An evacuation alert was issued for two communities in Canada's western province of Alberta due to an out-of-control wildfire. The two communities were Fort McMurray and Saprae Creek Estates. The fire is currently 25 km southwest of Fort McMurray, and smoke could impact visibility on Highway 63 south of Fort McMurray. Residents in the affected area were asked to be ready to evacuate on short notice.

The death toll in storms and flash floods in north Afghanistan's Baghlan and Takhar provinces rose to 150, local officials said. In Baghlan, the natural mishap hit Gozargah-e-Noor, Jelgah, Nahrin, Baghlan-e-Markazi and Barka districts, as well as the provincial capital of Pul-e-Khumri, Hedayatullah Hamdard, provincial director for the disaster management authority said .

The Israeli army told Rafah residents to leave other areas in the east of Gaza's southern city on Saturday, in a call that suggests it plans to expand its military operation there, despite growing international demands to desist. The areas affected include two refugee camps, according to the message broadcast in Arabic on X and in text messages. People in the listed areas must immediately move to the village of Al-Mawasi on the Mediterranean coast, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

Germans were able to gain a rare glimpse of the northern lights, due to an unusually large solar storm. The phenomenon, lighting the night sky up in magenta, green and shimmering turquoise, seen on Friday night may be visible in some regions on Saturday night too. The German Weather Service (DWD) posted an image on X of the Alps in southern Germany lit up in pink, as well as bright rays of light over the Frankfurt skyline. Other images were shared across social media.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned the Israeli military against expanding its assault on the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. "The situation in Rafah is on a knife's edge, as airstrikes continue throughout southern Gaza," said Guterres at a press conference in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Friday. "A massive ground attack in Rafah would lead to an epic humanitarian disaster and pull the plug on our efforts to support people as famine looms," Guterres said.

France has called on Israel to immediately halt its military operation in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. The foreign ministry in Paris announced that the military operation, which has been ongoing since the beginning of the week, is threatening a catastrophic situation for the civilian population in Gaza, who have already been displaced several times and for whom there are no longer any safe areas in the Gaza Strip.

Israel war cabinet, which met late on Friday, has ordered the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to secure Hamas military chief Yahya Sinwar and his deputy, Mohammed Deif and to accelerate the invasion in Rafah region. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have, according to sources in Israel's Defence Ministry, forcefully pushed for securing the two Hamas leaders considered to be the brain behind the October 7 attack on southern Israel, slaughtering 1,200 people.

Ukraine has launched a missile attack on an oil depot in Luhansk city of Rovenky, killing three people and injuring eight others, a local official said on Saturday. "As with the recent attacks on Luhansk, today's strike on Rovenky was presumably carried out with US-made ATACMS missiles equipped with cluster munitions," local leader Leonid Pasechnik wrote on his channel. As a result of the strike, the oil depot was engulfed in fire, and houses around it were also damaged.

At least 50 people were killed as storms and flash floods lashed north Afghanistan's Baghlan province, a local official said. The natural mishap hit Gozargah-e-Noor, Jelgah, Nahrin, Baghlan-e-Markazi, and Barka districts, as well as the provincial capital of Pul-e-Khumri, Hedayatullah Hamdard, Provincial Director for the disaster management authority, said, on Friday.

The Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday said that one of the four Filipino sailors taken hostage by Iranian forces last month has been freed. The DFA said the Philippines welcomes the "good news," adding that the sailor is expected to arrive in Manila later Friday, Agency reported.