The UN's special envoy for Myanmar is to embark on an Asian tour to step up diplomatic efforts to tackle the crisis, as the death toll from the junta's crackdown on dissent passed 600 on Friday.

The Brazilian Senate will open an inquiry into the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, as President Jair Bolsonaro continues to resist lockdown measures even with Covid-19 deaths at new records.

One person was killed and at least five wounded in a shooting at a business in Texas Thursday, just hours after US President Joe Biden called gun violence an "epidemic" and unveiled plans to tackle the crisis.

A South Korean oil tanker held for months by Iran amid a dispute over billions of dollars seized by Seoul was freed and sailed away early Friday, just hours ahead of further talks between Tehran and world powers over its tattered nuclear deal.

MarineTraffic.com data showed the MT Hankuk Chemi leaving Bandar Abbas in the early morning hours.

Indonesian navy ships packed with aid arrived Thursday in a cyclone-ravaged section of the archipelago, as the death toll from the disaster rose to above 200 people, including dozens killed in neighboring East Timor. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged President Vladimir Putin in a phone call on Thursday to reduce Russia's troop buildup near Ukraine, her office said in a statement.

Uganda's defense ministry said Thursday it had signed an intelligence-sharing agreement with its Egyptian counterparts, bolstering security ties amid regional tensions over a massive hydropower dam on the Nile.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said that talks in Vienna on rescuing a troubled 2015 nuclear deal had opened a "new chapter."

Ethiopia said Wednesday it would not be deterred from impounding water at its Nile mega-dam, despite a persistent impasse with downstream countries worried about their water supply.

Mozambique's president, Filipe Nyusi, on Wednesday said Islamic State-linked insurgents had been forced out of Palma, a key northern town that the rebels hit in a brazen raid last month.