* Russia on Friday successfully launched a military satellite from its Plesetsk cosmodrome in the northern Arkhangelsk region, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
* U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday approved state of emergency declaration request from Florida as the powerful Hurricane Dorian marched closer to the state.
*At least 75 Palestinians were injured on Friday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza, close to the border with Israel, medics said. No casualties, however, were reported among Israeli soldiers.
* Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE) Thorbjorn Jagland discussed opportunities for cooperation on Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
* Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas survived a no-confidence vote at an extraordinary sitting of the Estonian parliament on Friday.
* Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian has said that his country will officially join the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in October, Tasnim news agency reported on Friday.
* Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday that the 0.4-percent rise in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) registered in the second quarter, is a sign that the country is on the right path.
* Japan's Defense Ministry on Friday requested a record budget of JPY5.32 trillion (US$50 billion) for fiscal 2020. The ministry's request has increased by 1.2 percent from the initial budget for the current fiscal year through March 2020.
* Canada's economy expanded at an annualized rate of 3.7 percent in the second quarter of this year, higher than the 2.3 percent the Bank of Canada had predicted, according to Statistics Canada on Friday. It was the fastest growth since the 4.4 percent reported in the second quarter of 2017.
* The African Union (AU) has urged its member states to be proactive and take necessary measures towards the conduct of successful electoral process and also address the possible post-election disputes.
* Acting Governor of eastern Sudan's Red Sea State Hafez Al-Taj Al-Faki on Friday issued an emergency order banning gathering and carrying arms.
* Cyprus and North Macedonia announced on Friday that they established diplomatic relations for the first time.
* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to hold the next meeting of the High-Level Strategic Council in Kiev before the end of 2019, the Ukrainian president's official website said on Friday.
* The growing importance of the West Balkan area to the European Union was accentuated in Helsinki in the informal gathering of EU foreign ministers on Friday. Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, told a press conference that she had seen "an increased support and awareness among the EU states" on the strategic importance of the next EU enlargement.
* The Islamic State (IS) group has claimed responsibility for a suicide motorcycle bombing that targeted a security checkpoint in the southern port city of Aden on Friday, leaving five soldiers killed.
* Spanish foreign minister Josep Borrell Fontelles arrived in Riga on Friday to meet with Latvian counterpart Edgars Rinkevics and the Spanish troops currently stationed in Latvia.
* The Swedish government announced Friday that it will increase defense spending by SEK5 billion (US$500 million) between 2022 and 2025.
* Colombian President Ivan Duque confirmed on Friday the death of nine dissidents from the dismantled Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group in the southern department of Caqueta on August 29 night.
* Some 197 Somali police officers have completed a three-month intensive training to step up security in a regional state in Somalia, the African Union Mission (AMISOM) said on Friday.
* Taliban militants overran Chah Ab district and set on fire the district headquarters in northern Afghanistan's Takhar province on Friday, provincial police spokesman Abdul Khalil Asir said.
* A passenger van fell into a river in Pakistan's northwest district of Kohistan, killing eight people and leaving 18 others missing on Friday evening, police said. The ill-fated vehicle with 26 persons on board was heading from Bari Gaon village to Kamela village of the district.
