* The top leaders of China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday reaffirmed the long-standing friendship between the two neighboring countries, pledging further development of bilateral relations.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin said speeding up the development of Russia's Far Eastern Federal District is a national priority, emphasizing that continued efforts are necessary to maximize the region's competitive advantages and potential.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that Ukraine has proposed to the United States a new format for protecting Ukrainian airspace.
* Ukraine's security cannot be addressed without considering Russia's security, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday. The Russian leader warned that any foreign troops in Ukraine would be legitimate targets for the Russian army.
* The U.S. recent approval of the sale of 3,350 air-launched Extended-Range Attack Munitions system missiles to Ukraine runs counter to its claimed willingness to resolve the conflict in Ukraine by diplomatic means, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on Thursday.
* French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that 26 countries, mostly European, have formally pledged to deploy troops as part of a future Russian-Ukrainian ceasefire, though not directly on the front line.
* German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated on Thursday that Germany's decision on any future direct military involvement in Ukraine's security guarantees will be influenced by the type and extent of the United States' involvement, among other factors.
* The police in India's financial capital, Mumbai, are on high alert after receiving a WhatsApp message threatening dozens of blasts across the city, the police said Friday. Senior police official Anil Dashrathrao Kumbhare told the media the threat is being investigated.
* Israel's military spokesperson Effie Defrin said Thursday that Israeli forces control about 40 percent of Gaza City and will "expand and intensify" the offensive in the coming days to seize the enclave's largest urban center.
* U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly preparing to sign an executive order on Friday to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War.
* The Netherlands on Thursday established a new Joint Force Command (JFC) headquarters to coordinate all military operations, the Defense Ministry said.
* A Canadian soldier deployed on the NATO Multinational Brigade in Latvia has gone missing, authorities confirmed on Friday.
* China's visa-free policy for Russian citizens holding ordinary passports is "an extremely kind gesture" and Russia will respond in kind, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in Vladivostok on Thursday.
* Türkiye's Defense Ministry warned on Thursday that the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) risk undermining Syria's territorial integrity and threatening Turkish security by failing to honor commitments on disarmament and integration into the Syrian army.
* Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and the European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas have discussed the latest developments regarding Tehran's nuclear issue, after France, Britain, and Germany moved to trigger a mechanism to reinstate international sanctions on Iran, Iran's Foreign Ministry announced on Friday.
* Gaza City, the last refuge for families in the northern Gaza Strip, is fast becoming a place where childhood cannot survive, Tess Ingram, UNICEF Communication Manager for the Middle East and North Africa Regional Office, said on Thursday.
* An Arab ministerial committee in Cairo on Thursday rejected "the Israeli measures to isolate Jerusalem," stressing that "Israel has no sovereignty over Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites."
* Iran has reduced the level of Australia's diplomatic presence in the country following Canberra's expulsion of Iranian Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi last month, Iran's Khabar Foori news website reported Thursday.
* South Sudan on Thursday said it has no deal in place to receive third-country nationals deported from the United States.
* U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday implementing the U.S.-Japan trade agreement, the White House said.
* China has decided to implement temporary anti-dumping measures on certain pork and pig by-products originating from the European Union (EU), starting Sept. 10, according to a preliminary ruling announced by the Ministry of Commerce on Friday.
* China's Ministry of Commerce announced on Friday that it will extend the duration of an anti-dumping investigation into halogenated butyl rubber imports from Canada, Japan and India.
* Myanmar exported 1.04 million tons of rice and broken rice in the first five months of the current fiscal year 2025-2026, according to the Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF) on Friday.
* Germany's industrial orders declined for the third consecutive month in July, highlighting the impact of U.S. tariffs and persistent structural headwinds weighing on Europe's largest economy, official data showed Friday.
* The World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), based here, reported on Wednesday that highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus outbreaks have recently occurred on farms in Germany and Portugal, resulting in the deaths of over 1,000 poultry.
* China has allocated 940 million yuan (about 132 million USD) in disaster relief funds to support flood-hit regions, the Ministry of Finance said Friday.
* China will provide Afghanistan with 50 million yuan (about 7.04 million USD) in emergency humanitarian aid for earthquake relief, a spokesperson for the China International Development Cooperation Agency said Thursday.
* Flash floods caused by high water levels in rivers and breach of river embankments have affected over 4 million people directly by displacing them across Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said on Friday.
* Typhoon Peipah made landfall in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Friday morning, and is expected to bring heavy rains to wide areas with risks of floods and landslides, the weather agency said.
