* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes the statement issued by Hamas announcing its readiness to release hostages and to engage on the basis of the proposal by U.S. President Donald Trump, the UN chief's spokesperson said Friday.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that Hamas must accept the 20-point peace plan on Gaza by 6 p.m. Eastern Time (2200 GMT) on Sunday, otherwise "all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas."
* U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday demanded that Israel immediately stop bombing Gaza, hours after Hamas said it had agreed in principle to release hostages.
* Qatar on Saturday welcomed Hamas' acceptance of U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza and the group's willingness to release all hostages as part of the exchange outlined in the proposal.
* Hamas announced on Friday that it has submitted its response to U.S. President Donald Trump's Gaza peace proposal to regional and international mediators, saying it has agreed in principle to release all Israeli hostages, both living and deceased.
* In a keynote address at the Sustainability Expo 2025 on Friday, Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul highlighted sustainable development as a national imperative amid global uncertainties, outlining a vision that balances economic, social, and environmental stability.
* Russia is finalizing the development of a new biometric boarding service for air passengers called "Migom," with the testing set to begin in 2026, a government official said Friday.
* China's Global Governance Initiative is closely aligned with Russia's vision for Eurasian security, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. Speaking at the plenary session of the 22nd annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club, Putin said that aligning the two frameworks is appropriate for advancing Russia-China relations and holds global significance.
* Russian forces launched a large-scale overnight strike against Ukraine's military-industrial complex and energy infrastructure, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday. The raid involved long-range precision weapons launched from land, air and sea, as well as combat drones, the ministry said in a statement.
* U.S. Senate Democrats on Friday blocked a Republican bill to temporarily fund the government, which means the government shutdown will likely last through the weekend. The bill was voted on a largely party-line 54-44 for a fourth time, with the same three Senate Democratic members joining most Republicans in backing the bill. The two sides continued to trade accusations, blaming the other side for the shutdown.
* Poland's defense-sector investment agency ZIOTP and state-owned oil pipeline operator PERN on Friday signed an initial agreement here to expand the country's fuel infrastructure as part of its plan to join NATO's pipeline network.
* ArtVilnius'25, the largest contemporary art fair in the Baltic states, opened Friday at the LITEXPO exhibition and congress center in the Lithuanian capital.
* German air traffic control (DFS) restricted flight operations at Munich Airport Friday evening following reports of possible drone activity in the vicinity of the airfield. As a precaution, all flight operations at the airport were suspended until further notice, the airport said in a statement.
* China's internet sector saw solid growth in business revenue in the first eight months of 2025, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed. From January to August, China's major internet companies and related services companies generated about 1.29 trillion yuan (roughly 181.46 billion USD) in business revenue -- up 2.2 percent year on year and featuring a growth rate 0.8 percentage points faster than in the first quarter of 2025.
* Kazakhstan plans to raise its oil refining capacity from 18 million to 39 million tonnes by 2040, the country's Ministry of Energy said Friday.
* The African Union (AU) has launched a decade-long initiative to improve learning across Africa and elevate teachers' role in the continent's development.
* The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Friday condemned Israeli grenade attacks near its peacekeepers and Lebanese soldiers in southern Lebanon, calling them a serious violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701.
* Turkish gendarmerie units detained 91 suspects during operations across 30 provinces over the past two weeks, targeting a network behind a failed coup attempt in 2016, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Friday.
* Cameroonian Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji on Friday assured that security forces have heightened security measures to ensure a hitch-free presidential election in the country's war-torn English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest.
* The Dutch Supreme Court on Friday ordered the government to reassess within six weeks a license allowing the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel, citing the need to weigh potential risks of serious violations of international humanitarian law.
* Over 32,700 deaths of migrants have been reported in the Mediterranean since 2014, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general on Friday. He stressed that the Mediterranean “has become a death trap for those seeking safety, a dramatic reminder of the risks faced by migrants and refugees".
* The death toll from the collapse of a school building in Indonesia's East Java province has risen to 14, a local rescue official said on Saturday.
* Widespread flooding caused by heavy rains in South Sudan has killed 19 people and affected an estimated 639,225 others across 26 counties in six states, a United Nations (UN) humanitarian agency said on Friday. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said nearly 175,000 people are displaced, sheltering on higher ground in 16 counties.
* The Kronotsky volcano on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula spewed ash to a height of 9.2 kilometers above sea level on Saturday, local authorities said. The ash ejection occurred at 11:50 a.m. local time (2350 GMT Friday), sending an ash plume stretching about 85 kilometers to the south and southeast of the volcano, the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team said on its Telegram channel.
* Torrential rains caused severe flooding in Bulgaria on Friday, leaving at least one person dead and another missing on the Black Sea coast, authorities said.
