* Russia condemns Washington's recent decision to apply the full weight of an act to step up blockade on Cuba and urges the international community to pool efforts to terminate the blockade, Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday (May 3).
* The US State Department said in Washington on Friday that US Special Representative for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Stephen Biegun will travel to Japan and Republic of Korea to discuss the DPRK-related issue.
* The White House said Friday night that it has known the latest action of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and will monitor the situation. The Republic of Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said earlier on the same day that the DPRK has fired unidentified short-range projectiles off its east coast. There is no comment so far from the DPRK on the issue.
* Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump on Friday discussed the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and the situation in Venezuela during a phone talk, the Kremlin said.
* United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is to make a historic address to the General Council of the World Trade Organization (WTO) next week, the UN said in Geneva Friday.
* Four Palestinians were killed and 51 injured during clashes on Friday with the Israeli army forces in eastern Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel, medics and security sources said.
* Hundreds of thousands of Algerians took to the streets across the country for the 11th consecutive Friday to demand the departure of the regime. The marches staged across the country were once again calm and without major incidents.
* US employers added a better-than-expected 263,000 jobs in April, and the unemployment rate dropped to 3.6 percent, the lowest level since December 1969, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
* The UN envoy for Afghanistan met last month with Taliban co-founder Mullah Baradar Akhund and the Taliban negotiating team in Doha, Qatar, said a spokesman.
* More than 80 people, mostly anti-government militants, have been killed across Afghanistan in fightings over the past 24 hours, officials said Friday.
* Heavy fighting in southern Tripoli, including airstrikes and rocket barrages, has taken a toll on civilians and structures alike, forcing more than 50,000 people to leave their homes, a UN spokesman said on Friday.
* Pro-government Yemeni forces backed by the Saudi-led Arab coalition launched on Friday attacks against Houthi-controlled sites in al-Dhalea province in south Yemen, a military official told Xinhua.
