* Tanzania's Zanzibar President Hussein Ali Mwinyi has won a second term in office, the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) announced on Thursday night. ZEC Chairperson George Joseph Kazi said Mwinyi, the candidate of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party, won 74.8 percent of the vote in Wednesday's elections, beating 10 contenders from opposition parties.
* Cote d'Ivoire's lower house election will be held on Dec. 27, the country's Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) announced Thursday.
* The 18th Verona Eurasian Economic Forum kicked off on Thursday in Türkiye's largest city Istanbul, featuring discussions among policymakers, company leaders, and scholars from Europe and Asia.
* Republic of Korea (ROK) and New Zealand agreed to lift bilateral ties to a "comprehensive strategic partnership," according to the ROK presidential office on Thursday. The two sides reached the agreement between the ROK President Lee Jae-myung and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on the occasion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering in Gyeongju.
* Any explosive nuclear weapon test by any State would be harmful and destabilizing for global non-proliferation efforts and for international peace and security, Robert Floyd, executive secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, said in a statement.
* U.S. Vice President JD Vance warned Thursday that if the government shutdown drags well into November, air traffic controllers will continue missing paychecks, potentially disrupting the nation's air travel system as the holiday travel season approaches.
* U.S. Senate voted 51-47 on Thursday to eliminate the national emergency cited by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose global tariffs in early April. The votes are symbolic as the U.S. House has passed a rule against legislation to block Trump's tariffs through March, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
* Portugal, Spain, and the European Commission have agreed on measures to advance the Lisbon-Madrid rail link by 2030, with a travel time of five hours, Portugal's Infrastructure Ministry said Thursday.
* The UN Security Council on Thursday voiced grave concern over escalating violence in and around El Fasher in Sudan's North Darfur state.
* Türkiye and Germany should focus on joint defense projects and move past previous procurement challenges in light of Europe's changing security environment, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a joint press conference with visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the capital Ankara on Thursday.
* The Croatian Parliament's Defense Committee on Thursday approved the procurement of anti-drone protection system, Caesar howitzers, Leopard 2A8 tanks and TATRA off-road trucks worth a total of 1.945 billion euros (2.2562 billion USD).
* Several hundred Lithuanian freight trucks remain stuck in Belarus after Lithuania closed its border crossings, the National Road Carriers' Association (Linava) said on Thursday.
* Vilnius Airport temporarily halted operations Thursday evening due to a reported threat from weather balloons, Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) reported.
* Hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews filled the streets of Jerusalem on Thursday to protest government plans to expand military conscription in their community and the recent arrests of draft dodgers by military police.
* Visiting German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul met in Damascus on Thursday with Syrian interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa and foreign affairs chief Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, and reaffirmed Germany's commitment to supporting Syria's political and economic transition.
* Excluding Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the global gas balance will drive up the gas price, Leonid Mikhelson, CEO of Russia's second-largest gas producer Novatek, said at the Verona Eurasian Economic Forum on Thursday.
* Türkiye said on Thursday that discussions were ongoing with Qatar and Oman to purchase additional Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, following a major deal signed with Britain earlier this week to acquire 20 new aircraft.
* Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Thursday instructed the Lebanese army to confront any Israeli incursions into the country's southern territory, following a deadly raid on the border village of Blida.
* The British government on Thursday announced a record long-term investment of 55 billion British pounds (72.29 billion USD) in research and development (R&D) to accelerate breakthroughs in fields ranging from healthcare to clean energy.
* The Bangladeshi interim government has decided to block unauthorized mobile handsets starting from Dec. 16 of this year, Bangladeshi Chief Adviser's Special Assistant for the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb has said.
* Indonesia plans to expand the use of its Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) digital payment system to Saudi Arabia and India, following its successful implementation in several Southeast Asian countries, Bank Indonesia said on Thursday.
* The Greek government on Thursday unveiled a 2.5-billion-euro (2.89 billion USD) plan to improve water management and address worsening drought across the country.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Friday said that it has approved a 180-million-U.S.-dollar loan as the second additional financing to support PT Geo Dipa Energy, an Indonesian state-owned company, to further boost the country's geothermal electricity generation.
* Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday reaffirmed his government's resolve to invest all necessary resources in education and skill development to empower the country's youth.
* Fourteen foreign investors have expressed interest in Sri Lanka's mineral exploration and related industries, with proposed investments totaling nearly 1 billion USD, a senior Board of Investment (BOI) official told journalists on Thursday.
* Kyrgyzstan's domestic e-commerce market in 2025 is estimated to have reached 525 million USD, up 15 percent from last year, Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Adylbek Kasymaliev said Thursday.
* Iraq and Greece announced Thursday that direct flights between Athens and Baghdad will resume in December, while vowing to expand economic ties.
* Iraq and Türkiye on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to boost collaboration across a range of commercial and economic sectors, the Iraqi Trade Ministry said.
* The euro area economy expanded by 0.2 percent quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025, according to a preliminary flash estimate released on Thursday by Eurostat.
* Inflation in Germany slowed to 2.3 percent in October, down slightly from 2.4 percent in September, according to preliminary data released Thursday by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).
* Japan's industrial output increased 2.2 percent in September from the previous month, the first growth in three months, government data showed Friday.
* Thailand's economy is projected to grow 2.4 percent in 2025, slightly up from 2.2 percent in an earlier forecast, driven by year-end stimulus measures and robust export performance, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday.
* Slovenia's annual inflation rose to 3.1 percent in October from 2.6 percent in September, reaching its highest level since March 2024, the Statistical Office said Thursday.
* Sri Lanka's total population stood at 21.78 million, marking a modest growth since the previous national census in 2012, according to preliminary results of the 2024 census released by the Department of Census and Statistics.
