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.

It took firefighters about an hour to contain the fire. Arson investigators are determining the cause of the fire.

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 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.

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.