King Abdullah II of Jordan and US President Joe Biden discussed efforts to achieve an immediate and enduring ceasefire in Gaza and address the humanitarian crisis in the region.

During the phone call on Friday, King Abdullah underlined the need to end the war on Gaza immediately and ensure the flow of sufficient aid through all crossings while guaranteeing its delivery to civilians across the Strip without delay or hindrance, according to a statement by the Royal Hashemite Court, reports news agency.

On the situation in the West Bank, the King called for ending all unilateral measures and extremist settler attacks against the Palestinians, as well as violations of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.

The South Korean military is conducting an investigation into a leak of personal information of agents assigned to an intelligence unit tasked with spying on North Korea, sources said Saturday.

The Korea Defense Intelligence Command discovered about a month earlier that classified information, including personal data of its agents stationed overseas, had been leaked, prompting an investigation by the Defense Counterintelligence Command, news agency reported.

The leaked information is said to have included those on official cover agents working as diplomats, as well as undercover agents, with some agents reportedly returning home due to concerns over their identities being exposed.

Military authorities have discovered that many of the agents affected by the leak were tasked with operations related to North Korea, and officials have detected signs the leaked data was directed to the North.

Crews in northern California continued battling the largest wildfire of the year in the western US state, which has left more than 130 structures destroyed and thousands of people evacuated.

The Park Fire, which started Wednesday afternoon near Chico, north of California's capital city Sacramento, had rapidly expanded to engulf over 164,000 acres (663.9 sq km) as of Friday morning, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake, news agency reported.

The fire has already destroyed 134 structures and threatens 4,200 more, with only 3 per cent contained by Friday morning, according to data from local officials and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

"Today the Park Fire burned very actively with hot, dry weather over the region. The fire area is currently under a Red Flag Warning due to gusty winds and low humidity. The fire is burning in some grass, brush, mixed timber and dead vegetation," Cal Fire said in its latest update on Friday.

A massive wildfire in the US state of Oregon has grown rapidly to some 600 square miles (1,554 sq km), an area more than half the size of Rhode Island's land mass, officials have said.

The Durkee Fire, sparked by lightning on July 17, is the largest blaze in the US so far. Officials said the fire was only 20 per cent contained on Friday, news agency reported.

Meanwhile, a single-pilot tanker plane contracted by the US Bureau of Land Management went missing Thursday while fighting another wildfire, the Falls Fire, near the town of Seneca on the edge of the Malheur National Forest.

The plane was found Friday morning, authorities said, adding that the pilot on board was killed during the crash.

Two Hezbollah members were killed on Friday in an Israeli strike on a Lebanese village in southern Lebanon, Lebanese military sources told.

The sources, who spoke anonymously, said that an Israeli warplane fired two air-to-ground missiles targeting the vicinity of the southeast village of Markaba in southern Lebanon, killing two Hezbollah members. The two killed men were Abbas Hussein Hammoud and Fadl Nour al-Din.

They added that a civil defense ambulance transported their bodies to a hospital in the border area, and several houses adjacent to the targeted point were damaged.

Military sources said that Israeli warplanes and drones carried out on Friday four raids on four towns and villages in the eastern sector of the border area, and Israeli artillery shelled nine towns and villages with about 45 shells, causing material damage and the outbreak of several fires that the Civil Defense worked to extinguish.

At least four people were killed and around 10 others injured on Friday when a bus collided with a trailer near Jamshoro district of Pakistan's southern Sindh province, the rescue service reported.

According to the reports, the accident took place early morning on Motorway M-9 after a collision between a passenger bus and a trailer, resulting in the death of three people on the spot.

Upon receiving the information, the rescue workers reached the site and shifted the victims to a local hospital, where one more passenger lost his life, said the rescue service.

The bus was severely damaged in the accident, it added, news agency reported.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Friday inaugurated the Batang Industrial Park on a 4,300-hectare site in Central Java.

"This afternoon I officially open the operations of the Batang Integrated Industrial Park in Batang Regency, Central Java," said Widodo, as broadcasted on the official social media.

Widodo declared that Indonesia's economic performance and efficiency have made it a prime destination for investment from various nations, securing the 27th position in the World Competitiveness Index.

The Batang Industrial Park is one of these destinations, where several factories have already been established through a total investment of 14 trillion rupiah (around 859 million U.S. dollars), news agency reported.

A new study has provided evidence showing that human activities have made global rainfall more volatile over the past century.

Published on Friday in the journal Science, the study was conducted by researchers from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the UK Met Office.

The study reveals a systematic increase in rainfall variability since the 1900s, ranging from global to regional scales and from daily to intraseasonal timescales.

Rainfall variability refers to unevenness in the timing and amount of rainfall. Higher variability means that precipitation is more unevenly distributed over time, resulting in wetter wet periods and drier dry periods.

For example, some places may receive a year's worth of rain in just a few days, have long dry spells followed by heavy downpours, or alternate rapidly between drought and flooding, news agency reported.

Sri Lanka has set up a new division in the police to address legal issues faced by investors and exporters and to provide them with additional security in the future, the country's Export Development Board (EDB) quoted a state minister as saying on Friday.

The EDB said in a statement that it held its 24th exporters' forum on Thursday, which is a platform for discussing and resolving issues faced by exporters, news agency reported.

The event was presided over by State Minister of Investment Promotion Dilum Amunugama, the statement read.

The National Independent Authority for Elections (ANIE) validated the candidacy requests of three individuals for the presidential election scheduled for September 7 in Algeria, state-run television ENTV reported.

According to the report released on Thursday, Mohamed Chorfi, the head of ANIE, held a press briefing to unveil the list of candidates for the September elections.

He said that ANIE approved the candidacies of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Secretary General of the Socialist Forces Front Youcef Aouchiche, and head of the Movement of Society for Peace Abdelaali Hassani Cherif, and deemed them eligible as they met all the requirements set forth by ANIE, news agency reported.

The World Bank Group's Board of Executive Directors has approved a development loan totalling 599.1 million euros ($650.5 million) for Romania to support its economic and environmental sustainability.

The loan is aimed at helping Romania promote fiscal consolidation and sustainability and increase pension system equity, said the bank group in a statement on Thursday.

The loan will also introduce incentives to decarbonize Romania's transport sector and support its first green bond issuance to boost public investment, news agency reported.

Additionally, the loan will promote private-sector involvement in renewable energy and boost energy efficiency by introducing new financing for green investments, among others.

 A fire broke out in a crowded residential area in the Philippine capital, Manila, before dawn on Friday, killing an elderly man, the Bureau of Fire Protection said.

The bureau said the fire, which broke out before 3 a.m. local time, razed at least six houses in a riverside village in Marikina City, news agency reported.

Quoting witnesses, the bureau said the victim managed to run out of the house. However, he ran back to retrieve important documents. While inside, the second floor of his house caved in, trapping him.

About 6,28,600 people in east China's Fujian Province had been affected by Gaemi, the third typhoon of this year, with some 2,90,000 residents relocated so far, said local authorities.

With a maximum wind speed of 118.8 km per hour at its centre, the typhoon made its second landfall in the country on Thursday evening, at Xiuyu District in the city of Putian, Fujian, news agency reported.

At 6 a.m. on Friday, its centre was located within Youxi County, the city of Sanming, packing winds of up to 100.8 km per hour near the centre.

The typhoon is projected to move northwest at a speed of about 20 km per hour, with gradually weakening force, and is expected to reach Jiangxi Province around late Friday afternoon.

US Republican senator Marco Rubio on Thursday said he has introduced a bill -- US-India Defense Cooperation Act -- to enhance the strategic diplomatic, economic, and military relationship with New Delhi to counter China.

“Communist China continues to aggressively expand its domain in the Indo-Pacific region, all while it seeks to impede the sovereignty and autonomy of our regional partners. It’s crucial for the US to continue its support in countering these malicious tactics. India, along with other nations in the region, is not alone,” Rubio said in a statement announcing his legislation.

The legislation would set a Statement of Policy that the US will support India in its response to growing threats to its territorial integrity, provide necessary security assistance to India to deter adversaries, and cooperate with India with respect to defence, civil space, technology, medicine, and economic investments;

Sri Lanka has set the crucial Presidential election for September 21, the Election Commission announced on Friday morning.

The gazette notification relating to the poll to elect the next President was published, the Government release said.

Nominations are called on August 15 and the election of the next President is crucial for the Indian Ocean island's recovery from the worst-ever economic crisis, which is being backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) led debt restructuring deal.

The major creditors, including India, Japan and Paris Club countries supported the IMF deal which included debt moratorium and delay of repayment.

orrential rain lashed regions in northeastern Japan and triggered river flooding and landslides, prompting the weather agency to urge residents to remain alert with downpour warnings issued on Thursday.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued downpour warnings at the highest level for two municipalities in the northeastern prefecture of Yamagata, shortly after 1 p.m. local time, urging residents to take immediate action to protect their lives.

The agency later downgraded the highest-level heavy rain emergency warning for Sakata City and Yuza Town to a warning at 8:10 p.m. local time, noting the risk of rivers overflowing and flooding is still high, news agency reported.

The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, on Thursday passed the long-awaited metro law, paving the way for the construction of a sprawling underground network in the Tel Aviv metropolis.

The project, valued at approximately 150 billion shekels (around 41 billion U.S. dollars), is Israel's largest infrastructure undertaking to date.

Scheduled for a phased opening start in 2040, the metro will comprise three lines spanning a total distance of 150 kilometers and 109 stations. It will service 24 municipalities and is expected to ferry an estimated two million passengers daily.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and other volunteers have rushed to contain a large oil spill from a sunken tanker carrying 1.4 million litres of industrial fuel in Manila Bay on Thursday.

The MT Terra Nova, the tanker flying under the flag of the Philippines, capsized and eventually sank 3.6 nautical miles east of Limay, a town in Bataan province, shortly after midnight.

The vessel was sailing south to Iloilo province in the central Philippines when the accident happened. Sixteen of the 17 crew members were rescued while one died, according to the PCG.

The bodies of five Israeli people, who were held hostages by Hamas after the attack on the country, have been recovered, Israeli forces said on Thursday.

They were identified as Maya Goren from Kibbutz Nir Oz and four soldiers, whose bodies were held hostage, according to a joint statement released by the Israeli military and the Shin Bet internal security agency. The soldiers -- Oren Goldin, Tomer Ahimas, Ravid Aryeh Katz, and Kiril Brodski -- were killed in combat with Hamas militants on October 7, 2023, news agency reported.

The bodies were retrieved in an operation carried out in Gaza on Wednesday by commando and Shin Bet forces and taken to Israel for identification, according to the statement.

Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the communities most severely affected by Hamas' assault, released a statement saying that Goren, a 56-year-old kindergarten teacher, was "brought home for burial" after nine months of being held in Gaza. Israeli authorities said in December 2023 that she was believed to be dead.

Three commuters lost their lives and three others were injured following a road accident in Afghanistan's Parwan province on Thursday morning, police said.

The accident occurred in Siagard district when a passenger car rammed into a truck, leaving three dead including two women, and injuring three others, said Fazal Rahim Muskinyar, spokesman for the provincial police.

Three women, who were injured in the accident, were transported to the provincial hospital for treatment, news agency reported.

Dilapidated roads, reckless driving, overspeeding, overloading, and lack of safety measures often cause deadly accidents in Afghanistan.

The death toll in the Philippine floods and landslides triggered by southwest monsoon enhanced by typhoon Gaemi has climbed to 21, police said on Thursday.

In a preliminary report, police said seven people died in the Philippine capital region Manila, three in Cavite province, five in Batangas province, and three in Rizal province. Police also reported that one died in Bulacan province and another two in Angeles City in Pampanga province.

The cause of death mainly was drowning, landslides, fallen trees, and electrocution, news agency reported.

At least three persons, including a Nepali, were killed in Pune city and another three were trapped in their posh villas after a hill slide in Lavasa city in rain-related havoc here, the Pune Disaster Control said.

In the first incident, three mobile snack stall owners were electrocuted when they attempted to shift their handcart to safety from the flood waters near the Z bridge around 3 a.m.

They were rushed to a nearby hospital but succumbed during treatment, and are identified as a Nepali youth Shiva Jidbahadur Pariyar, 18, Akash V. Mane, 21, and Abhishek A. Ghanekar, 25, said the officials.

In the second disaster, a hill slide triggered by heavy rain in Lavasa city in Mulshi buried at least three villas, trapping around three persons this morning. An NDRF team has been rushed to the spot to carry out rescue operations, and the identity of the victims is not yet available.

A Dutch court ruled in favour of the Dutch government's decision to order four new submarines from France's Naval Group, rejecting a lawsuit filed by a German contender.

"The (Dutch) State's decision to award the construction of four submarines for the Ministry of Defence to (French shipbuilder) Naval Group can remain in place," the District Court of The Hague said in its ruling, news agency reported.

The Netherlands is set to replace and upgrade its current submarine fleet. The Ministry of Defense initiated a procurement process, inviting bids for the construction of four new submarines in a deal worth 5.6 billion euros (about $6.1 billion). After evaluating the proposals, the contract was awarded to France's Naval Group.

At least 15 people were killed after a boat carrying 300 passengers capsized near Nouakchott, Mauritania's capital, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) confirmed.

"Approximately 300 people boarded a pirogue in The Gambia and spent seven days at sea before the boat capsized near Nouakchott on July 22, 2024," said IOM in a press release on Wednesday.

According to the release, 120 people were rescued by the Mauritanian Coast Guard while efforts continue to locate the missing individuals, news agency reported.

"Fifteen people were confirmed dead upon arrival," said IOM. Among the survivors, ten people were urgently referred to hospitals for medical care, and four unaccompanied and separated children were identified.

Ten people, including a minor, were killed in a drone attack on a soccer field in southwest Colombia's Cauca department, military officials said.

The attack was carried out by dissidents of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebel group, in the El Plateado district of the city of Argelia, according to the head of the Army Specific Command in Cauca, Gen. Federico Mejia, news agency reported.

Before the attack on the field on Tuesday, where children were playing, there were 13 attacks on the army with drones carrying explosives, he told local media.

A Russian terrorist who organised a bomb attack in Russia was captured in Turkey's southwestern port city of Bodrum, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced.

The Russian Interpol unit made a call with the Turkish Interpol/Europol Department of Turkish Police on Wednesday and informed them that the Russian national, Evgenii Serebriakov, who organised a terrorist attack with a car bomb in Moscow in which two people were injured, arrived in Turkey, Yerlikaya said on social media platform X.

As a result of the investigations, the Turkish Police determined that the person entered Bodrum airport at 09:40 a.m. (local time), reports news agency, citing the Turkish minister.

The suspect's identity matched the information and photographs specified in the letter received from Russia's Interpol unit, and he was finally arrested by local police in Bodrum on Wednesday, he added.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has said that it sent out fighter jets to intercept two Chinese and Russian bombers off the coast of Alaska from China and Russia.

NORAD said that it detected and tracked two Russian TU-95 and two Chinese H-6 military aircraft that were operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on Wednesday, reports.

NORAD added that its fighter jets from Canada and the US intercepted the four aircraft.

The Command said that the bombers did not enter the sovereign airspace of the US or Canada and that they remained in international airspace.

It also added that the activity in the zone was not seen as a threat, reports.

The Metro Manila Council has officially declared a state of calamity in National Capital Region on Wednesday, as rains from the enhanced southwest monsoon brought by Typhoon Gaemi caused flooding in various parts of the Philippine capital.

The widespread flooding, seven feet deep in some areas, forced the government to evacuate people near Manila Bay and rivers to safety and close schools and offices.

While Metro Manila has been placed under the state of calamity, local authorities have evacuated residents of coastal areas in the central and southern Philippine regions.

Police said at least eight people were killed due to the typhoon, news agency reported.

Ukraine is ready to hold talks with Russia to end their conflict and achieve a "just and lasting peace", Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, as per Chinese officials.

Addressing reporters on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning shared details on the agenda of the top Ukrainian diplomat’s visit to China – the first since the start of the conflict in February 2022 – as well as his discussions with Wang, RT reported.

Mao said that the ongoing Moscow-Kiev conflict was high on the agenda, and Kuleba said that “Ukraine is ready and willing to engage in dialogue and negotiations with Russia.”

“Of course, the negotiations should be rational and substantive, aimed at achieving a just and lasting peace,” he added, as quoted by Mao.

Eighteen people were killed after a plane crashed during take-off at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu on Wednesday, local media reported.

The incident occurred around 11 a.m. when the Pokhara-bound plane of Saurya Airlines crashed shortly after taking off from the runway, TIA spokesperson Premnath Thakur said, The Kathmandu Post reported.

Of the 19 on board the plane, 18 bodies have been recovered, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said.

Plane's Captain Manish Shakya was rescued and rushed to hospital, according to the police, The Himalayan Times reported.

Four people were killed after a plane with 19 people on board crashed at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu on Wednesday, local media reported.

Four bodies have been recovered.

The incident occurred around 11 a.m. when the Pokhara-bound plane of Saurya Airlines crashed shortly after taking off from the runway, TIA spokesperson Premnath Thakur said, The Kathmandu Post reported.

Firefighters and security personnel, including Nepal Police and the Nepali Army, are carrying out the rescue operation.

Eight people died after a fishing boat capsized near the Malvinas Islands, known to English speakers as the Falkland Islands, which Argentina claims as its own but is governed by Britain, Argentine and Spanish media reported.

The fishing boat was sailing near the Malvinas Islands in search of toothfish when it suffered a break in the hull and sank, said the Argentine daily La Nacion, news agency reported.

Authorities reported Tuesday morning the death of three crew members who were on the boat. In the past few hours, rescue operations were undertaken to find the remaining 27 people who were shipwrecked , 10 of whom are Spanish nationals and dispersed in life rafts, the daily added.

Later, the number of fatal victims climbed to eight, and 14 people were rescued, according to local media.

Continuous rains triggered by Typhoon Gaemi and the southwest monsoon caused flooding that paralysed the Philippine capital Manila and many parts of the main Luzon Island on Wednesday.

The widespread flooding, knee-deep in some areas, forced the government to evacuate people near Manila Bay and rivers to safety, and close schools and offices. Local authorities also evacuated residents of coastal areas in the central and southern Philippine regions, news agency reported.

Airport authorities said at least 16 flights were cancelled at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Wednesday morning.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy landed in New Delhi on Wednesday for his first official visit since he assumed office.

The dignitary’s visit is believed to be a significant event in light of impending discussions pertaining to the strategic partnership between India and the UK.

Randhir Jaiswal, the official spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs, took to X and announced: "The visit will strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries and will make the 'living bridge' between (India) & (UK).”

A 5.3-magnitude earthquake jolted off Indonesia's eastern Highland Papua province on Wednesday morning, the country's meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency said.

The inland earthquake struck at 07:22 a.m. Jakarta time, with the epicentre located 96 km northeast of the Mamberamo Tengah regency at a depth of 26 km, according to the agency as reported by news agency.

Indonesia, an archipelagic country, lies in a vulnerable quake-hit zone called "the Pacific Ring of Fire," making the nation prone to earthquakes.