguard vessel collected migrants held in reception centres in Albania on Saturday to transfer them to Italy, after a court ruling dealt a blow to Rome's plans to house migrants picked up at sea outside the EU.
* The Canadian federal government said Friday that businesses can now request remission of surtaxes on electric vehicles (EVs), steel and aluminum imported from China.
* International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday urged policymakers to "lower geopolitical temperature," as medium-term growth is forecast to be "lackluster."
* Ukraine's gross domestic product grew by 4.5% year-on-year from January to September driven by the agricultural sector, transport and construction, the economy ministry said on Friday.
* China's railway passenger trips reached a new high during the January-September 2024 period thanks to robust travel demand, official data showed Saturday.
* Myanmar earned 176.302 million USD from exports of fishery products in the first half of the fiscal year 2024-2025, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Saturday.
* Argentina posted a trade surplus of $981 million in September, after registering $6.934 billion in exports and $5.954 billion in imports in the month, the government's statistics office announced on Friday.
* The executive board of the International Monetary Fund approved the first review of Ethiopia's $3.4 billion lending programme, the fund said on Friday, paving the way for a $340.7 million disbursement.
* Egypt raised fuel product prices on Friday for the third time this year as it continues to cut back on diesel and gasoline subsidies, but said it would cover the additional energy costs for bakers of subsidised bread.
* Afghanistan has exported fresh fruits worth 31 million USD over the past six months, spokesman for the Ministry of Industry and Commerce Akhundzada Abdul Salam Jawad said Saturday.
* The Philippines' overall balance of payments (BOP) posted a surplus of 3.5 billion USD in September, a reversal from the 414 million dollars deficit a year ago, the central bank said Friday.
* Malaysia's trade during the period from January to September 2024 rose 10.2 percent year on year to 2.14 trillion ringgit (497 billion USD), official data showed Friday.
* Uzbekistan's economy has grown by 6.6 percent over the past nine months, according to a report from the press service of the Uzbek President on Thursday.
* Two of Spain's major banks this week joined international and national financial institutions in forecasting that the growth of the Spanish economy this year will surpass earlier expectations.
* Cyprus has joined a small group of European Union (EU) countries banning mobile phones in secondary schools.
* The world experienced the first increase in extreme poverty in 20 years, and inequality has risen sharply and remains high, as successive shocks, starting with the COVID-19 pandemic, have led to reversals in key measures of social development progress, according to a UN report launched on Thursday.
* The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Friday warned that over three million people are at risk of cholera in Sudan.
* Massive floods caused serious damage and power outages on Friday in parts of France's mountainous southeast region after days of heavy rain, though there were no immediate reports of any casualties.
* A bomb threat has been reported onboard an Air New Zealand plane at Sydney Airport on Saturday, local media reported. The incident involved an Air New Zealand flight from Wellington to Sydney carrying 140 passengers, according to Sky News Australia.
