* The UN Security Council on Friday held its third straw poll on the candidates for the next UN secretary-general. The candidates will be informed of the results through the respective permanent representatives of their nominating member states, Jerome Bonnafont, the UN ambassador of France, told reporters after the conclusion of the secret vote. France holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council for the month of September.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called on governments of UN member states to keep their promises on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres regrets the U.S. denial of visas for Palestinian officials which would prevent Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from participating in person in this year's General Assembly high-level week, said a UN spokesman on Friday.
* Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Saturday that developing nations are often unfairly blamed for carbon emissions, highlighting that developed countries emit about six times more carbon per capita than India.
* Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), inspected the country's defense industry and learned about production at major munitions factories from Wednesday to Friday, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Saturday.
* Cuba suffered another nationwide blackout on Friday after its national power grid completely collapsed, state utility Union Electrica (UNE) said.
* U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed a Russia sanctions bill into law, according to a White House release. Named the "Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026," the act authorizes and expands statutory sanctions, tariffs and prohibitions on Russia and extends existing sanctions on Iran, the release said.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States has reached an agreement with Denmark and Greenland giving the United States "permanent control" over security and other needs in Greenland.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that CNN, MS NOW (previously known as MSNBC) and Politico were banned from the White House "effective immediately," citing what he called fake news in a post on Truth Social.
* Russia has substantially expanded its entry ban list for European Union (EU) representatives in response to the EU's 21st package of anti-Russian sanctions adopted on July 23, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday.
* Poland has joined an anti-ballistic missile coalition with Ukraine and other European countries, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Friday.
* Russian forces conducted two massive and five group strikes against Ukrainian defense plants, logistics hubs, energy and transport infrastructure and seized ten settlements in a week, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.
* Ukraine has received a new 3.3-billion-euro (about 3.78-billion-USD) tranche from the European Union to finance priority defense needs, Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi said Friday. The funds will be used, in particular, to purchase missiles and drones, Koretskyi said on Telegram.
* Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday that she spoke by phone with U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday to discuss progress in bilateral trade talks related to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
* The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday it had summoned Britain's charge d'affaires in Russia Danae Dholakia over London's increased arms supplies to Ukraine.
* British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin on Friday reaffirmed "their shared commitment to upholding the Good Friday Agreement."
* Germany's federal government and representatives of the country's states reached an agreement on Friday on a fuel tax cut and a price cap to ease the burden of record-high fuel prices, German media reported.
* The Multinational Maritime Defense Coalition held its fourth planning meeting at the Western Fleet Command in Saudi Arabia's port city of Jeddah, bringing together 154 naval commanders, operational planners, ambassadors and European Union representatives from 41 allied and partner countries, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Friday.
* The 70th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has adopted an Egypt-proposed resolution calling for the application of IAEA safeguards to all nuclear facilities in the Middle East, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
* Israel's defense establishment opposed a proposed U.S. sale of F-35 stealth fighter jets to Saudi Arabia over concerns that the deal could erode Israel's qualitative military edge in the Middle East, Israel's state-owned Kan TV News reported Friday.
* Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar held a telephone conversation with Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, in which the two sides discussed the latest regional developments, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Saturday.
* The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that it struck Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon on Saturday after two soldiers were lightly wounded in an explosive device detonation.
* Ali Zeinivand, Iran's Deputy Interior Minister for Political Affairs and the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, said Saturday the country has no concern about the supply of essential goods despite the "enemies' propaganda."
* Yemen's Houthi group said Friday that Saudi warplanes launched 26 airstrikes on the southwestern province of Taiz over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of strikes across Yemen this week to 300 as air operations intensified alongside ongoing ground battles on several fronts.
* The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it signed a combined 30 million USD loan to strengthen Mongolia's cashmere value chain and expand employment opportunities in the country's food service sector.
* Kazakhstan has allocated 600 billion tenge (1.35 billion USD) over the past five years for geological exploration to identify new oil and gas reserves, the Kazinform news agency reported Friday, citing the country's Energy Ministry.
* France's public debt will continue to rise, reaching 119.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2026, up from 115.6 percent in 2025, according to data released Saturday by the French Ministry of Economy and Finance.
* Managing economic risks from prolonged geopolitical tensions and disruptions to critical commodities, especially oil and gas products, is at the top of the government's priorities, Malaysia's Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said on Friday.
* Nepal earned more than 5.09 billion Nepali rupees (33.11 million USD) from electricity exports to India and Bangladesh from mid-August to mid-September, according to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).
