* Nearly 3.8 million people have enrolled to vote in New Zealand's 2026 general election scheduled for Nov. 7, with the provisional enrolment rate at 93.6 percent, below the final rates recorded in the previous two elections.
* Swedish Parliament Speaker Andreas Norlen on Thursday nominated Center Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist as the country's next prime minister (PM), with a parliamentary vote scheduled for next Tuesday, marking the latest attempt to break the political deadlock following September's general election.
* Israel's opposition parties secured 67 seats in the 120-member parliament, against 53 for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing bloc, according to a vote count of about 97 percent of the votes released by the Central Elections Committee on Thursday. The opposition seats include 48 won by parties aligned with former military chief Gadi Eisenkot and 19 by Arab parties.
* Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Beijing on Friday.
* European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde said on Thursday that she will step down from her position on Feb. 7, 2027.
* Ukraine has paused strikes against Russian oil refineries after weeks of pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump shook Kiev's confidence in U.S. support, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the operations.
* Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), attended an opening ceremony on Thursday for an exhibition showcasing the country's latest advances in unmanned aerial technology, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Friday.
* Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said Thursday he had spoken with his Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen, about their disagreement over a joint Norwegian-Finnish call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
* Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, announced on Thursday that a "revamped" electoral authority will oversee new elections "with the world as a witness." In a nationwide address, she said that all elections required by the Constitution will be held, with safeguards to prevent the electoral process from becoming a source of trouble or reviving "times of confrontation that no one wants anymore."
* European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday that Canada should become an "associate member" of the European Union (EU), as the EU-Canada summit opened in Montreal. "We both want to bring our relationship to the highest level possible.
* Amid rising transatlantic tensions, the Nordic Council on Thursday adopted a resolution calling for closer cooperation with Canada on Arctic affairs, crisis preparedness and sustainable development.
* Lawmakers from five Central Asian countries met in Dushanbe on Thursday for the fourth Inter-Parliamentary Forum of Central Asian States, held under the theme "Unity for the Sake of Peace, Security, and Prosperity in Central Asia," Tajikistan's Khovar news agency reported.
* Spain's independent transport accident investigation authority AITAT on Thursday revised the death toll of Wednesday's high-speed train collision in Toledo province to 69, shortly after reporting 74 fatalities.
* Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday launched "The Plan for a Stronger Canada," the country's first national security strategy in over two decades aimed at countering evolving security threats and safeguarding national sovereignty.
* Tehran has received a letter from U.S. Vice President JD Vance to the Iran's top security official, but has not responded yet, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday called for at least doubling trade between Russia and African countries in the near future, while outlining plans to deepen cooperation in energy, food security, technology and humanitarian affairs at the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum.
* Cuba received 65.1 percent fewer international visitors in the first nine months of this year than in the same period of 2025, amid a deepening tourism crisis and tighter U.S. sanctions against the Caribbean island, official data showed Wednesday.
* The ongoing Thailand Space Expo 2026 has brought together more than 85 companies to boost space-related investment and enhance Thailand's competitiveness on the international stage.
* Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday he hoped the formation of a new Israeli government would create an opportunity to resume serious political dialogue and achieve peace in accordance with international law, according to Palestine's official news agency WAFA.
* Airstrikes and other incidents continue to affect the safety and well-being of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank, UN humanitarians said on Thursday.
* Yemen's Houthi group denied launching any attacks against Saudi Arabia on Friday, after the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted a Houthi drone over the Mecca region.
* A vessel sailing outbound through the Strait of Hormuz caught fire, approximately 25 nautical miles northeast of Khasab, Oman, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) on Thursday. The cause of the fire was unknown.
* Yemen's government said Thursday that Aden International Airport had resumed normal operations after a temporary suspension triggered by a Houthi attack that damaged its runway a day earlier.
* Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by Yemen's Houthi group toward the Saudi capital Riyadh, the Saudi-led coalition said on Thursday evening, while the Houthis said 27 people were killed in Saudi airstrikes on Houthi-held areas in Yemen.
* Airlines operating flights to Israel will be required to submit crew information at least 48 hours before scheduled departure, as part of new measures to strengthen Israel's civil aviation security, authorities said Thursday.
* Some 50,000 Ethiopians have fled into neighboring Kenya, seeking safety following violent clashes in southern Ethiopia, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said.
* NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk began a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday to install and deploy a roll-out solar array.
* Croatia has confirmed 25 cases of West Nile virus infection this year, including one death, the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ) said on Thursday.
* Five commuters were killed and 20 others injured, some of them critically, when a passenger bus collided head-on with an oil tanker in Afghanistan's northern Baghlan province on Friday, the official Bakhtar News Agency reported.
* Three people were killed and 12 others injured when an Italian helicopter serving with the European Union Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR) crashed during a routine operation in the Brcko area in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on Thursday.
* The Philippines' Mayon Volcano erupted on Friday in Albay province in the northern Philippines, said the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS).
