* A new financing facility to help more than 80 governments to channel investment toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was launched on Thursday.
* United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday visited the town of Borodyanka outside Kiev, which was affected by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Twitter.
* The applications by Finland and Sweden to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will be processed quickly should the Scandinavian countries choose to do so, the military alliance's Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Thursday.
* The Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement of the European Union (EU) Oliver Varhelyi Thursday called on the Albanian people to be patient over the process of the country's integration with the European Union (EU).
* Chinese shares jumped on Friday after authorities vowed at a top-level meeting to step up policy support to stabilise the economy and financial markets hit by domestic COVID-19 outbreaks and rising geopolitical risks.
* The Russian rouble firmed on Friday, hovering near highs last seen in March 2020 against the euro and strengthening past 72 against the dollar, while the market awaited an expected rate cut by the central bank.
* French inflation rose unexpectedly in April to hit a record high driven by surging energy prices, preliminary EU-harmonised data showed on Friday, putting fresh pressure on newly re-elected President Emmanuel Macron.
* Ukraine and Russia on Thursday conducted their seventh prisoner exchange since the start of the conflict, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
* Russian gas deliveries to Europe via three main pipeline routes were broadly steady on Friday morning.
* Beijing will ban the use of non-degradable plastic packaging by express delivery outlets by year-end, amid China's efforts to control plastic pollution, local authorities said Thursday.
* Japan located on Friday the hull of a tour boat off its northern coast, the coast guard said, six days after the vessel disappeared in an accident that killed at least 14 people on a sightseeing trip.
* Israeli police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades towards rock-hurling Palestinian youths at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday, the latest outbreak of violence at a site revered by Muslims and Jews alike.
* Islamic state claimed responsibility for an attack against Shi'ite Muslims in Afghanistan that killed nine people on Thursday, according to the group's telegram channel.
* Mainland China reported 15,688 new coronavirus cases for April 28, of which 5,659 were symptomatic and 10,029 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Friday.
* India's COVID-19 tally rose to 43,072,176 on Friday, as 3,377 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.
* The Republic of Korea said on Friday it will lift an outdoor face mask mandate next week in the country's latest step to ease COVID-19 restrictions, despite opposition from the incoming government which labelled the decision "premature".
* Face masks will remain compulsory in Italy on public transport and in some indoor venues until June 15, the health minister said.
* Effective on May 1, all fully vaccinated visitors to Fiji will no longer be required to produce a pre-arrival negative COVID-19 test prior to entry, a move that reduces costs and lends greater convenience to those traveling to the country, a Fijian government statement said Friday.
* Ecuador will immediately lift mask mandates for both indoor and outdoor spaces thanks to significant gains made against coronavirus, President Guillermo Lasso said on Thursday.
* South Africa may be entering a fifth COVID infection wave after a sustained rise in infections over the past 14 days, Health Minister Joe Phaahla said on Friday.
* Africa is seeing an uptick in COVID-19 infections, largely driven by a doubling in cases reported in South Africa, the World Health Organization said, urging people across the continent to continue to get vaccinated.
