* The UN Security Council on Friday held its seventh straw poll on candidates vying to become the next UN secretary-general. "The seventh round of straw polls has taken place," said Aglaia Balta, Greece's permanent representative to the United Nations, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council for the month of October.
* The Security Council on Friday failed to renew the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). The Security Council voted on two separate draft resolutions on the renewal of MINURSO's mandate.
* Two people were killed and five others were injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on a private house in Russia's Bryansk region, the regional governor said on Saturday.
* A Ukrainian delegation has safely reached Oleshky, a frontline town in Ukraine's Kherson region, and the evacuation of residents there has begun, a Ukrainian parliament official said Friday.
* Ukraine's Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets on Friday called for more humanitarian missions between Ukraine and Russia following the operation in Oleshky.
* The Kremlin has no information about a possible three-way contact involving Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.
* China and Switzerland on Friday signed a protocol to upgrade their free trade agreement (FTA). The move is expected to expand market access, promote two-way investment, and deepen bilateral economic and trade cooperation, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.
* Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Beijing on Friday, saying China is ready to work with Germany to open a new chapter in China-Germany all-round strategic partnership and promote the building of a more just and equitable global governance system.
* Chinese President Xi Jinping met with President of the Swiss Confederation Guy Parmelin in Beijing on Friday, calling on both countries to inject confidence and more certainty into China-Europe economic and trade cooperation as well as into the global economic development.
* Ukraine attacked three Russian oil refineries and a gas-chemical complex on Friday, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak. "We had a pause for some time, but today attacks on refineries have resumed, and our enterprises are working on defense," Novak said.
* The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Friday lambasted the latest joint military exercise between the United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK), calling it a root cause of threats to regional security, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
* The conflict between the US and Iran will end very soon, US President Donald Trump said Friday. "It's going to end very soon," Trump told KCMO radio in an interview. He added that the United States would not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.
* The Brazilian government summoned Argentina's charge d'affaires in Brazil, Maria Emilia Cortes, to seek clarification on the Argentine government's alleged role in Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro's departure from Brazil, local media reported Friday.
* The US Department of State announced Friday that it had approved the sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 missiles and related equipment to Ukraine, valued at 2.1 billion USD.
* The Mexican Foreign Ministry said Friday that border between Mexico and the United States can not be changed by the decision of a state-level government, and the demarcation of boundary between the two countries must follow standards established by international treaties.
* The two-day 21st Canada-European Union Summit concluded Friday in Montreal, Canada, with the launch of an alliance to bolster collective strength, while Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada is working toward becoming the EU's first "associate member."
* Fighting near the Torkham border crossing is threatening the safety of Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan, as well as local residents and humanitarian workers, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Friday.
* Russia is ready to make its domestic digital platforms, including social networks, messaging services and video platforms, available to foreign partners, Russian Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Maksut Shadayev said Friday.
* The UN Security Council on Friday renewed the authorization of an EU-led stabilization force in Bosnia and Herzegovina for another 12 months.
* The navy of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on Friday that a large oil tanker suffered a massive explosion earlier in the day after hitting naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
* Nigerian troops killed at least 48 suspected members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) after repelling two attacks on military positions in the northeastern states of Borno and Yobe, the military said Friday.
* More than 1.3 million Afghans have returned from neighboring Iran and Pakistan so far in 2026, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Friday.
* The World Bank (WB) has called on countries in sub-Saharan Africa to turn the region's rapid urbanization into a powerful engine of economic growth and job creation.
* The Israeli military on Friday said in a statement that it killed two Hamas commanders in an airstrike on the Nuseirat area in the central Gaza Strip the previous day.
* Uzbekistan's gross domestic product (GDP) reached 1,755.5 trillion soms (about 146 billion USD) in the first three quarters of 2026, expanding by 8.3 percent in real terms year on year, official data showed.
* Oman's Royal Navy evacuated 25 crew members from a commercial vessel following an attack off the country's coast, the country's Maritime Security Center said Friday.
* Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced on Friday the suspension of crude oil pumping from the Hamada oil fields to the Zawiya refinery after an armed group shut down a valve on the main Hamada pipeline.
* Malaysia is mobilizing over 100,000 officers and personnel from various rescue agencies ahead of the northeast monsoon season and the expectation of floods, an official said on Friday.
* More than 107,000 species are used and traded worldwide, more than double previous estimates, according to a new study that warns the true scale could be far greater due to major gaps in global monitoring data.
* All six people, including the pilot, aboard a helicopter that crashed Friday in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand were killed, officials said. The helicopter crashed near Chayee village close to Joshimath in Chamoli district, about 290 km northeast of Dehradun, the capital city of Uttarakhand.
* Mongolia is preparing to implement emergency measures, including setting up feeding stations, to support wildlife in areas of Dornod Province in the country's east affected by a massive steppe fire, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Tsend Sandag-Ochir said Friday.
