* Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered all-out search and rescue efforts for the missing and prompt medical treatment for the injured after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck a county in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region on Thursday night.
* At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will pay a state visit to China from Oct. 27 to 31, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson announced on Friday.
* Türkiye and Canada agreed Thursday to elevate their bilateral ties to a strategic partnership and deepen cooperation in trade, energy and defense during the first official visit to Türkiye by a Canadian prime minister. Following their talks in Ankara, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the move at a joint press conference.
* Republic of Korea's defense ministry on Friday officially proposed military talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to mutually confirm the clear location of the ground military demarcation line (MDL), restore military communication lines and discuss measures to prevent accidental clashes in the border areas.
* The central banks of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand will work with industry players in their respective jurisdictions to develop common approaches for the cross-border use of digital money, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said Friday.
* Russia and Ukraine conducted another exchange of killed soldiers on the border between Ukraine and Belarus on Thursday, BelTA news agency reported. At the Novaya Guta checkpoint on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, Russia handed over 252 bodies of Ukrainian servicemen to Ukraine, while Ukraine delivered 25 bodies to Russia, according to the report.
* Britain has resumed domestic production of large-calibre gun barrels for the first time in 20 years, with a new facility in central England supporting 100 skilled jobs, the Ministry of Defence said on Thursday.
* New Zealand's Chief of Defense Force Air Marshal Tony Davies is resigning with immediate effect over undisclosed "integrity" matters, Defense Minister Paul Goldsmith said on Friday.
* India and Poland on Thursday vowed to double their bilateral trade by 2030, and decided to establish a Defense Industry Dialogue and a dialogue on Counter-Terrorism. The decisions were taken during Poland Prime Minister Donald Tusk's ongoing three-day official visit to New Delhi. According to official figures, India-Poland bilateral trade stood at 6.36 billion U.S. dollars in 2025.
* One person was killed and four others were wounded after an individual opened fire on Friday on a street in Trappes, a town in the Yvelines department southwest of Paris, French daily Le Figaro reported.
* A merchant ship has been attacked in the Black Sea near the Romanian port city of Constanta, and at least one sailor has died, media reported on Friday.
* Portugal has approved a new 10-year tourism strategy targeting 50 million non-resident tourists and revenues of more than 53 billion euros (59.36 billion USD) by 2035, state secretary for tourism Pedro Machado announced Thursday.
* Israeli forces launched raids on Friday in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron and surrounding villages following a shooting attack that wounded five Israelis, the military said.
* All beaches and coastal areas in Umm Al Quwain, one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have been temporarily closed following an oil spill from a tanker, the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment said Friday.
* Two Palestinians opened fire at Israelis in the occupied West Bank on Friday, wounding five people, two of them critically, before Israeli troops shot and killed the gunmen, Israeli authorities said.
* United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Thursday for an end to widening conflicts and stronger protection for civilians, warning that wars are spreading their economic consequences far beyond the battlefield.
* Regional leaders on Thursday called for stronger integration and increased intra-African trade to boost economic growth at the 25th Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Heads of State and Government Summit held in Mount Hampden on the outskirts of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare.
* The 31st session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31) will focus on the concrete implementation of climate policies, said Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Berris Ekinci on Thursday.
* Artificial intelligence (AI) adoption could boost annual economic growth in the Middle East and Central Asia by 0.1 to 0.6 percentage points over the medium term, depending on countries' digital readiness and their ability to integrate the technology into productive activities, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Thursday.
* Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the latest regional developments and diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions on Thursday during a phone call, according to statements from both countries.
* The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said on Thursday that it had intercepted and destroyed multiple drones launched toward Saudi Arabia.
* Azerbaijan's Cabinet of Ministers announced on Thursday the approval of a long-term low-carbon development strategy that sets a conditional target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2060. The strategy, signed by Prime Minister Ali Asadov, requires the integration of decarbonization measures into state programs, national action plans and other policy documents, the cabinet said.
* South Sudan's ceasefire monitors on Thursday called for urgent action to address growing security threats ahead of the general elections scheduled for December.
* Imminent flooding could displace nearly 874,000 people in Somalia over the next three months, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned Thursday.
