Japan's lower house formally dissolved for Feb. 8 election

Japan's House of Representatives was formally dissolved on Friday at the outset of the ordinary parliamentary session, with a general election set for Feb. 8.

The official campaign will start next Tuesday, creating a mere 16-day campaign period, the shortest in Japan's postwar history.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced her decision on Monday to dissolve the 465-seat lower house for a snap election, aiming to capitalize on her cabinet's current high approval ratings.

Trump touts "massive" U.S. forces heading toward Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States has a "massive" naval force heading toward Iran, while suggesting it may not be used as tensions remain high amid Iran's unrest.

"We have a lot of ships going that direction just in case. We have a big flotilla going in that direction. And we'll see what happens," Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he returned from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"We have an armada. We have a massive fleet heading in that direction, and maybe we won't have to use it. We'll see," Trump added.

To Lam re-elected Vietnam's communist party chief

To Lam was re-elected general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee on Friday.

The first plenary session of the 14th CPV Central Committee also voted for the CPV Political Bureau, Secretariat and Inspection Commission on Friday, according to a communique after the meeting.

Tran Cam Tu was assigned as the permanent member of the Secretariat of the CPV's 14th Central Committee.

Passengers of diverted flight transferred to hotels in China's Lanzhou

Passengers of an Azur Air flight that made an emergency landing have been transferred to hotels in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu Province, the Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport said Friday.

The ZF2998 flight, en route from Phuket in Thailand to Barnaul in Russia, encountered an in-flight emergency and declared a distress situation on Friday afternoon.

It landed safely at the airport in Lanzhou at 4:51 p.m., with all 239 passengers and seven crew members on board safe.

According to the airport, the emergency was caused by a malfunction of the aircraft's right engine. The plane is a Boeing 757-200.

China rescues 17 Filipino sailors in South China Sea shipwreck, 4 still missing

Chinese rescue teams have retrieved 17 Filipino crew members from a shipwreck in the South China Sea, authorities said on Friday.

Fifteen of those rescued are in stable condition, while two were found dead. Four others remain missing by Friday evening.

At 0:46 a.m. Friday, the Sansha maritime search and rescue branch received a report from the Hainan provincial maritime search and rescue center, which said a Singapore-registered cargo ship "DEVON BAY" en route from the Philippines to south China's Guangdong Province had lost contact in waters about 55 nautical miles northwest of China's Huangyan Dao, with a total of 21 Filipino crew members on board.

French gov't survives no-confidence votes over budget issue

The French government led by Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu survived two no-confidence votes on Friday after deputies in the National Assembly rejected the motions.

The motions, filed separately on Tuesday by left-wing parliamentary groups including La France Insoumise, the Democratic and Republican Left group (GDR) and the Ecologists, as well as by the far-right National Rally and its ally, the Union of the Right for the Republic (UDR), accused the government of abusing constitutional powers to force the state budget through parliament.

The motion put forward by the left-wing deputies garnered 269 votes, falling 19 votes short of the 288 required for adoption, according to the National Assembly. The second motion, tabled by the right-wing, was also rejected, receiving 142 votes, well below the threshold needed to bring down the government.

Bulgarian Constitutional Court approves President Radev's resignation

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria on Friday approved the resignation of President Rumen Radev, which he submitted on Tuesday, the court said on its website.

According to the Bulgarian Constitution, Vice President Iliana Iotova will assume the presidency for the remainder of the term, which expires in January 2027.

The court said its decision takes effect on Friday.

The press office of the Bulgarian president said that Radev will leave the presidential building in a special ceremony later on Friday.

EU has serious doubts about U.S.-proposed Board of Peace, says EU Council president

The European Union (EU) has serious doubts about the Board of Peace proposed by the United States and will defend itself against any form of coercion, European Council President Antonio Costa said after the council's emergency summit concluded shortly after midnight Thursday.

Costa said at a news conference that the EU has serious doubts about many elements of the Board of Peace, including its scope, governance and compatibility with the UN Charter.

He also said that the bloc will "defend itself" against any form of coercion and continue to protect its interests, including those of its member states, citizens and businesses, against any attempts at pressure.

U.S. expands sanctions targeting Iran's oil trade, maritime networks

The Trump administration on Friday expanded its sanctions targeting Iran's oil trade and maritime networks, issuing a new Iran-related general license and updating its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list with entities and oil tankers tied to Iran's petroleum sector.

The Iran-related General License T, issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), authorizes "limited safety and environmental transactions and the offloading of cargo involving certain persons or vessels blocked on January 23, 2026."

Meanwhile, OFAC updated its SDN list, adding multiple shipping companies and nine oil tankers in alleged links with Iran. The move is expected to effectively block their U.S. property and prohibit U.S. citizens from engaging in transactions with them.