* Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday called for translating the new vision of a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability into action and finding the right way for the two major countries to get along with each other. Xi made the remarks when meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House.
* Lao migrant workers sent home an estimated 500 million USD in the first seven months of 2026, up 36.6 percent from 366 million dollars during the same period last year, according to the Lao Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare.
* The Cambodian government will launch a cash relief program on Friday to support low-income families hit by soaring global fuel prices, according to an official press release issued Thursday. The emergency assistance will be distributed across four rounds, scheduled for Sept. 25, Oct. 16, Nov. 16, and Dec. 16.
* Russia's budget policy for the next three years will focus on fulfilling social obligations and meeting defense and security needs, the Russian Ministry of Finance said Thursday. The budget will also support servicemen involved in the Ukrainian conflict and their families, while promoting technological leadership, the ministry said in a press release.
* Singapore's financial industry will train more than 80,000 employees in critical artificial intelligence (AI) skills by 2028, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said on Thursday.
* Thailand unveiled its first national semiconductor strategy on Thursday, aiming to attract about 80 billion U.S. dollars in cumulative investment by 2050 as it seeks to move beyond chip assembly into design and front-end manufacturing.
* Malaysia is intensifying its efforts to combat the misuse of network services for the purpose of online child sexual exploitation through collaboration between its regulator, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), and the Royal Malaysia Police, Malaysian Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said on Thursday.
* Russia considers the European Union's (EU's) idea to transfer revenue generated by frozen Russian assets to Ukraine illegal and a theft, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.
* At least eight people were killed and 22 others injured in Russian attacks across Ukraine overnight on Thursday, said Ukrainian authorities.
* Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, with the two leaders reaffirming their commitment to strengthening bilateral ties and promoting regional peace, Pakistan's Prime Minister's Office said.
* UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for political and financial support for the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees as its mandate and work are in jeopardy.
* More than 6,500 Palestinians have been displaced from their homes in the West Bank since 2023 due to settler attacks or access restrictions, UN humanitarians said Thursday.
* French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that France will send military assets to protect Yanbu, a major industrial and energy hub on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast.
* Pakistani security forces thwarted an attempted cross-border incursion in the Gulistan sector along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, with several Afghan Taliban members killed during the exchange, Pakistani security sources said early Friday.
* The Iraqi government on Thursday officially signed an agreement to take over the U.S. embassy's diplomatic support center at Baghdad International Airport, according to an Iraqi Foreign Ministry statement.
* Colombia's Foreign Ministry said Thursday that the country formally severed diplomatic relations with Iran effective Sept. 19.
* Türkiye aims to produce 5 million unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) within five years and 10 million UAVs within 10 years, Türkiye Today reported Thursday, citing the country's Chief of General Staff Selcuk Bayraktaroglu.
* Yemen's Houthi group said Thursday evening that it had launched missile and drone attacks at a "sensitive target" in the Saudi capital Riyadh and an Aramco facility in the Red Sea city of Yanbu, marking another round of long-range attacks amid an escalating confrontation with Saudi Arabia.
* The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has suspended flights operated by Iranian airlines to and from the country, effective Thursday and until further notice, according to the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority.
* Hamas said Thursday it is ready to implement the roadmap agreed with the U.S.-led "Board of Peace" for the Gaza peace plan, adding that it has taken all necessary steps to do so.
* The Ethiopian National Defense Force on Thursday said that 272 Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) rebel fighters were killed after the group's failed offensive on Tuesday night.
* The global digital trade sector has demonstrated resilience amid multiple external pressures, with export value hitting 7.75 trillion USD in 2025, a 7.1 percent year-on-year increase, according to a report released Thursday.
* Germany's leading economic institutes on Thursday raised their growth forecast for the country's economy this year to 1.3 percent, up 0.7 percentage points from their spring projection, citing a stronger-than-expected recovery in the first half of 2026.
* Slovakia has issued a 10-year government bond worth 2.5 billion euros (2.84 billion USD), with a coupon rate of 4.25 percent, the country's Debt and Liquidity Management Agency (ARDAL) said on Thursday.
* The death toll among Kazakh Naval Forces servicemen swept out to sea during naval drills on Thursday has risen to 12, the Kazakh Defense Ministry said.
* The death toll rose to 11, with three others still missing, after heavy rain brought by a large typhoon lashed the Kanto region in eastern Japan and triggered landslides and flooding earlier this week, local media reported Friday.
