* Officials from Japan and the Republic of Korea held working-level talks in Tokyo on Friday (July 12) about tighter export controls that Japan has imposed since last week on some high-tech materials.
* Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed in a telephone conversation on Friday that political solution is a priority for reaching a just and everlasting peace in the region.
* Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar held a phone conversation with acting US Defense Secretary Mark Esper late Friday night following the first shipment of Russian S-400 missile defense system in Turkey.
* Romania has put cohesion at the center of its actions at the presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) and solved the files with cohesion, said Prime Minister Viorica Dancila late Friday.
* Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Friday discussed the formation of a constitutional committee with a Russian delegation in the capital Damascus, state news agency SANA reported.
* London Police said Friday they have launched an investigation into alleged leaking of official communications involving Kim Darroch, Britain's ambassador to the United States.
* At least 40 Palestinians were injured, including 22 with live ammunition, on Friday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel, medics said.
* US President Donald Trump will meet with Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales at the White House on Monday (July 15) for talks on immigration and security, the White House said on Friday.
* Norway has rejected the European Union's (EU) request for help in accepting relocated migrants picked up in the Mediterranean Sea, the news agency NTB reported on Friday.
* Iran will deliver a "crushing response" to any violation of the country's sovereignty by Israel, Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami said Friday. The remarks by the Iranian defense minister followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent threats to attack the Islamic Republic with F-35 stealth fighter jets.
* Britain will send a second warship to the Gulf amid rising tensions with Iran, Sky News reported on Friday. HMS Duncan, a Type 45 Destroyer, will sail to the gulf in the coming days and operate alongside the Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose and US allies there, although it will not be part of an international maritime coalition proposed by the US, said the report.
* The Hungarian parliament adopted the 2020 budget on Friday with 127 for and 58 against, aiming at defending Hungary's economic results, according to Finance Minister Mihaly Varga.
* A nationwide wave of arrests of immigrants facing deportation will commence over the weekend, US President Donald Trump said on Friday, confirming that the plan, intended to discourage a surge of Central American migrants, was on track after a delay.
* In a meeting in Helsinki that concluded on Friday, EU environment and climate ministers urged the European Union to continue its policies supporting circular economy.
* China's meteorological authorities on Saturday continued a yellow alert for heavy rains in the country's southern regions.
* The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Friday called on world powers and emerging economies "to take urgent action" to meet the sustainable and inclusive growth targets and to push ahead with the necessary reforms to better manage the economic challenges.
* More than 20 people have been killed or are missing due to landslides and floods as monsoon rains lashed Nepal, the government said on Friday. Heavy rains since Thursday have hit 20 of Nepal's 77 districts, in the hills as well as in southern plains.
